As the Civil War came to a conclusion, federal soldiers reclaimed control of the rebelling states. Arriving in Texas in June of 1865, military officials found a population that remained in slavery despite being freed by President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and the passage of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.
In response to this issue, General Gordon Grainger issued General Orders No. 3 on June 19, 1865, stating: The people 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 personal rights and rights of property, between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them, become that between employer and hired labor.
Texas was geographically isolated and the news of the end of the war and the federal abolition of slavery had not reached the enslaved population of the state. Grainger’s pronouncement prompted a jubilee celebration and from that day, June 19, or Juneteenth as it is known, became a day of commemoration.
Learn about “The Historical Legacy of Juneteenth” from the National Museum of African American History & Culture: https://nmaahc.si.edu/blog-post/historical-legacy-juneteenth.
