On June 19th, 1865, U.S. General Gordon Granger issued an order that would change the lives of black men and women throughout the nation. Although slavery came to an official end in the United States with Presdient Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, many enslaved people had not heard of its existence, much less were aware of the freedom it granted.
In formerly Confederate States where the Union Army had not taken hold, many slave owners continued abusing this lack of knowledge, transporting many legally freed slaves to Texas in an effort to flee Union Army forces. This came to a halt, however, when General Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas to enforce the soon-to-be-ratified 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery once and for all.
Thus, Juneteenth, a combination of the word “June” and “Nineteenth” was born, marking a day of profound celebration and liberation for Black Americans. Zintel PR joins this celebration of freedom as the longest-running African American holiday in United States history.