Commemorating Juneteenth : Celebrating The Ending of Slavery

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Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration honoring the ending of slavery in the United States.

What is Juneteenth?

Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with an announcement that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free.

Emancipation Proclamation

This news came two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, which had become official January 1, 1863.

Unfortunately, the Emancipation Proclamation had minimal affect on the Texans due to the low number of Union troops to enforce the new Executive Order.

However, with the surrender of General Lee in April of 1865, and the arrival of General Granger’s regiment, the forces were finally strong enough to influence and overcome the resistance.

Later attempts to explain this two and a half year delay in the receipt of this important news have yielded several versions that have been handed down through the years.

As Juneteenth.com reports, the story often told is the story of a messenger who was murdered on his way to Texas with the news of freedom.

Another, is that the news was deliberately withheld by the enslavers to maintain the labor force on the plantations. And still another, is that federal troops actually waited for the slave owners to reap the benefits of one last cotton harvest before going to Texas to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation. All of which, or neither of these version could be true. Certainly, for some, President Lincoln’s authority over the rebellious states was in question For whatever the reasons, conditions in Texas remained status quo well beyond what was legal.

General Order Number 3

One of General Granger’s first orders of business was to read to the people of Texas, General Order Number 3 which began most significantly with:

“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 free laborer.”

The reactions to this significant news varied from pure shock to immediate exultation. While many stood around to learn of this new employer to employee relationship, many left before these offers were completely off the lips of their former ‘masters’ – attesting to the varying conditions on the plantations and the realization of freedom.

Today, people gather to celebrate Juneteenth, the official emancipation of slavery through food, fellowship, dance, and spreading awareness. Many communities around the United States hold festivals to commemorate the day.

Read more on the history of Juneteenth here.