What is Juneteenth?

Even after three years of being a federal holiday there seems to be some questions as to what Juneteenth is and why it is celebrated.

The Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, which was signed into law in 2021, made Juneteenth a federal holiday. Juneteenth, short for June nineteenth, celebrates the day in 1865 when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas freeing all enslaved people. Also known as Freedom Day or Jubilee Day, Juneteenth is the newest federal holiday, meaning all federal offices including postal offices will be closed this year on Wednesday, June 19.

Juneteenth marks the day when all people living in the United States, including the formerly enslaved before the Civil War, were officially granted freedom. The Emancipation Proclamation was issued by President Lincoln on January 1, 1863. The Proclamation only applied to people in Confederate states. Texas was a Confederate state with no large Union Army presence so slavery continued years after the Emancipation Proclamation and even after the 13th Amendment was passed by Congress which officially ended slavery in the United States. The 13th Amendment was ratified on January 31, 1865. Many enslaved in Texas were not aware of the 13th Amendment or even the end of the Civil War. In June of 1865, Union troops landed in Galveston, Texas to tell the enslaved people living there that they were now free.

In 1866, the year after Texas emancipation, formerly enslaved Black Texans began celebrating their freedom with an annual ‘Jubilee Day’ festival. This commemoration is now known as Juneteenth.