© Getty Images

Its name -

Juneteenth references the date of the holiday, June 19, combining the words "June" and "nineteenth."

© Getty Images

Other names -

Juneteenth is also referred to as Emancipation Day, Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, and Liberation Day.

© Public Domain

Federal holiday -

Juneteenth National Independence Day is the first federal holiday established since Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1983.

© Getty Images

States that recognize Juneteenth -

More than half of the states recognize Juneteenth as a paid state holiday, and all states have some recognition or observance.

© Getty Images

Enslaved people had already been emancipated, they just didn’t know it -

The June 19 announcement came more than two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. This meant the around 250,000 enslaved people in Texas were already free, but they just weren't aware of it.

© Getty Images

There are many theories as to why the Emancipation Proclamation wasn’t enforced in Texas -

News traveled slowly back then, but many struggled to explain the gap between Lincoln’s proclamation and the enslaved individuals’ freedom. This led to speculation that some prominent Texans suppressed the announcement.

© Getty Images

The most probable reason -

The real reason for the gap is probably that Lincoln’s proclamation simply wasn’t enforceable in the rebel states before the end of the Civil War.

© Getty Images

Texas was considered a safe haven to practice slavery -

Between 1863 and 1865, slaves who were brought to Texas from other states helped to spread the word among enslaved African Americans about emancipation elsewhere in the failing Confederacy.

© Getty Images

The announcement -

The Civil War ended in the summer of 1865. Union General Gordon Granger and his troops traveled to Galveston, Texas, to announce General Orders No. 3 on June 19, 1865. This day would go on to be known as Juneteenth.

© Getty Images

General Orders No. 3 -

However, the announcement actually urged freedmen and freedwomen to stay with their former owners.

© Getty Images

What followed was known as "the scatter" -

Most freed people weren't interested in staying with the individuals who had enslaved them, even if pay was involved. What followed was called "The Great Migration," or "the scatter," where over six million former slaves left the South to find family members or more welcoming accommodations in northern regions.

© Getty Images

Not all enslaved people were freed instantly -

Many enslavers deliberately suppressed General Granger’s order until after the harvest, and some beyond that.

© Getty Images

Freedom created other problems -

Despite the announcement, enslavers in Texas weren’t too happy to part with what they saw as their property. When the newly freed people tried to leave, many of them were beaten or even killed.

© Getty Images

The first celebrations -

The first Juneteenth celebrations took place in 1866 throughout East Texas. This was the region where the majority of the state's African Americans settled after emancipation.

© Public Domain

Early Juneteenth celebrations -

Churches often hosted Juneteenth celebrations, and as African Americans became landowners, they donated land for the festivities. Many of the first Juneteenth celebrations were oral history events, during which speakers would talk about life under slavery.

© Public Domain

There were limited options for celebrating -

When former slaves tried to celebrate the first anniversary of the announcement, they faced a problem. Segregation laws were expanding rapidly, so there were no public places that they were permitted to use.

© Getty Images

Emancipation Park -

In 1872, former slaves Richard Allen, Richard Brock, Jack Yates, and Elias Dibble pooled together US$800 and purchased 10 acres (4,840 m2) of land, which they deemed Emancipation Park (pictured). Until the 1950s, it was the only public park and swimming pool in the Houston area for African Americans.

© Getty Images

Juneteenth celebrations waned for several decades -

With life defined by oppression on all sides, it became difficult to celebrate freedom. Especially during the era of Jim Crow laws.

© Getty Images

Less time for celebrations -

In addition to the Jim Crow laws, the Great Depression forced many black farming families away from rural areas and into urban environments to seek work. This made it difficult to take the day off to celebrate.

© Getty Images

Bringing Juneteenth back -

During the civil rights movement of the 1960s, the Poor People’s March planned by Martin Luther King Jr. was purposely scheduled to coincide with Juneteenth.

© Getty Images

Spread across the country -

The march brought Juneteenth back, and when participants took the celebrations back to their home states, the holiday was reborn.

© Getty Images

The father of Juneteenth -

The late Texas state representative Al Edwards is known as the "father of Juneteenth." He sponsored the bill that made Juneteenth a state holiday in 1980.

© Getty Images

The grandmother of Juneteenth -

Opal Lee is a Texas activist who worked for years to have Juneteenth recognized nationwide. Known as the "grandmother of Juneteenth," she attended the presidential signing of the bill into law.

© Getty Images

Obama acknowledged Juneteenth -

Barack Obama, the nation’s first African-American president, issued statements seven times during his presidency to mark Juneteenth.

© Getty Images

Juneteenth is a federal holiday -

Thanks to the efforts of activists such as Opal Lee, Congress passed legislation making Juneteenth a federal holiday in 2021. President Joe Biden signed the bill into law on June 17, 2021.

© Getty Images

The Juneteenth flag is full of symbolism -

Designed by L.J. Graf, the Juneteenth flag is full of symbolism. The colors red, white, and blue symbolize that the enslaved people and their descendants are Americans. The star in the middle pays homage to Texas, while the bursting star represents a new freedom and a new people.

© Getty Images

Celebrations of Juneteenth are going strong -

Celebrations include public readings of the Emancipation Proclamation, singing traditional songs, and reading works by noted African-American writers. Rodeos, street fairs, cookouts, family reunions, and park parties are also common traditions.

© Getty Images

Why federal recognition is important -

The federal recognition of Juneteenth is important because it reminds Americans of the shameful period of slavery and the Reconstruction era that followed.

© Getty Images

Freedom for all -

Unlike the Fourth of July, America's national celebration of independence from British rule, Juneteenth truly commemorates freedom for all in America.

Sources: (CNN) (Mental Floss) (Live Science)

© Getty Images