The History Behind Juneteenth

Juneteenth, also known as "Freedom Day", honors June 19th, 1865, commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.

Two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, Major General Gordon Granger made it to Galveston, Texas to let them know the war was over and the slaves were freed.

Granger's General Order Number Three stated:

"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 rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired laborer."

Since then, Juneteenth has become a day of celebration in the United States, though the celebrations declined in the early 1900's, there was a resurgence after the Civil Rights movements of the 1960's.

Now in 2020, occurring in the same month as massive country-wide protests over the killing of George Floyd, along with the Black Lives Matter movement, Juneteenth is just as important and relevant as ever.

For more on the history of Juneteenth, check out juneteenth.com