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Juneteenth - What You Need to Know
Juneteenth, officially Juneteenth National Independence Day, is a federal holiday in the United States. It is celebrated annually on June 19 to commemorate the ending of slavery.
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- The Emancipation Proclamation
- Juneteenth and Slavery in Texas
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Juneteenth commemorates an effective end of slavery in the United States.
Juneteenth (short for “June Nineteenth”) marks the day when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas in 1865 to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people be freed. The troops’ arrival came a full two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Juneteenth honors the end to slavery in the United States and is considered the longest-running African American holiday. On June 17, 2021, it officially became a federal holiday. Juneteenth 2023 will occur on Monday, June 19.
More to History: Juneteenth & Civil Rights
Confederate General Robert E. Lee had surrendered at Appomattox Court House two months earlier in Virginia, but slavery had remained relatively unaffected in Texas—until U.S. General Gordon Granger stood on Texas soil and read General Orders No. 3: “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.”
The Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, had established that all enslaved people in Confederate states in rebellion against the Union “shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.”
But in reality, the Emancipation Proclamation didn’t instantly free any enslaved people. The proclamation only applied to places under Confederate control and not to slave-holding border states or rebel areas already under Union control. However, as Northern troops advanced into the Confederate South, many enslaved people fled behind Union lines.
In Texas, slavery had continued as the state experienced no large-scale fighting or significant presence of Union troops. Many enslavers from outside the Lone Star State had moved there, as they viewed it as a safe haven for slavery.
After the war came to a close in the spring of 1865, General Granger’s arrival in Galveston that June signaled freedom for Texas’s 250,000 enslaved people. Although emancipation didn’t happen overnight for everyone—in some cases, enslavers withheld the information until after harvest season—celebrations broke out among newly freed Black people, and Juneteenth was born. That December, slavery in America was formally abolished with the adoption of the 13th Amendment.
Illustrated print by Thomas Nast depicting life before and after emancipation.
The year following 1865, freedmen in Texas organized the first of what became the annual celebration of "Jubilee Day" on June 19. In the ensuing decades, Juneteenth commemorations featured music, barbecues, prayer services and other activities, and as Black people migrated from Texas to other parts of the country the Juneteenth tradition spread.
In 1979, Texas became the first state to make Juneteenth an official holiday; several others followed suit over the years. In June 2021, Congress passed a resolution establishing Juneteenth as a federal holiday; President Biden signed it into law on June 17, 2021.
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Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when federal troops freed the last enslaved people in Texas, two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Learn about the origins, traditions and significance of this African American holiday and how it became a federal holiday in 2021.
- Elizabeth Nix
- 1 min
6 days ago · Juneteenth is a holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States, observed annually on June 19. It became a federal holiday in 2021. Organizations in a number of other countries also use the day to recognize the end of slavery and to celebrate the culture and achievements of African Americans.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Jun 17, 2021 · Whether you call it Emancipation Day, Freedom Day or the country's second Independence Day, Juneteenth is one of the most important anniversaries in our nation's history. On June 19, 1865, Maj ...
Jun 12, 2023 · Juneteenth marks the end of slavery in Texas in 1865, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Learn how this holiday became a federal holiday in 2021 and how it is celebrated across the U.S.
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Jun 19, 2023 · Juneteenth – also known as Juneteenth Independence Day, Freedom Day and Emancipation Day – commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. Opal Lee, the ‘grandmother of Juneteenth,’...
Jun 19, 2020 · Learn about the history, legacy and celebration of Juneteenth, the anniversary of the emancipation of enslaved Africans in America. Explore the tastes, sounds and experiences of an African American celebration with recipes, music, stories and more.
