They understood that slaves had been freed in rebel territory in 1863, right?
But the institution of slavery had to be abolished at a Federal level to make it applicable to all of the states. That takes time…like anything else.
But the people writing these stories are morons.
Well, only in rebel territories where there were Republican bayonets.
The democrats were not about to let their slaves go…. Voluntarily.
That was why Galveston was one of the last places freed - it took time to get federal troops there - after they had been evicted by the democrats on the day the emancipation went into effect.