In the summer of 1865, the good news of freedom finally came to more than 250,000 slaves in Texas. Union troops gathered in the city of Galveston and read a general’s order to the public: “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.”
The order, issued on June 19, was a watershed moment for Black Texans. They should have been freed two years earlier, under the Emancipation Proclamation. But Texas, a Confederate stronghold, refused to recognize that decree until the tail end of the Civil War, when Union troops arrived carrying the handwritten order. Those enslaved celebrated their Freedom Day as “Juneteenth,” and the unofficial holiday was passed down from generation to generation.
Read Full Article »