Today, Juneteenth (A compound word for June 19th) is a federal holiday commemorating the entrance of Union Troops into Galveston, TX, to proclaim to residents the ending of the civil war and slavery.
On that day, June 19, 1865, U.S. Major General Gordon Granger performed a public reading of General Order Number 3:
“The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.” (Taken from National Geographic)
Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021 in the United States. Although Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation some two years before, the proclamation did not liberate enslaved peoples under the Confederacy.
Watch this informative video about Juneteenth
A few Sources:
National Museum of African American History and Culture
