A topic guide about Juneteenth and other African American emancipation celebrations. Resources are included to assist researchers in understanding the dynamics of early post-Emancipation society.
Primary resources, such as government documents, provide important information about the origins of Juneteenth, from the 1865 order that emancipated enslaved people in Texas, to the 2021 legislation making Juneteenth a national holiday.
This order represents the Federal Government’s final execution and fulfillment of the terms of the Emancipation Proclamation. The people to whom this order was addressed were the last group of Americans to be informed that all formerly enslaved persons were now free. The effects of this order would later be celebrated as the Juneteenth holiday.
The emancipation proclamation went into effect on January 1, 1863. Contrary to popular belief, it did not emancipate all enslaved African Americans, only those who resided in states that had seceded from the Union and that were still in rebellion against the United States.
