Juneteenth is a holiday celebrated on June 19th in the United States. It commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans and the end of slavery in the country. The word “Juneteenth” is a combination of “June” and “nineteenth,” referring to the specific date when the news of emancipation reached Texas in 1865.
To understand Juneteenth, it’s important to provide some historical context. The Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Abraham Lincoln, went into effect on January 1, 1863. However, it took time for this proclamation to be enforced and for the news to reach all parts of the United States, particularly the Confederate states in the South, where slavery was deeply rooted.
On June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and issued General Order No. 3, which stated that all enslaved people in Texas were to be freed. This order came two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation, as Texas had been largely unaffected by the Civil War and the enforcement of the proclamation. Juneteenth, therefore, marks the day when the news of freedom finally reached the enslaved people in Texas.