ILLUSTRATION: “Emancipation” is the work of cartoonist and illustrator Thomas Nast. Juxtaposed images show slaves being sold, hunted down, and whipped (left) and on the right we see black children being educated in public schools and black farmers receiving payment for their work. The original version appeared in Harper’s Weekly on January 24, 1863. It was distributed as a popular print in 1865 through Philadelphia printers King & Baird. 

The Emancipation Proclamation was issued by President Abraham Lincoln September 22, 1862, and was to take effect January 1, 1863. The Civil War had begun in 1861 and it was in 1865 on April 9 that General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant. Juneteenth (in my experience not well known or easily understood) commemorates an event in Texas that took place two months later. 

Juneteenth is a day of observance and celebration of freedom from slavery. Texas was not a Civil War battleground state. However, during the Civil War the number of slaves in Texas increased significantly as slaveholders migrated to Texas (along with their slaves) to escape the ravages of war. There were an estimated 250,000 slaves in Texas by 1865.

In Galveston on June 19, 1865, Union Army General Gordon Granger made a public declaration of the total emancipation of slaves. “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 personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection theretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor.”

Even though Juneteenth is now officially recognized by most states, it’s not a well-known commemoration. Exposure was significantly increased last year when Apple added it to its calendar under official US holidays.