Two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation, on June 19, 1865, Union soldiers announced in Galveston, Texas, that the Civil War ended. All slaves were now free. Juneteenth, celebrated annually on June 19, is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States.
We may liken Juneteenth to the people of Israel passing over and through the Red Sea, out of slavery and into freedom. But as the Hebrew people found that they had to wander in the wilderness for decades, so too people of color have been struggling in the desert of poverty and persecution in the U.S. for more than a century and a half. Like Passover, Juneteenth is a day to celebrate a resounding victory.
“I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God; and you will know that I, the LORD, am your God who has freed you from the burdens of the Egyptians” — Exodus, 6:7 (usccb.org)
The following excerpt is from The National Museum of African American History and Culture
https://nmaahc.si.edu/blog-post/historical-legacy-juneteenth
On “Freedom’s Eve,” or the eve of January 1, 1863, the first Watch Night services took place. On that night, enslaved and free African Americans gathered in churches and private homes all across the country awaiting news that the Emancipation Proclamation had taken effect. At the stroke of midnight, prayers were answered as all enslaved people in Confederate States were declared legally free. Union soldiers, many of whom were black, marched onto plantations and across cities in the south reading small copies of the Emancipation Proclamation spreading the news of freedom in Confederate States. Only through the Thirteenth Amendment did emancipation end slavery throughout the United States.
But not everyone in Confederate territory would immediately be free. Even though the Emancipation Proclamation was made effective in 1863, it could not be implemented in places still under Confederate control. As a result, in the westernmost Confederate state of Texas, enslaved people would not be free until much later. Freedom finally came on June 19, 1865, when some 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas. The army announced that the more than 250,000 enslaved black people in the state, were free by executive decree. This day came to be known as “Juneteenth,” by the newly freed people in Texas.
The post-emancipation period known as Reconstruction (1865-1877) marked an era of great hope, uncertainty, and struggle for the nation as a whole. Formerly enslaved people immediately sought to reunify families, establish schools, run for political office, push radical legislation and even sue slaveholders for compensation. Given the 200+ years of enslavement, such changes were nothing short of amazing. Not even a generation out of slavery, African Americans were inspired and empowered to transform their lives and their country.
Juneteenth marks our country’s second independence day. Although it has long celebrated in the African American community, this monumental event remains largely unknown to most Americans.
