▲

The June 19 announcement came more than two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. This meant the around 250,000 enslaved people in Texas were already free, but they just weren't aware of it.

▲

Barack Obama, the nation’s first African-American president, issued statements seven times during his presidency to mark Juneteenth.

▲

Unlike the Fourth of July, America's national celebration of independence from British rule, Juneteenth truly commemorates freedom for all in America.

Sources: (CNN) (Mental Floss) (Live Science)

▲

The late Texas state representative Al Edwards is known as the "father of Juneteenth." He sponsored the bill that made Juneteenth a state holiday in 1980.

▲

The federal recognition of Juneteenth is important because it reminds Americans of the shameful period of slavery and the Reconstruction era that followed.

▲

In 1872, former slaves Richard Allen, Richard Brock, Jack Yates, and Elias Dibble pooled together US$800 and purchased 10 acres (4,840 m2) of land, which they deemed Emancipation Park (pictured). Until the 1950s, it was the only public park and swimming pool in the Houston area for African Americans.

▲

Despite the announcement, enslavers in Texas weren’t too happy to part with what they saw as their property. When the newly freed people tried to leave, many of them were beaten or even killed.

▲

The real reason for the gap is probably that Lincoln’s proclamation simply wasn’t enforceable in the rebel states before the end of the Civil War.

▲

On June 19, 1865, General Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, Texas, and announced that enslaved people were now free. Since then, June 19 has been celebrated as Juneteenth across the country. The oldest known US celebration of the end of slavery, Juneteenth is celebrated much like the Fourth of July, with parties, picnics, and gatherings with family and friends. But how did it really come about? And what's its significance today?

Check out this gallery for everything you should know about this historic event and celebration.

▲

In addition to the Jim Crow laws, the Great Depression forced many black farming families away from rural areas and into urban environments to seek work. This made it difficult to take the day off to celebrate.

▲

The Civil War ended in the summer of 1865. Union General Gordon Granger and his troops traveled to Galveston, Texas, to announce General Orders No. 3 on June 19, 1865. This day would go on to be known as Juneteenth.

▲

With life defined by oppression on all sides, it became difficult to celebrate freedom. Especially during the era of Jim Crow laws.

▲

Juneteenth National Independence Day is the first federal holiday established since Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1983.

▲

Celebrations include public readings of the Emancipation Proclamation, singing traditional songs, and reading works by noted African-American writers. Rodeos, street fairs, cookouts, family reunions, and park parties are also common traditions.

▲

During the civil rights movement of the 1960s, the Poor People’s March planned by Martin Luther King Jr. was purposely scheduled to coincide with Juneteenth.

▲

More than half of the states recognize Juneteenth as a paid state holiday, and all states have some recognition or observance.

▲

Many enslavers deliberately suppressed General Granger’s order until after the harvest, and some beyond that.

▲

Opal Lee is a Texas activist who worked for years to have Juneteenth recognized nationwide. Known as the "grandmother of Juneteenth," she attended the presidential signing of the bill into law.

▲

The march brought Juneteenth back, and when participants took the celebrations back to their home states, the holiday was reborn.

▲

News traveled slowly back then, but many struggled to explain the gap between Lincoln’s proclamation and the enslaved individuals’ freedom. This led to speculation that some prominent Texans suppressed the announcement.

▲

However, the announcement actually urged freedmen and freedwomen to stay with their former owners.

▲

Most freed people weren't interested in staying with the individuals who had enslaved them, even if pay was involved. What followed was called "The Great Migration," or "the scatter," where over six million former slaves left the South to find family members or more welcoming accommodations in northern regions.

▲

Between 1863 and 1865, slaves who were brought to Texas from other states helped to spread the word among enslaved African Americans about emancipation elsewhere in the failing Confederacy.

▲

Juneteenth references the date of the holiday, June 19, combining the words "June" and "nineteenth."

▲

Designed by L.J. Graf, the Juneteenth flag is full of symbolism. The colors red, white, and blue symbolize that the enslaved people and their descendants are Americans. The star in the middle pays homage to Texas, while the bursting star represents a new freedom and a new people.

▲

Thanks to the efforts of activists such as Opal Lee, Congress passed legislation making Juneteenth a federal holiday in 2021. President Joe Biden signed the bill into law on June 17, 2021.

▲

Juneteenth is also referred to as Emancipation Day, Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, and Liberation Day.

▲

Churches often hosted Juneteenth celebrations, and as African Americans became landowners, they donated land for the festivities. Many of the first Juneteenth celebrations were oral history events, during which speakers would talk about life under slavery.

▲

The first Juneteenth celebrations took place in 1866 throughout East Texas. This was the region where the majority of the state's African Americans settled after emancipation.

▲

When former slaves tried to celebrate the first anniversary of the announcement, they faced a problem. Segregation laws were expanding rapidly, so there were no public places that they were permitted to use.