June 13, 2022
A brief history of Juneteenth
By Alyssa Lopez, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of History and Classics
Legend has it that General Gordon Granger of the United States Army marched into Galveston, Texas, in June 1865 and loudly proclaimed that all enslaved people in the state were formally free, by order of the federal government. Some claim that he gave the June 19th order from the balcony of his villa, while others argue that he traveled to a number of key political and social locations in the city citing the law. Regardless of his method, the enslaved people of Texas were the last in the former confederacy to learn of their emancipation from bondage.
The Civil War had been officially over since April, but Confederate soldiers in Texas continued to fight until May. When the final surrender occurred in early June, United States forces moved in to restore order – many white Confederate soldiers were wreaking havoc on the state after their loss by rioting, looting, and targeting Black people – and share General Order No. 3, reiterating the freedom of the state’s few hundred thousand enslaved men, women, and children. The Emancipation Proclamation, issued two years earlier in 1863, had already legally mandated this freedom, but the news spread slowly and was ignored by the Confederacy. Even those enslaved who had heard the news may have only shared it with gleeful but hushed whispers, fearful of violent reprisals.
The first Juneteenth celebration took place in Austin, Texas, the year following Granger’s announcement. Most gatherings took place in parks, sometimes on land bought outright by a local Black community because of segregation laws, and involved hundreds of people commemorating the event. Community members came together to meticulously plan, advertise, and then joyfully celebrate freedom. Even then, in this post-Emancipation, Reconstruction-driven society, open celebration of the holiday could be a dangerous decision. White people in Texas and throughout other areas in the South where Juneteenth was first celebrated were resistant to any form of Black equality and to any changes to what they considered their way of life, namely slavery and an inherently unequal racial hierarchy, for which they had gone to war and ceded from the nation to protect. In this atmosphere, the significance of the celebration becomes all the more clear.
Black Americans who commemorate(d) Juneteenth were not necessarily celebrating the supposedly natural arc of justice in the United States. Rather, the holiday marks an important moment in African American history, in which formerly enslaved people were able to experience the fullness of their humanity. In the aftermath of the Order, freed people sought to legalize their marriages, find family members who had been sold far away during slavery, engage in wage work, and attend schools. These and other choices, which were made possible because of freedom, are at the core of Juneteenth and are joined by remembrances of the resiliency of Black people in the nation’s history.
Indeed, Juneteenth celebrations also serve as moments to honor Black history and historical actors. The Emancipation Proclamation was often read aloud, events were held at historically significant sites like churches, and the singing of the Black national anthem, James Weldon Johnson’s “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” was on the day’s list of programs. This connection between the past and the present, linking the moment of belated emancipation to contemporary Black life, persists. Juneteenth is both an honoring of the past and a celebration of Black life.
For generations, Juneteenth celebrations have included parties in public parks, parades through city streets, and barbecues and fireworks in family members’ backyards. This intimate holiday, shared mostly among Black communities in various states throughout the country, has only recently come to national attention. In the summer of 2021, just about a year after protestors took to many city streets demanding accountability in the police murders of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, President Biden made Juneteenth a federal holiday, marking this history as one of national importance.
But what does Juneteenth mean for the nation? For those new to the holiday, especially white Americans, Juneteenth can serve as an important moment of reflection on American history. As a commemoration of a belated announcement of freedom in tandem with a celebration of the richness of Black history in this country, Juneteenth encourages a confrontation of the contradictions inherent in America. As a second Independence Day of sorts, Juneteenth is a reminder of the important contributions Black people have made to this nation, but also the enduring struggles of those same people. There is certainly more work left for the nation to achieve the full equality promised at its founding.
