4th of July: An African American Holiday During Reconstruction

One myth I have heard a lot about was that the City of Vicksburg in Mississippi stopped celebrating the Fourth of July during the Civil War and did not resume observing the holiday for eight decades. It is true that white Vicksburgers stopped recognizing the holiday. The Confederate Army in Vicksburg surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant on July 4, 1863. This defeat, and the Confederate failure at Gettysburg the day before, would come to be seen as the beginning of the end of the Slaveholders’ Rebellion.

White people in the city stopped holding fireworks shows and they kept their businesses open on the holiday. But the myth that Fourth of July celebrations ended is true if only white lives matter. African Americans in the city celebrated July 4th every year during Reconstruction, even though their observances were sometimes violently attacked by white supremacists. For them it was their day of liberation from slavery.

The same pattern was seen across the former Confederacy. Whites who had allied with the rebellion often either ignored the holiday, or mocked those who observed it. African Americans reinvigorated the holiday with parades, festivals, and programs promoting civic participation.

This was a marked departure for many Black communities. Before the Civil War, Free Blacks would observe the day on July 5th to point out that the slaves had been left out of the Declaration of Independence’s promise of Equality. From 1865 onward, until they were violently suppressed, Black Southerners organized large celebrations of their hard won right to parade on the Fourth of July.

Some of the largest celebrations were held in the place where the Civil War started. The article below describes the 1871 Fourth of July in Charleston, South Carolina. According to the article, “The observance of the Glorious Fourth…was in the hands of the colored people.” Seven years earlier Blacks would not have been able to freely assemble in the city. Now they took over the streets for a joyful celebration of Emancipation.

The parade included hundreds of armed Black militiamen marching in formation. These men protected the rights of newly enfranchised African Americans to hold meetings, run for office, and vote. They served as a reminder to these new citizens that the militiamen were willing to fight to protect the rights conferred by the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution. The militia companies had Black officers and were recognized by the state as protectors of its new color-blind constitution. The show of strength was also a warning to the violent white terror groups that rights would not easily be taken away.

The fact that the Lieutenant Governor, a Congressman, and the Mayor of Charleston spoke indicates the political importance of the Black electorate. South Carolina had as many Black voters as white.

Reconstruction gave Black communities the space to construct their own interpretation of American history.

 

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