On January 1, 1863 Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. The Emancipation Proclamation stated that, “slaves within any State, or designated part of a State ... then ... in rebellion, ... shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.” The Emancipation Proclamation did not set all slaves free, but it shifted the focus of the Civil War from the focus of bringing the South back into the Union to a focus on slavery.
After the war was over it is said the message of the Emancipation Proclamation didn’t reach all slaves until somewhere around June more specifically in the teens. In many areas the day June teenth is celebrated around the world by many African Americans; it’s a day when African Americans can be thankful for something that they should have always had…their freedom.
Juneteenth—first celebrated on June 19, 1865—marked the ending of slavery in Texas. It was on this date that Union Major General Gordon Granger announced to the people of Galveston, Texas, that all enslaved persons were officially free.
Although the first celebrations took place in Texas, Juneteenth celebrations can be found in many cities across the country today.
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