On June 19, 2024, Juneteenth, the United States' newest federal holiday, will take place on a Wednesday. This emerging holiday celebrates the emancipation of those who were enslaved in the United States.
History behind the celebration of Juneteenth-
Juneteenth, also known as "June Nineteenth," marks the day in 1865 when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas to take control of the state and ensure the freedom of all enslaved individuals. This happened two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued. Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States and is recognized as the oldest African American holiday. It was made a federal holiday on June 17, 2021, and Juneteenth 2024 will be observed on Wednesday, June 19.
Even though Confederate General Robert E. Lee had surrendered at Appomattox Court House in Virginia two months earlier, slavery was still going on in Texas until U.S. General Gordon Granger announced General Orders No. 3 on Texas soil, declaring, "The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free."
President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, which declared that all enslaved individuals in Confederate states rebelling against the Union "shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free."
In reality, the Emancipation Proclamation did not immediately free any enslaved individuals. It only applied to areas under Confederate control and did not include slave-holding border states or rebel areas already under Union control. However, as Northern troops advanced into the Confederate South, many enslaved individuals sought refuge behind Union lines.
In Texas, slavery continued as the state did not experience major fighting or a significant presence of Union troops. Many slaveholders from outside Texas moved there, viewing it as a safe haven for slavery.
After the end of the war in the spring of 1865, General Granger's arrival in Galveston in June marked freedom for 250,000 enslaved individuals in Texas. Although emancipation did not occur immediately for everyone — in some cases, slaveholders withheld the information until after the harvest season — celebrations erupted among newly liberated Black individuals, giving rise to Juneteenth. Slavery in America was officially abolished with the adoption of the 13th Amendment in December of that year.
In the year following 1865, freedmen in Texas organized the first celebration of "Jubilee Day" on June 19, a tradition that became an annual event. Over the years, Juneteenth commemorations included music, barbecues, prayer services, and other activities. As Black individuals migrated fromTexas to other parts of the country, the tradition of Juneteenth spread.
In 1979, Texas became the first state to establish Juneteenth as an official holiday, and several others subsequently followed suit. In June 2021, Congress passed a resolution to designate Juneteenth as a federal holiday, which President Biden signed into law on June 17, 2021.