Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

3 days ago

Trump Says He’s Willing to Let Migrant Farm Laborers Stay in US

3 days ago

US Electric Vehicle Tax Breaks Will Expire on Sept. 30

4 days ago

Eyeing Arctic Dominance, Trump Bill Earmarks $8.6 Billion for US Coast Guard Icebreakers

4 days ago

Trump’s Sweeping Tax-Cut and Spending Bill Wins Congressional Approval

4 days ago

Americans Celebrate Their Independence With Record-Breaking Travel Numbers

4 days ago

US Supreme Court to Decide Legality of Transgender School Sports Bans

4 days ago

Nvidia Set to Become the World’s Most Valuable Company in History

4 days ago

Poll: 41% in US ‘Extremely Proud’ to Be American, Near Historic Low

4 days ago
The Story of Juneteenth, the New Federal Holiday
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 4 years ago on
June 19, 2021

Share

The U.S. government is catching up with Black people who have been commemorating the end of slavery in the United States for generations with a day called “Juneteenth.”

President Joe Biden signed a bill Thursday that was passed by Congress to set aside Juneteenth, or June 19th, as a federal holiday. “I hope this is the beginning of a change in the way we deal with one another,” he said.

The Senate approved the bill unanimously; only 14 House Republicans — many representing states that were part of the slave-holding Confederacy in the 19th century — opposed the measure.

What is this federal holiday, and what is its history? Here’s a look:

The Origins

The celebration started with the freed slaves of Galveston, Texas. Although the Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves in the South in 1863, it could not be enforced in many places until after the end of the Civil War in 1865.

Laura Smalley, freed from a plantation near Bellville, Texas, remembered in a 1941 interview that the man she referred to as “old master” had gone to fight in the Civil War and came home without telling the people he enslaved what had happened.

“Old master didn’t tell, you know, they was free,” Smalley said at the time. “I think now they say they worked them, six months after that. Six months. And turn them loose on the 19th of June. That’s why, you know, we celebrate that day.”

Union Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger and his troops arrived at Galveston on June 19, 1865, with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. That was more than two months after Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in Virginia.

Granger delivered General Order No. 3, which said: “The people of Texas 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 becomes that between employer and hired labor.”

The next year, the now-free people started celebrating Juneteenth in Galveston. Its observance has continued around the nation and the world since. Events include concerts, parades and readings of the Emancipation Proclamation.

What Does ‘Juneteenth’ Mean?

The term Juneteenth is a blend of the words June and nineteenth. The holiday has also been called Juneteenth Independence Day or Freedom Day.

Often celebrated at first with church picnics and speeches, the holiday spread across the nation and internationally as Black Texans moved elsewhere.

The vast majority of states recognize Juneteenth as a holiday or a day of recognition, like Flag Day, and most states hold celebrations. Juneteenth is a paid holiday for state employees in Texas, New York, Virginia and Washington, and hundreds of companies give workers a day off for Juneteenth.

Why Now?

The national reckoning over race helped set the stage for Juneteenth to become the first new federal holiday since 1983, when Martin Luther King Jr. Day was created.

The bill was sponsored by Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., and had 60 co-sponsors. Bipartisan support emerged as lawmakers struggle to overcome divisions that are still simmering following the police killing last year of George Floyd in Minnesota.

Supporters of the holiday have worked to make sure Juneteenth celebrators don’t forget why the day exists.

“In 1776 the country was freed from the British, but the people were not all free,” Dee Evans, national director of communications of the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation, said in 2019. “June 19, 1865, was actually when the people and the entire country was actually free.”

There’s also sentiment to use the day to remember the sacrifices that were made for freedom in the United States — especially in these racially and politically charged days. Said Para LaNell Agboga, museum site coordinator at the George Washington Carver Museum, Cultural and Genealogy Center in Austin, Texas: “Our freedoms are fragile, and it doesn’t take much for things to go backward.”

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

How Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Will Make China Great Again

DON'T MISS

What’s Caitlin Clark Worth to the WNBA? A Lot More Than Her $78,066 Salary.

