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This article is
about the holiday. For the work by Ralph Ellison, see Juneteenth (novel).
Juneteenth
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Also called
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Freedom Day or Emancipation Day
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Observed by
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Residents of the United
States, especially African Americans
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Type
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Ethnic, historical
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Significance
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Emancipation of last remaining slaves in the United States
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Date
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June 19
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Observances
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Exploration and celebration of African American history
and heritage
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Contents |
Observation
The state of Texas is widely considered the first U.S. state to begin Juneteenth celebrations with informal observances taking place for over a century; it has been an official state holiday since 1890. It is considered a "partial staffing holiday", meaning that state offices do not close, but some employees will be using a floating holiday to take the day off. Schools are not closed, but most public schools in Texas are already into summer vacation by June 19th. Its observance has spread to many other states, with a few celebrations even taking place in other countries.[4][5]As of June 2011, 42 states[2] and the District of Columbia have recognized Juneteenth as either a state holiday or state holiday observance; these are Alabama, Alaska,[5] Arizona, Arkansas, California,[5] Colorado, Connecticut,[5] Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas,[3] Kentucky,[6][7] Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi [8][9] Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey,[5] New Mexico, New York,[5] North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas,[2] Vermont,[2] Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.[10]
Eight states have not recognized Juneteenth: Hawaii, Maryland, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Utah.
History
Ashton
Villa, from whose front balcony the Emancipation Proclamation was read on
June 19, 1865.
Though Abraham
Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on September
22, 1862, with an effective date of January 1, 1863, it had minimal immediate
effect on most slaves’ day-to-day lives, particularly in the Confederate States of America. Many
liberated slaves died during emancipation as a result of the illness that
devastated army regiments. Freed slaves suffered from smallpox, yellow fever,
and malnutrition. [11] Texas,
as a part of the Confederacy, was resistant to the Emancipation Proclamation.
Juneteenth commemorates June 18 and 19, 1865. June 18 is the day Union
General Gordon Granger and 2,000 federal troops arrived in Galveston,
Texas, to take possession of the state and enforce the emancipation of its
slaves. On June 19, 1865, legend has it while standing on the balcony of
Galveston’s Ashton Villa, Granger read the contents of “General
Order No. 3”:
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 freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present
homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to
collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness
either there or elsewhere.[12]
That day has since become known
as Juneteenth, a name coming from a portmanteau
of the words June and teenth like nineteenth and other
numbers ending with -teenth.Former slaves in Galveston rejoiced in the streets with jubilant celebrations. Juneteenth celebrations began in Texas the following year.[12] Across many parts of Texas, freed people pooled their funds to purchase land specifically for their communities and increasingly large Juneteenth gatherings — including Houston’s Emancipation Park, Mexia’s Booker T. Washington Park, and Emancipation Park in Austin.[12]
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