Juneteenth, or June 19, commemorates the day in 1865 when slavery was ended in the United States. Also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, Juneteenth was recognized as a federal holiday on June 17, 2021, when President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law.

Why June 19th?

Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. The proclamation declared that slaves were free, but it did not actually end slavery in the United States. It was not until January 31, 1865, that the 13th Amendment was passed, which formally abolished slavery in the United States, and many African-American slaves were not aware of their freedom until many years later.

And it was not until June 19, 1865 -- following the last battle of the Civil War at Palmetto Ranch in Texas -- that Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger and Union soldiers marched into Galveston and announced that the Civil War had ended and that the enslaved were now free. The celebration that followed the announcement was called Juneteenth.

June 19, 1865, “was the day that enslaved African Americans in Texas were told that slavery had ended, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation had been signed…”