by Trenna Sue Hiler

Created on: May 26, 2007   Last Updated: November 25, 2009

The freeing of all the slaves in the United States of America was issued from President Abraham Lincoln. The Emancipation Proclamation took effect on January 1st, 1863.

It seems like whenever there are large groups of people there are a certain percentage who believe the laws simply don't apply to them. They refuse to acknowledge change until they are forced. This time is was the people of Texas who were the very last hold outs. They did not believe they had to respect the law and release the slaves.

April 1865, they forced the surrender of General Robert Lee at Appomattox. (Another general who refused to accept the fight was over.) General Gordon Granger and some 2000 troops marched on Galveston to enforce the freedom of 250,000 slaving living in Texas.

General Granger sat the record straight by reading official orders that declared that all slaves, including the ones in Texas were free. The message, while well received by some was bad news for others. However, it was clear that the law had finally arrived and there were enough troops to enforce it.

For the newly released slaves it was deem "Juneteenth" and a holiday. They celebrated by tossing their clothing of slavery into the rivers and dressing from the laundry rooms of their former masters.

Juneteeth became a holiday that was mostly centered around churches and church picnics. All sorts of great southern cooking was enjoyed. No one would ever leave a Juneteenth celebration wanting for food. Often times there would be speakers and a multitude of praying and singing. Where there were larger gatherings they might have a fishing tournament, or some other form of entertainment to fill in the day.

Like most things during the Depression Era the Juneteenth celebration kind of got lost in the shuffle. There was not much for anyone to celebrate then and the gatherings almost disappeared. It could be that anyone north of the Mason-Dixon line didn't even recognize the term.

The in the 1950s and the 1960s the Civil Rights Movements began to remind others of the importance of Juneteenth and celebrations came back and grew bigger and bigger.

African-American writer, Ralph Ellison, used Juneteenth, as the title of his second novel. It was a project he worked on for over forty years.

Juneteenth celebrations have been sponsored by some fairly prominent organizations. Celebrations have been conducted at the Smithsonian Institute and the Henry Ford Museum.

There are currently 13 states that honor this as a state holiday.

sources:

www.infoplease.com

www.juneteenth.com

www.kumc.edu

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