Juneteenth 2022: History

Juneteenth is the celebration of the end of the most horrific act of labor in all of history: slavery.  During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln saw and heard of the devastation of how African Americans were being treated.  President Lincoln hated this idea and was all about equality to all people. In 1863, President Lincoln drafted the most peaceful, constitutional document that changed the course of history for all African Americans: The Emancipation Proclamation. This document was an announcement proclaiming that slavery was abolished and all those who were enslaved were now free. The news spread like wildfire. Chains were broken and freedom was music to their ears. 

However, the state of Texas would not acknowledge this proclamation until two years later causing over 250,000 enslaved peoples to continue to be subjected to the horrors of slavery. On June 19 1865, a group of Union soldiers lead by General Gordon Granger traveled to Galveston, TX to proclaim the news of the Emancipation Proclamation.

On June 19 1866, the celebration became a tradition and was called Juneteenth. Everyone celebrated with song, dance, prayer, and food. Ever since then, Juneteenth became a celebration worth recognizing and some other states began to follow with Texas.  In 1980, Texas, along with other states, made Juneteenth an official holiday to celebrate. Later on, in 2021, President Joe Biden made Juneteenth a national holiday and other countries are now recognize this holiday.