The story of Juneteenth begins in Texas when Major General Gordon Granger
arrived in Galveston on June 19, 1865, with an announcement. As the community
listened to the reading of General Orders, Number 3, the people of Galveston
learned for the first time that the Civil War was over. Of course, the Emancipation Proclamation had been made in 1863, but they didn't have the internet back then.
News traveled slowly, even stubbornly during and after the War between the
States. Over two years earlier, President Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of
State William H. Seward signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Only two months
before Major General Granger arrived in Galveston, General Lee surrendered at
Appomattox. And the country was already mourning the assassination of President
Lincoln. Just weeks before Granger arrived, the official final surrender took
place. And yet, this community in the west remained the last to know of their
freedom. They required word, official word, to feel the effects of what was already
happening in the rest of the country.
Emancipation Timeline:
January 1, 1863 – Emancipation Proclamation signed
April 9, 1865 – General Robert E. Lee surrenders to General Ulysses S. Grant at
Appomattox Court House, Virginia
April 14, 1865 – John Wilkes Booth assassinates President Abraham Lincoln
May 12, 1865 – Final battle of Civil War at Palmito Ranch, Texas
(Confederate victory)
May 26, 1865 – Civil War officially ends when General Simon Bolivar Buckner of
the Army of Trans-Mississippi enters terms of surrender
June 19, 1865 – Major General Gordon Granger arrives in Galveston, Texas
December 6, 1865 – 13th Amendment abolishing slavery ratified
