Today is Juneteenth - Marks End of US Slavery

by Stephanie Sobotka | June 19, 2008 at 09:52 am | 502 views | 5 comments

Bobby Valentino in Fort Smith, AR - Pt 2

Bobby Valentino in Fort Smith at Juneteenth 2008

Today is Juneteenth, which marks the end of slavery in the US. On June 19th, 1865 Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, TX with news the war had ended and all slaves would now be free. Today is also commonly known as Texas Emancipation Day. There are festivities and celebrations happening all over the place today. If you happen to go to any please feel free to post your pictures and share your experience here.

Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. [/q]

Juneteenth is a day of reflection, a day of renewal, a pride-filled day. It is a moment in time taken to appreciate the African American experience. It is inclusive of all races, ethnicities and nationalities - as nothing is more comforting than the hand of a friend.

Through the efforts of those at the grassroots level to those on the state and national levels, Juneteenth celebrations are now held in most, if not all, 50 states. Over half have passed some form of legislation establishing Juneteenth as a Special Day of Recognition. Several other sates have similar legislation pending. The recognition and honor of Juneteenth extends even beyond our borders. Expatriates, teachers, servicemen and others have continued their celebrations internationally.

Certain foods became popular and subsequently synonymous with Juneteenth celebrations such as strawberry soda-pop. More traditional and just as popular was the barbecuing, through which Juneteenth participants could share in the spirit and aromas that their ancestors - the newly emancipated African Americans, would have experienced during their ceremonies. Hence, the barbecue pit is often established as the center of attention at Juneteenth celebrations.

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Karen Hatter

at 11:09 on June 19th, 2008

good stuff:

Good stuff, Steph02.

I would add that:

.... Juneteenth, the name believed to be a merging of the month and the date, commerates when 250,000 enslaved persons of African descent and others in Galveston, Texas were read General Order 3 and informed of the Emancipation Proclamation, a document that had been first read to the public on January 1, 1863, a document that, as it was written, had freed the enslaved in Texas and other states and parts of states that had seceded from the Union, two years, five months and eighteen days earlier.

All gathered were told the War Between the States had ended and it was proclaimed that the enslaved were now free. However, the enslaved were encouraged to remain on the plantations where they found themselves, to be inexplicably transformed from unpaid slave to paid worker.

No official reason or excuse for the late reading and pronouncement of the Emancipation Proclamation to the people of Galveston, Texas has ever been given, and is quasi dismissed with a nonchalant shrug and a 'who knows?' attitude.

It is worth considering, when seeking an answer for the delay in notification that, in those days, most of Texas existed as a sparsely settled frontier.

However, Galveston, as a port city, was of tremendous value, for commercial and military reasons, to both the North and the South, which resulted in a fight for control and the blockade of the port by the Union Army forces.

During the Civil War, Galveston Harbor was taken by Union forces for a short time but was retaken by the Confederacy and remained under Confederate control until the end of the war.

The reasons for the delay in informing the inhabitants of Galveston, Texas, free and enslaved, lie within the historical facts pertaining to when Texas entered the Union of the United States of America, on October 13, 1845, its importance as a Union state and its secession to join the Confederate States of America on February 1, 1861, almost two years before the reading of the Emancipation Proclamation.

Inside the Eye of the Storm

Juneteenth - June 2006