ObservanceSaturday, June 19, 2027
Juneteenth
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Juneteenth marks June 19, 1865 — the day Major General Gordon Granger issued General Order No. 3 at Galveston, informing the people of Texas that all enslaved people were free. The Emancipation Proclamation had taken effect two and a half years earlier, and the distance between those two dates is the substance of the holiday: a freedom declared and a freedom enforced are not the same thing. Texas made the day a legal state holiday in 1980; Congress added it to the federal holiday list in 2021.
History
President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation declared enslaved people free as of January 1, 1863, but it did not end slavery in the nation. Enforcement followed the Union Army, and the Army had not reached Texas. The Library of Congress records that Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865 "had not impacted Texas," and that many plantation owners refused to acknowledge the war was over or to release the people they held — a refusal that continued even after General Order No. 3 was issued.
Two Union arrivals changed that. On June 5, 1865, a brigade of the 25th Army Corps, more than 1,000 soldiers of African descent, captured Galveston and spread word of freedom; Civil War historians estimate that thousands of enslaved people reached freedom because of them. On June 19, Granger, commanding the Headquarters District of Texas, issued General Order No. 3 and read it to the people of Galveston.
The order is short and worth reading whole. It announces that "in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free," involving "an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves." It then advises the freed people "to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages" and warns that they "will not be supported in idleness." The National Archives, which holds the original handwritten record, notes that the racist language of those closing sentences foreshadowed how long the fight for equal rights would run. The Thirteenth Amendment, ratified later that year, made slavery unconstitutional nationwide.
Timeline
- January 1, 1863 — The Emancipation Proclamation takes effect, declaring enslaved people in the rebelling states free. It does not end slavery nationwide.
- June 19, 1865 — Major General Gordon Granger issues General Order No. 3 at Galveston, announcing that all enslaved people in Texas are free.
- 1866 — Large June 19 celebrations begin in Texas and continue regularly into the early twentieth century.
- 1872 — Freedmen and women in Houston purchase the land that becomes Emancipation Park, one of several Texas "emancipation grounds."
- January 1, 1980 — Texas House Bill 1016, passed by the 66th Legislature, takes effect, making June 19 a legal state holiday as Emancipation Day in Texas.
- June 17, 2021 — President Biden signs the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, Public Law 117-17, adding Juneteenth to the federal holiday list.
How to observe
Read General Order No. 3 in full. It takes a minute, and the National Archives prints the complete text. The closing lines, telling newly freed people not to collect at military posts and not to expect support "in idleness," are the part commemorations leave out, and they change the document's character.
Visit an emancipation ground. In many parts of Texas, freedmen and women bought land specifically for Juneteenth gatherings: Emancipation Park in Houston, purchased in 1872, is the best documented, and what is now Booker T. Washington Park in Mexia and Emancipation Park in Austin were acquired the same way.
Put red soda water on the table. The Texas State Library and Archives records it alongside prayer services, readings of the Emancipation Proclamation, accounts from formerly enslaved people, rodeos and dances in the early celebrations, which African American Texans treated like the Fourth of July. For the documentary version, the Library of Congress's Chronicling America archive holds the Dallas Herald of July 1, 1865, which printed the order two weeks after Galveston heard it.
Frequently asked questions
Is Juneteenth a federal holiday?
Yes. The Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, Public Law 117-17, was approved June 17, 2021, inserting "Juneteenth National Independence Day, June 19" into the legal public holidays at 5 U.S.C. 6103(a), directly after Memorial Day. It is the eleventh holiday on that list and the first added since the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday in 1983.
Why is Juneteenth on June 19 and not January 1?
January 1, 1863 is when the Emancipation Proclamation took effect; June 19, 1865 is when enforcement reached Texas. Juneteenth commemorates the second date, which is rather the point: the proclamation freed people on paper in places the Union Army did not yet control.
Did General Order No. 3 end slavery in the United States?
No. It applied to Texas. People remained enslaved in the border states that had stayed loyal to the Union, and the Thirteenth Amendment, ratified later in 1865, made slavery unconstitutional throughout the country.
When did Juneteenth become a Texas state holiday?
House Bill 1016, passed in the regular session of the 66th Texas Legislature, made June 19 a legal state holiday as "Emancipation Day in Texas," effective at the start of 1980.
When is Juneteenth?
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2027 | June 19 | Saturday |
| 2028 | June 19 | Monday |
| 2029 | June 19 | Tuesday |
| 2030 | June 19 | Wednesday |
| 2031 | June 19 | Thursday |
Sources
- National Archives, National Archives Safeguards Original "Juneteenth" General Order — https://www.archives.gov/news/articles/juneteenth-original-document → Granger's name and rank; his command of the Headquarters District of Texas; the full text of General Order No. 3 and the quoted phrases; the original handwritten record held at the National Archives Building in Washington, DC; the printed version in the War of the Rebellion volumes; the racist language in the closing sentences; celebrations beginning in 1866.
- Texas State Library and Archives Commission, Texas Observes Juneteenth — https://www.tsl.texas.gov/ref/abouttx/juneteenth → Granger reading the order to the people of Galveston; the order's text; large celebrations beginning in 1866 and continuing into the early twentieth century; prayer services, readings of the Emancipation Proclamation, accounts from formerly enslaved people, red soda water, games, rodeos and dances, and the Fourth of July comparison; emancipation grounds, Emancipation Park in Houston purchased in 1872, Booker T. Washington Park in Mexia and Emancipation Park in Austin; Texas House Bill 1016, 66th Legislature, making June 19 Emancipation Day in Texas effective 1980.
- Library of Congress, Law Library blog, Legislative History of Juneteenth — https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2021/06/legislative-history-of-juneteenth/ → the Emancipation Proclamation's January 1, 1863 effective date and that it did not end slavery in the nation; the Thirteenth Amendment ratified later that year; Public Law 117-17 and Senate bill 475.
- Library of Congress, Today in History — June 19 — https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/june-19/ → Lee's April 9, 1865 surrender at Appomattox Court House not having impacted Texas; plantation owners refusing to acknowledge the war's end or release enslaved workers after the order; the June 5, 1865 capture of Galveston by a brigade of the 25th Army Corps of more than 1,000 soldiers of African descent, and the historians' estimate that thousands reached freedom; people remaining enslaved in loyal border states; Texas recognizing Juneteenth as a state holiday from January 1, 1980; the Dallas Herald of July 1, 1865 printing the order, via Chronicling America.
- U.S. Government Publishing Office, Public Law 117-17, Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, 135 Stat. 287 — https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-117publ17/html/PLAW-117publ17.htm → the public law and bill numbers; "Approved June 17, 2021"; the short title; the statutory holiday name "Juneteenth National Independence Day, June 19"; insertion into 5 U.S.C. 6103(a) after the item relating to Memorial Day.
- U.S. Government Publishing Office, 5 U.S.C. 6103, 2024 edition — https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title5/pdf/USCODE-2024-title5-partIII-subpartE-chap61-subchapI-sec6103.pdf → the current list of eleven legal public holidays and Juneteenth's place in it; the amendment note recording Public Law 98-144 inserting the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday in 1983.
Omitted for lack of a source: the number of people enslaved in Texas in 1865; the name of the legislator who sponsored Texas House Bill 1016; any named organizer of the early celebrations or of the 1872 Emancipation Park purchase; the specific building in Galveston where the order was read; any individual's role in the campaign for the federal holiday.
Rejected as sources: nationaltoday, nationaldaycalendar, checkiday, timeanddate, and content-farm or AI-generated listicles.
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