DON'T MISS

Trump to Sign Tax-Cut and Spending Bill in July 4 Ceremony

DON'T MISS

Madre Fire Spurs Evacuations Across 3 Counties, Grows to More Than 70,000 Acres

DON'T MISS

Clovis, Sanger, Madera, and Bass Lake Will Light the Sky With Fireworks Shows Tonight

DON'T MISS

Oil Dips Ahead of Expected OPEC+ Output Increase

DON'T MISS

613 Killed at Gaza Aid Distribution Sites, Near Humanitarian Covoys, Says UN

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Authorities Investigating Suspicious Death of Transient Man

DON'T MISS

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

DON'T MISS

Israeli Military Kills 20 in Gaza as Trump Awaits Hamas Reply to Truce Proposal

UP NEXT

What’s Caitlin Clark Worth to the WNBA? A Lot More Than Her $78,066 Salary.

UP NEXT

Trump to Sign Tax-Cut and Spending Bill in July 4 Ceremony

UP NEXT

Madre Fire Spurs Evacuations Across 3 Counties, Grows to More Than 70,000 Acres

UP NEXT

Clovis, Sanger, Madera, and Bass Lake Will Light the Sky With Fireworks Shows Tonight

UP NEXT

Oil Dips Ahead of Expected OPEC+ Output Increase

UP NEXT

613 Killed at Gaza Aid Distribution Sites, Near Humanitarian Covoys, Says UN

UP NEXT

Fresno County Authorities Investigating Suspicious Death of Transient Man

UP NEXT

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

UP NEXT

Israeli Military Kills 20 in Gaza as Trump Awaits Hamas Reply to Truce Proposal

UP NEXT

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Rachelle Maria Blanco

Trump Administration Acknowledges Lack of Evidence From Epstein Documents

1 hour ago

Dollar rises after Trump announces Japan, South Korea tariffs

2 hours ago

Merced Man Gets More Than 15 Years for Meth Trafficking, High-Speed Chase

2 hours ago

Man Dead After Firing at US Border Patrol Station in Texas

4 hours ago

Tulare County Flume Fire Burns 65 Acres in Sequoia National Forest, Evacuation Order Issued

4 hours ago

Fresno County Fish Fire Burns 15 Acres Near Avocado Lake, 50% Contained

4 hours ago

Wanted Fugitive Found Hiding in Attic Arrested in Chowchilla

4 hours ago

Trump Says US Will Impose 25% Tariffs on Japan, South Korea

5 hours ago

Wall Street Knocked Lower by Tariff Jitters, Musk’s Political Plan Hurts Tesla

5 hours ago

Trial Over Free Speech on Campus, and Trump’s Student Crackdown, Begins

5 hours ago

July 4 Weekend Was No Picnic for Fresno-Area Firefighters. How Bad Did It Get?

How busy were Fresno-area fire departments on July 4 weekend? Some local departments that GV Wire spoke with were still compiling numbers, b...

51 minutes ago

51 minutes ago

July 4 Weekend Was No Picnic for Fresno-Area Firefighters. How Bad Did It Get?

Tulare County fire investigators seized about 300 pounds of illegal fireworks and issued multiple citations during a Fourth of July enforcement operation with the sheriff’s office. (Tulare County SO)
51 minutes ago

Tulare County Seizes 300 Pounds of Illegal Fireworks Over Fourth of July

Model of natural gas pipeline and U.S. flag, July 18, 2022. (Reuters File)
1 hour ago

US Proposes Rules That Could Boost Oil, Gas Output in US West

Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks during a news conference at the White House in Washington, June 27, 2025. For months, Bondi promised the release of documents on the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein that could reveal damaging details, drumming up anticipation over the files, long a source of speculation and conspiracy theories — but on Monday, July 7, a memo by the Justice Department undercut her own statements. (Pete Marovich/The New York Times)
1 hour ago

Trump Administration Acknowledges Lack of Evidence From Epstein Documents

U.S. dollar banknotes are seen in this illustration taken May 4, 2025. (Reuters File)
2 hours ago

Dollar rises after Trump announces Japan, South Korea tariffs

A U.S. Justice Department logo or seal showing Justice Department headquarters, known as "Main Justice," is seen behind the podium in the Department's headquarters briefing room before a news conference with the Attorney General in Washington, January 24, 2023. (Reuters File)
2 hours ago

Merced Man Gets More Than 15 Years for Meth Trafficking, High-Speed Chase

Photo of caution tape
4 hours ago

Man Dead After Firing at US Border Patrol Station in Texas

The Flume Fire in Sequoia National Forest has burned 65 acres near Highway 190 with no containment as of Monday, July 7, 2025, prompting evacuations in Tulare County. (CalFire)
4 hours ago

Tulare County Flume Fire Burns 65 Acres in Sequoia National Forest, Evacuation Order Issued

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend