On June 19, 1865, Union Army General Gordon Granger read federal orders in Galveston, Texas, that all previously enslaved people in Texas were free — more than two years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Texas was the most remote of the Confederate states, and the last place the Emancipation Proclamation issued two and a half years later was enforced. However, this was not the end of slavery in the United States. People enslaved in Union-held territory were not freed until the passage of the 13th Amendment several months later on December 18, 1865.
As the Civil War came to a close in 1865, a number of people remained enslaved, especially in remote areas. Word of slavery’s end traveled slowly, and for those who were largely isolated from Union armies, life continued as if freedom did not exist.
This was especially the case in Texas, where thousands of slaves were not made aware of freedom until June 19, 1865, when Union Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston and issued an order officially freeing them. Their celebration would serve as the basis of June 19 — or Juneteenth — a holiday celebrating emancipation in the US.
