What Is Juneteenth?

Juneteenth celebrates the freedom of over 250,000 slaves at the close of the Civil War. The holiday is based on events that occurred mainly in Texas but is now celebrated nationwide. The celebration takes its name from June 19, 1865; the day federal troops arrived in Galveston to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation. Although the Proclamation had taken effect on January 1, 1863, it freed few, if any, slaves. News of the war's end did not reach Texas until well after the Confederate surrender at Appomattox. Many speculate that the news was deliberately withheld so that slave owners could bring...