Everything You Need to Know About Juneteenth and the Holiday's History in America

BONUS-JUNETEENTH HOLIDAY SHARE OF THE DAY



Summer is quickly approaching. And for many, including myself, that means enjoying warmer weather, longer days, seasonal delicacies and holiday celebrations. In my home, we're kicking off the summer holiday stretch with Juneteenth. This day, which gets its name from a combination of words "June" and "nineteenth," the date on which it is celebrated, has made headlines since being made a federal holiday, but many still don't know what it is or how to celebrate. Here's where to begin:
What is Juneteenth?

Also called Emancipation Day, Freedom Day or Jubilee Day, Juneteenth is the commemoration of June 19, 1865, the day enslaved African Americans in Galveston, TX, learned that they were free.

While President Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, it only applied to people in Confederate states, not those enslaved in Union-held territories (they were not freed until the proclamation of the 13th Amendment). In Texas, a Confederate state where there was no large Union Army presence, slavery continued years after the Emancipation Proclamation — and even after the 13th Amendment was passed by Congress on January 31, 1865 — as many enslaved people in the state were not aware of the news. Finally in June of 1865, Major General Gordon Granger and Union troops landed in Galveston, Texas to tell the enslaved African-Americans living there that the Civil War had ended and that they were now free.

According to the Texas State Historical Association, Granger stayed in Texas for six weeks following the announcement and encouraged newly emancipated Texans to sign labor agreements with former plantation owners while waiting on support from the Freedmen's Bureau.

The year after emancipation, in 1866, formerly enslaved Black Texans began celebrating the event with annual "Jubilee Day" festivities. This commemoration is now known as Juneteenth.

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