IN 2021 JUNETEENTH BECAME A FEDERAL HOLIDAY commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. However, many people know little about the holiday’s origins. Let’s explore them, step by step…

SEPTEMBER 22, 1862 – – – President Abraham Lincoln drafted an executive order which (among other things) abolished slavery in the Confederate states which were “currently engaged in rebellion against the union.” This order went into effect on January 1, 1863. Although it did not free all of the approximately four million enslaved men, women, and children in the United States, it was an important first step.

DECEMBER 6, 1865 – – – The Emancipation Proclamation was followed by the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. This amendment was approved by Congress on January 31, 1865 and it reads:

Though President Lincoln was actively involved in getting the 13th Amendment passed by Congress, he did not live to see it become the law of the land. He was assassinated on April 15, 1865. On December 6, 1865, the Amendment had been ratified by a majority of the states – although Mississippi did not ratify the amendment until 1995. The image below is from the National Archives.

JUNETEENTH TODAY

The origins of Juneteenth go back to June 19, 1865. That’s when federal troops enforced the Emancipation Proclamation in Galveston, Texas bringing chattel slavery there to an end. That event was first commemorated in Texas in 1866 and over the years it has come to be celebrated nationwide. It is an affirmation of our evolving understanding of freedom and what it means to all of us.

HAPPY JUNETEENTH TO OUR FRIENDS

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