Slavery Officially Abolished in Texas on Juneteenth

On June 19, 1865, Union Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and issued General Order No. 3, announcing that all enslaved people in Texas were free. This moment came more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation had been signed by President Lincoln, but due to the Civil War and Texas’s remote location, enforcement had been delayed.

This day became known as Juneteenth—a blend of “June” and “nineteenth”—and it marks the final enforcement of emancipation in the last Confederate state where slavery had persisted. Though slavery wasn’t formally abolished nationwide until the 13th Amendment was ratified in December 1865, Juneteenth has come to symbolize the end of slavery in the United States.

Celebrated since 1866, Juneteenth has grown from local observances to a federal holiday, officially recognized in 2021. It’s a powerful reminder of delayed justice—and enduring hope.