What is Juneteenth? June 19th or “Juneteenth” is a very important day in African American history. Juneteenth, or “Freedom Day” is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. This holiday is considered the “longest-running African-American holiday” and has been called “America’s second Independence Day.” It was on June 19, 1865, that Union soldiers, led by Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger landed in Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that all slaves were free.
President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, as the nation approached its third year of bloody civil war. The proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free."
Except for Texas. It was the last state to free slaves.
It wasn’t until more than two years later, in June of 1865, that U.S. Army troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas to officially announce and enforce emancipation. June 19, 1865 when the last Confederate community of enslaved Americans in Galveston, Texas, received word that they had been freed from bondage.
That is how June 19, became Juneteenth. Share with others. Have a blessed holiday weekend. 
