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Juneteenth: What It Is And How It Is Observed June 19, 1865, marked a huge
turning point for Black people in America. But many slave owners refused to
comply. And even celebrating the date was discouraged in the years to come.
Special Series


JUNETEENTH


SLAVERY DIDN'T END ON JUNETEENTH. WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THIS IMPORTANT DAY

June 17, 20216:00 AM ET

By 

Sharon Pruitt-Young

Enlarge this image

Emancipation Day is celebrated in 1905 in Richmond, Va., the onetime capital of
the Confederacy. Library of Congress hide caption

toggle caption
Library of Congress


Emancipation Day is celebrated in 1905 in Richmond, Va., the onetime capital of
the Confederacy.

Library of Congress

It goes by many names. Whether you call it Emancipation Day, Freedom Day or the
country's second Independence Day, Juneteenth is one of the most important
anniversaries in our nation's history.

On June 19, 1865, Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger, who had fought for the Union, led a
force of soldiers to Galveston, Texas, to deliver a very important message: The
war was finally over, the Union had won, and it now had the manpower to enforce
the end of slavery.

The announcement came two months after the effective conclusion of the Civil
War, and even longer since President Abraham Lincoln had first signed the
Emancipation Proclamation, but many enslaved Black people in Texas still weren't
free, even after that day.

That was 156 years ago. Here are the basics of Juneteenth that everyone should
know.


WHAT JUNETEENTH REPRESENTS

First things first: Juneteenth gets its name from combining "June" and
"nineteenth," the day that Granger arrived in Galveston, bearing a message of
freedom for the slaves there.

Upon his arrival, he read out General Order No. 3, informing the residents that
slavery would no longer be tolerated and that all slaves were now free and would
henceforth be treated as hired workers if they chose to remain on the
plantations, according to the National Museum of African American History and
Culture.

Enlarge this image

General Order No. 3 was the final execution and fulfillment of the terms of the
Emancipation Proclamation. The people to whom this order was addressed were the
last group of Americans to be informed that all formerly enslaved persons were
now free. National Archives hide caption

toggle caption
National Archives


General Order No. 3 was the final execution and fulfillment of the terms of the
Emancipation Proclamation. The people to whom this order was addressed were the
last group of Americans to be informed that all formerly enslaved persons were
now free.

National Archives

"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," the order reads, in part.



It's perhaps unsurprising that many former slaves did not stay on the
plantations as workers and instead left in search of new beginnings or to find
family members who had been sold away.

"It immediately changed the game for 250,000 people," Shane Bolles Walsh, a
lecturer with the University of Maryland's African American Studies Department,
told NPR.

Enslaved Black people, now free, had ample cause to celebrate. As Felix Haywood,
a former slave, recalled: "Everybody went wild. We all felt like heroes ... just
like that, we were free."


SLAVERY DID NOT END ON JUNETEENTH

When Granger arrived in Galveston, there still existed around 250,000 slaves and
they were not all freed immediately, or even soon. It was not uncommon for slave
owners, unwilling to give up free labor, to refuse to release their slaves until
forced to, in person, by a representative of the government, historian Henry
Louis Gates Jr. wrote. Some would wait until one final harvest was complete, and
some would just outright refuse to submit. It was a perilous time for Black
people, and some former slaves who were freed or attempted to get free were
attacked and killed.

For Confederate states like Texas, even before Juneteenth, there existed a
"desire to hold on to that system as long as they could," Walsh explained to
NPR.



Before the reading of General Order No. 3, many slave owners in Confederate
states simply chose not to tell their slaves about the Emancipation Proclamation
and did not honor it. They got away with it because, before winning the war,
Union soldiers were largely unable to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation in
Southern states. Still, even though slavery in the States was not abolished
until the ratification of the 13th Amendment, the Emancipation Proclamation
still played a pivotal role in that process, historian Lonnie Bunch told NPR in
2013. (And the amendment did not extend to tribal lands.)

"What the Emancipation Proclamation does that's so important is it begins a
creeping process of emancipation where the federal government is now finally
taking firm stands to say slavery is wrong and it must end," Bunch said.


PEOPLE HAVE CELEBRATED JUNETEENTH ANY WAY THEY CAN

After they were freed, some former slaves and their descendants would travel to
Galveston annually in honor of Juneteenth. That tradition soon spread to other
states, but it wasn't uncommon for white people to bar Black people from
celebrating in public spaces, forcing Black people to get creative. In one such
case, Black community leaders in Houston saved $1,000 to purchase land in 1872
that would be devoted specifically to Juneteenth celebrations, according to the
Houston Parks and Recreation Department. That land became Emancipation Park, a
name that it still bears.

Enlarge this image

Juneteenth is celebrated in Houston's Emancipation Park, which was created
specifically for such celebrations, in 1880. Wikimedia Commons hide caption

toggle caption
Wikimedia Commons


Juneteenth is celebrated in Houston's Emancipation Park, which was created
specifically for such celebrations, in 1880.

Wikimedia Commons

" 'If you want to commemorate something, you literally have to buy land to
commemorate it on' is, I think, just a really potent example of the long-lasting
reality of white supremacy," Walsh said.

Nevertheless, Black Americans found a way to continue to celebrate and lift one
another up. Early on, Juneteenth celebrations often involved helping newly freed
Black folks learn about their voting rights, according to the Texas State
Historical Association. Rodeos and horseback riding were also common. Now,
Juneteenth celebrations commonly involve cookouts, parades, church services,
musical performances and other public events, Walsh explained.

Enlarge this image

People celebrate last year's Juneteenth by riding horses through Washington Park
in Chicago. This year, it is a federal holiday. Natasha Moustache/Getty Images
hide caption

toggle caption
Natasha Moustache/Getty Images


People celebrate last year's Juneteenth by riding horses through Washington Park
in Chicago. This year, it is a federal holiday.

Natasha Moustache/Getty Images

It's a day to "commemorate the hardships endured by ancestors," Walsh said. He
added, "It really exemplifies the survival instinct, the ways that we as a
community really make something out of nothing. ... It's about empowerment and
hopefulness."



And there's reason to be hopeful. After literal decades of activists campaigning
for change, Congress has approved Juneteenth as a federal holiday.

CLARIFICATION JULY 14, 2022



The 13th Amendment did not include Native American lands under tribal autonomy,
where later treaties would negotiate the end of slavery there.
Corrected previously on June 19, 2021: A previous version of this story
incorrectly said that Black community leaders bought the land for Emancipation
Park in Houston in 1867. The land was purchased and park established in 1872.



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