Did you know that Americans all over the country celebrate this amazing day, and have for over 150 years? Juneteenth is a sort of Independence day and many, including myself, had no clue that Juneteenth was even a thing.
I am excited to share 3 things you didn’t know about the American Holiday – Juneteenth! Keep reading!
Special shout out to Glammarks for the custom Juneteenth illustrations she created for this blog post. She is incredibly talented and be sure to follow her on Instagram and contact her for all your custom sketch work needs.
Juneteenth
1.Juneteenth is about freedom
First, a short history lesson. You probably remember from history class that On September 22, 1862, during the American Civil War, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared the freedom of all Confederate-held slaves. Well, on that day American slaves were officially free according to the law effective on January 1, 1863.
2. Hard road to freedom
However, the emancipation, was difficult to enforce because many areas of the country had very little Union presence.
For example… Texas remained unaffected partly due to its geographical location.
Many slave owners moved there with their slaves to Texas in order to keep their slaves from hearing about the emancipation. By the end of the Civil War, the number of slaves in Texas had increased by tens of thousands, to over 250,000
3. Juneteenth as we know it
On June 19th, 1865 Major General Gordon Granger traveled to Texas to officially declare that slavery was dead! The American Holiday Juneteenth was born as a result of that day.
The slaves who got the news were jubilant to hear of their freedom on Juneteenth. In the book, “Lone Star Pasts: Memory and History in Texas,” Felix Haywood, a former slave who gave a testimony about Juneteenth as part of a New Deal project recalled:
“The end of the war, it come jus’ like that—like you snap your fingers….Hallelujah broke out….Soldiers, all of a sudden, was everywhere—comin’ in bunches, crossin’, walkin’ and ridin’. Everyone was a-singin.’ We was all walkin’ on golden clouds….Everybody went wild…We was free. Just like that we was free.”
I have always loved the 4th of July. If you know me, you know that actually, the 4th of July is MY FAVORITE holiday! I am so excited to add Juneteenth to my list of favorite holidays. It is such a lovely day to celebrate in American history.
Please check out my Juneteenth celebration blog here (coming soon).
xo- Chantea
check out my other post –Free Family Activities
