The day marking the end of slavery in the U.S. has been celebrated for over a century but is yet to obtain the status of federal holiday.
June 19 marks a day of celebrations for African Americans across the U.S. as they commemorate the end of slavery in the country. Celebrated since the late 1860s, Juneteenth, as the date has become known, has developed to be a nationally recognized day of festivity, with several cities planning events to commemorate the day. Here’s all you need to know about June 19. June 19 is a day of celebration for African Americans across the country, as it marks the day in 1865 when Texas became the last state to announce the Emancipation Proclamation, bringing slavery to an end throughout the nation. The Emancipation Proclamation had been issued on January 1, 1863 by President Abraham Lincoln but the last enslaved Black people in Texas learned of their freedom only over two years later, when Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston to announce the Civil War had ended—Confederate General Robert E. Lee had surrendered approximately two months earlier—and that slavery had been outlawed.
