America’s newest national holiday, Juneteenth, is right around the corner.
The first day of 1863 saw President Abraham Lincoln issue the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring the freedom of all slaves being held in Confederate territory.
While in theory this freed millions of enslaved people, their true freedom would only come by the announcement of Union troops.
Slaves living in Texas, one of the Confederacy’s least affected states, were some of the last to be informed of their newfound freedom.
On June 19th, 1865, following months of chaos and unrest after the surrender of General Robert E. Lee, Union troops marched into Galveston to restore order to Texas and announce the emancipation of their enslaved people, totaling around 250,000 people.
With this, one of the last major slave populations in the United States were finally made aware of their freedom.
Though this is often thought of as the completion of the spread of the Emancipation Proclamation, it didn’t end slavery.
Slaves in many parts of the country remained under their master’s control before gaining freedom through either the ratification of the 13th Amendment or other treaties signed with the government.
Regardless of when the last slaves were actually freed, June 19th came to symbolize the downfall of one of America’s most backward institutions and would be celebrated as “Juneteenth” for the first time by newly freed African Americans in Galveston, Texas, in 1866.
The practice of celebrating Juneteenth spread from Texas to the rest of the South, as the holiday began to hold increasingly important meaning to African Americans.
The holiday started receiving nationwide recognition following the Great Migration, the movement of millions of African Americans from the South to other regions of the country.
Some of the first celebrations of the holiday involved community gatherings, often centered in churches or parks.
According to juneteenth.com, traditions like drinking strawberry soda and barbecuing became staples of the holiday, as well as participating in sporting events and prayer.
In 1980, Texas became the first state to recognize Juneteenth as a holiday, and the following decades saw many other states follow, resulting in President Biden making Juneteenth the U.S.’s 11th federal holiday in 2021.
Today, Juneteenth celebrations have become much larger with cities like Philadelphia and D.C. hosting parades and gatherings that attract tens of thousands.
A Juneteenth celebration will be held on June 22 at 2 p.m. at Fair Oaks Park, with thousands expected to attend.
