Juneteenth Celebration, 1865

By Kariem Haqq

‘Juneteenth Celebration’ is a celebration of the freedom of approximately 250,000 slaves in Texas (a Rebel State). General Edmund Kirby Smith was the General of the Confederate Department of the Trans Mississippi, officially including Texas, parts of Arkansas, and western Louisiana.  He surrendered on June 2, 1865, to Union General Edward Canby. This was considered a defeat and surrender for the Confederacy in Texas, parts of Arkansas, and western Louisiana. Soon after that, on June 19th, Union soldiers led by General Gordon Granger delivered the news of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation - two and one-half years after it had become official on January 1, 1863. “The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and free laborer.” The last Confederate General (Degadoga a. k. a. Stand Watie) did not officially surrender until June 23, 1865. Four other states (Delaware, Kentucky, New Jersey, and New Hampshire) did not outlaw slavery until the ratification of the 13th Amendment five months later.  Nevertheless, black Americans in Texas and other parts of the country celebrate freedom or the end of slavery for Blacks in Texas on this day. The Juneteenth Celebration has carried the legacy of freedom since the end of the Civil War, and black Americans in Texas and beyond should be commended for their spirit, courage, and hard work.

Juneteenth was not the end of the Civil War, and Juneteenth was not the end of slavery in America. The Civil war ended in Oklahoma with the surrender of Confederate General Stand Watie and the signing of the Treaty stipulations made and entered into on June 23, 1865.  Slavery for all law-abiding Americans did not end until the ratification of the 13th Amendment, dated December 6, 1865.

Emancipation Day Celebration on May 20th in Florida
On May 20th of each year, the State of Florida observes and celebrates the first reading of the Emancipation Proclamation. It was first read on May 20, 1865. The surrender took place on May 10th, 1865, in Tallahassee, FL. Major General Samuel Jones of the Confederate Army surrendered to Brigadier General Edward M. McCook. Civil War re-enactors played the part of Major General Edward McCook and other union soldiers when he read the Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Lincoln on the steps of the Knott House in Tallahassee. It is done in the capital city, Tallahassee.