On June 19, the United States celebrates Juneteenth. The holiday commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S., in 1865. People around the country celebrate the occasion with festivals, concerts, and other gatherings.
Juneteenth is short for “June 19th.” It was on that day, in June 1865, that more than 250,000 enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, found out they’d been freed from slavery.
A Look at History
In 1860 and 1861, 11 Southern states declared their independence from the United States. This started the Civil War. The Southern Confederacy wanted to maintain slavery, while the Northern Union wanted to stop slavery from spreading to new territories.
On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. It declared freedom for enslaved people in the Confederacy. White slave owners kept the news a secret. Many enslaved people would not find out they’d been freed until more than two years later. In April 1865, the Confederacy surrendered to the Union. The war was over. On June 19, Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, to enforce the president’s order. When they told the crowds that the state’s more than 250,000 enslaved people were free, celebrations broke out.
Making a Holiday
In the years after the war, Black people from Galveston moved to different cities, and the celebration spread. The holiday is also called Emancipation Day, or Freedom Day.
In the 1960s, the civil rights movement brought a wider awareness of Juneteenth. On June 19, 1968, two months after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., a Solidarity Day rally was held on June 19 in Washington, D.C. The event drew 50,000 people.
Texas made Juneteenth a state holiday in 1980. Following international protests sparked by the May 2020 killing of George Floyd, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Juneteenth gained even wider recognition.
Five years ago, on June 17, 2021, President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act. It designated Juneteenth a federal holiday. Biden called it “a day of profound weight and power.”
This story was originally published on June 15, 2021. It was updated on June 12, 2026.
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