The holiday of Juneteenth falls on June 19th and is observed as the day that slavery officially ended for Texas. While this holiday has often remained low-key, the 150th anniversary of the Civil War has started to bring Juneteenth into a bigger focus.
While Abraham Lincoln took a giant leap into the abolition of slavery on January 1, 1863, with his Emancipation Proclamation, this did not free all slaves when it was enacted. The Emancipation Proclamation only freed slaves in the rebellion states, however, this was during a time when the United States had no control over the rebellion states; therefore the Emancipation Proclamation would not free the slaves until the United States was once again in control of the rebellion states.[1]
For the slaves living in the state of Texas, their emancipation would not happen until the Civil War was officially over and the Union had won. Therefore, slavery was not completely abolished until June 19, 1865, a day called by the then freed slaves in Texas, Juneteenth.[2]
It was on this date when General Gordon Granger came with about 2,000 Union Troops to read the General Order #3 in Galveston, Texas, which stated, “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.”[3] This order announced the end of the Civil War and officially declared all slaves in the United States free.
Once the slaves were told they were officially free, many wondered what to do. Reports state that some freed slaves felt that they could not completely feel free while continuing to live on the plantation, so they decided to go find family in neighboring areas, while some left the state of Texas.
However, some people did stay where they had always been with the wonder of what an employee and employer relationship would be like.[4]
Even though the now newly freed slaves were wondering what was next, they still knew this day was a day to celebrate and this is a celebration which many communities continue to put on and many more communities have started to celebrate, treating it like another Fourth of July celebration.
The activities for this celebration often range from barbeques, baseball, rodeos, and fishing. In fact, it was the state of Texas where the Juneteenth celebrations took place for decades before other southern states started to celebrate before northern states, such as Minnesota, started celebrating.
[1] Cruz, Gilbert. “Juneteenth.” Time. June 18, 2008. Accessed November 10, 2017. http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1815936,00.html.
[2] “Juneteenth: Our Other Independence Day.” Smithsonian.com. June 15, 2011. Accessed November 10, 2017. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/juneteenth-our-other-independence-day-16340952/.
[3] ibid.
[4] JUNETEENTH WORLD WIDE CELEBRATION. Accessed November 10, 2017. http://www.juneteenth.com/history.htm.
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