What Is Juneteenth?

Juneteenth is a national holiday in the United States, it falls on the 19th of June each year – hence the name. This day has several different names, some include Freedom Day or America’s Second Independence Day. The day commemorates the end of slavery after the Civil War in the United States.

On January 1st, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that all people who were being held as slaves were to be free. This became national policy and is now known as the Thirteenth Amendment. Despite this, not everyone held in slavery would become free on January 1st, 1863. This was due to Confederate territory, and the Proclamation could not become effective in places that were still under Confederate control. On June 19th, 1865, freedom finally came to all enslaved people in the US. Union troops came to Galveston Bay, Texas, and by executive decree set the slaves free. This day is now celebrated as Juneteenth.

Although this monumental event remains largely unknown to most Americans, for example, Juneteenth did not become a federal holiday until 2021, it has been long celebrated in the African American community. Juneteenth marks our country’s second Independence Day, celebrating freedom and the end of slavery for African Americans in the US – this day of historical legacy shows the value of never giving up hope in uncertain times.