Welcome to the Juneteenth National Independence Day research guide. The intent of this guide is to provide information on the Juneteenth holiday, including historical context and present-day celebrations. This guide also offers general information about emancipation in the United States and the end of the enslavement of African-Americans, along with other resources for African-American Studies, although it is by no means comprehensive.
On June 17, 2021 President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. signed into law the bill that established Juneteenth National Independence Day, June 19, as a legal public holiday. Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the date Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and delivered General Order No. 3 announcing the end of legalized slavery in Texas. Historically, Juneteenth has been a holiday celebrated by people of African descent in the United States, as well as people in Canada, Jamaica, Nigeria, the United Kingdom, and other countries throughout the world. Juneteenth is a “symbolic date” representing the African American struggle for freedom and equality, and a celebration of family and community.
Although two years and six months had passed since President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, many African Americans remained enslaved in Confederate states and also in the border slave states that remained loyal to the Union. The surrender of General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Court House, Virginia on April 9, 1865 had not impacted Texas. Many plantation owners refused to acknowledge that the war was over and refused to “release” their enslaved workers from bondage. This practice continued even after the issuance of General Order No. 3.
General Order No. 3, delivered by Major General Gordon Granger on June 19, 1865, stated:
The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.
This information about Juneteenth comes from the Library of Congress Digital Collections Today in history - June 19th, Juneteenth. This page also includes an original image of General Order No.3.
The image you see in this box is the Juneteenth Flag, one of the ways Juneteenth is marked by celebrants. (For more information about the flag's symbols and their meaning as well as its history, see this short article from CNN: The Juneteenth flag is full of symbols. Here’s what they mean.)
The National Museum of African American History and Culture offers these step-by-step instructions on making a Juneteenth Flag.
Emancipation in the United States was a process that occurred over the course of several years. Because of this, there are multiple dates that can and have been used to celebrate the end of slavery. Below are some taken from Henry Louis Gates' informative article "What is Juneteenth?".
Gates, H. L., Jr. (2013, June 17). What is Juneteenth? The Root. https://www.theroot.com/what-is-juneteenth-1790896900
Thank you to the librarians at Wayne State University Library System for the resources compiled in their Juneteenth Research Guide and to the librarians at Washington University in St. Louis for their Juneteenth guide.
