HISTORY OF JUNETEENTH Juneteenth, also referred to as Emancipation Day, or Freedom Day, or the Black 4th of July, or Cel-Liberation Day, among other terms, is the oldest event in America celebrated nationally to commemorate the coming to an end of the slavery period in the US. The day originates back in June 19, 1865, when Major General Gordon Granger led the Union soldiers to Texas. The Major General had gone to announce the end civil war had ended and deliver the message that the slaves be freed.
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ccording to history, the message of freedom was delivered in Texas two and a half years after Abraham Lincoln, the-then US president, had officially signed an Emancipation Proclamation long ago on January 1, 1863. Slavery had proceeded in Texas for two and a half more years after it had come to an end in other parts of the US. History states that Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation implementation delays in Texas were a result of the inadequacy of Union troops in Texas to implement the Executive Order. The Order was eventually fully enforced in Texas following the surrender of the rebellious General Lee in April that year. The US government then sent an 122
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adequate number of troops to Texas to enforce the orders and overcome the resistance. After freedom was granted to the slaves of Texas, investigations to determine why the state had not honored the Executive Orders for two and a half years took the course. The investigations resulted in the emergence of several different versions that have been passed down to the other generations. One of the versions is the story of the murder of the messenger while he was on the way to Texas to deliver the message that would see the slaves set free. Another version explains that the orders were deliberately upheld by the enslavers so that they could continue using the THE POWER IS NOW MAGAZINE | JUNE 2020
