The history and significance of Juneteenth

Stephanie Keith // Getty Images

Stephanie Keith // Getty Images

The history and significance of Juneteenth

Juneteenth—also known as Emancipation Day, Freedom Day, or the country’s second Independence Day—stands as an enduring symbol of Black American freedom. When Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger and fellow federal soldiers arrived in Galveston, a coastal town on Texas’ Galveston Island, on June 19, 1865, it was to issue orders for the emancipation of enslaved people throughout the state.

Although telegraph messages had spread news of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, and while the war had been resolved in the Union’s favor since April of 1865, Granger’s message represented a promise of accountability. There was now a large enough coalition to enforce the end of slavery and to overturn th