What is Juneteenth? Holiday History, Meaning and Why We Celebrate

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Yi-Jin Yu is an editor and reporter for TODAY Digital and leads digital coverage for Weekend TODAY on Saturday mornings. She is based in New York City.

Juneteenth marks one of the most important moments in American history: the end of slavery in the United States. On June 19, 1865, federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas and informed 250,000 enslaved people across the state that they were free — two and a half years after Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.

3 in Galveston, Texas, with Granger saying, “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.” Slavery was formally abolished after Congress ratified the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution nearly six months later, on Dec. 6, 1865. Freed slaves marked June 19 the following year, kicking off the first celebration of Juneteenth.

 

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