NAACP

Today Juneteenth commemorates African American freedom and emphasizes education and achievement. Juneteenth celebrates the freedom of over 250,000 slaves in Texas at the close of the Civil War. The holiday is now celebrated nationwide. The celebration takes its name from June 19, 1865, the day federal troops arrived in Galveston to enforce the  Emancipation Proclamation. Although the Proclamation had taken effect on January 1, 1863, it freed few, if any, slaves at that time.

News of the war’s end did not reach Texas until well after the Confederate surrender at Appomattox . Many speculate that the news was deliberately withheld so that slave owners could bring in one last crop. Others believe that the news was delayed because the messenger traveled by mule while some believe the original messenger was murdered en route. (more…)