Significance of Juneteenth
On June 19, 1865, the residue of slavery was extracted from the origin of its Southern roots. The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 freed slaves who lived in Southern Confederate states. Towards the end of the Civil War, many slaveholders retreated to Texas, due to its geographical isolation and lack of Union presence in the state. On June 19, 1865, federal troops, led by General Major Grainger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news the war was over and the enslaved were free. It was two years following the initial Executive Order awarding them their freedom. Juneteenth became the ce-liberation of independence for African Americans and a lasting fight for equality.
