In the early part of April, 1865, the fighting of the Civil War was very intense, though the years of war and the lack of supplies were starting to wear on both sides, and the Soldiers of the south were suffering heavy losses. General Lee and General Grant were but a few miles apart, when they began a brief correspondence. On April 9, 1865, the two generals met at Appomattox, Virginia. General Lee signed the surrender, and the fighting of the American Civil War was at an end.

There were many reasons that the North and South fought, but the most socially significant was the issue of Slavery. West Africans had been captured, then brought against their will to the Western Hemisphere by way of the Middle Passage – an extremely dangerous Atlantic Sea voyage during which the Africans suffered horrific atrocities - for hundreds of years before the start of the Civil War.

A few years before Lee’s Surrender at Appomattox, President Abraham Lincoln found himself faced with a growing population of those living in the northern, still-united states who were proclaiming The Abolition of Slavery as a necessity in a free country. Facing this growing demand, and after searching his own soul, President Lincoln drafted the Emancipation Proclamation. It was passed by congress and took affect on January 1, 1863. At the time, there were very few slave-owners still living in the northern states, so the Emancipation Proclamation was, at first, more a matter of principal than something that was actually enforceable.

When the war was over, and we were once again The United States, there was one matter left to take care of: The Slaves. Across the south, slave-owners were releasing their slaves and, one state at a time, the Union Army was beginning to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation.

Unlike most of the other southern states, Texas seemed to be somewhat removed from the affects of the war and it took a very long time for the news of emancipation to reach the slaves living there. No one knows exactly why it took the news so long to reach Texas – it’s speculated that the messenger might have been riding a mule, or was possibly murdered en route; the message might have been deliberately held up as long as possible to keep the labor force enslaved, or, as some speculate, it might have been held up just long enough for the land owners to harvest one last cotton crop. For what ever reason, word did not reach the slaves of Texas until June 19, 1865 when Union soldiers lead by General Gordon Granger landed on the island of Galveston, Texas.

General Granger had many rules and regulations that the Texans would have to follow, but the most important was his third, in which he decreed “People of Texas are informed… All slaves are free.”

Try and imagine the feelings that filled the newly-freed slaves: Jubilation, was, of course, the overwhelming feeling. But there was probably a good bit of fear – what would the slaves do now? Where would they go? What would they do to feed their families? Could it be a trick? It’s also likely that there was a lot of confusion as well.

June 19th, which was soon dubbed “Juneteenth,” has been celebrated as a day of freedom and liberation for just over 140 years. These celebrations were, for in large part, unnoticed by those outside of the African American community until recently. They have become celebrations of unity, diversity, reflection and acknowledgments of the evils of slavery and the affects that it has had on our society and our communities.

To date, Junteenth is recognized in Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Washington D.C., Wyoming as holidays or observances. These are not the only states in which Juneteenth is celebrated, though. In fact, you can probably find a Juneteenth celebration very close to home.

I highly suggest attending a Juneteenth celebration! It’s a wonderful way to connect personally with, and learn about, a part of American History that still affects our society today.

Some of the largest Juneteenth celebrations take place in:
Houston, Texas
Kansas City, Missouri
Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Birmingham, Alabama
Milwaukie, Wisconsin
Minneapolis, Minnesota