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Reach Ana Corral at acorral@cmpapers.com
Juneteenth, short for “June Nineteenth” and also known as Freedom Day and Emancipation Day, commemorates the moment in 1865 when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to take control of the state and enforce the freedom of more than 250,000 enslaved people. Their arrival came two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln, who was firmly opposed to slavery, issued the Emancipation Proclamation. That proclamation, effective Jan. 1, 1863, declared that enslaved people in Confederate states were to be freed.
At the time, the proclamation applied only to the states in rebellion against the Union, not to the border states that remained loyal. As a result, slavery persisted in many regions, especially in Texas, which was geographically isolated and had a lower Union military presence.
On June 19, 1865, Union Gen. Gordon Granger and his troops arrived in Galveston and read General Order No. 3, which announced: “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.” This announcement marked the first official enforcement of freedom in Texas.
Despite the reading of the order, many enslavers withheld the news until after that year’s harvest season, continuing to exploit labor for months. True nationwide abolition did not come until December 1865, with the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which formally abolished slavery in the United States.
Juneteenth celebrations began the following year in Texas and grew into annual gatherings that included prayer services, family reunions, music, food and reflection. Over time, these celebrations spread across the country as African American families migrated out of the South, bringing their traditions with them.
Although recognized in many states for years, Juneteenth only began to receive widespread national attention. On June 17, 2021 President Joe Biden signed a bill making Juneteenth a federal holiday, the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was created in 1983.