Juneteenth Day in United States ― Date, History, and Details
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History of Juneteenth Day in United States and How to Celebrate/ Observe It
Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Its roots go back to 1865, when Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. The Emancipation Proclamation had been signed by President Lincoln more than two and a half years earlier, but it had taken time for word to reach all parts of the country.
Granger read aloud General Order No. 3, 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. 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 free laborer.”
The reaction was jubilant. African Americans who had been enslaved for generations suddenly found themselves free. They celebrated with prayer, song, and dance.
Juneteenth eventually became a day to celebrate African American freedom and achievement. It is also a time to reflect on the long and difficult journey that African Americans have taken from slavery to freedom.