Juneteenth
Juneteenth
Juneteenth is the most popular annual celebration of emancipation from slavery in the United States. Millions of Americans celebrate this momentous occasion each year with parades, cookouts, family gatherings, and music festivals.
Pictured here are former Union officers at a Juneteenth celebration in 1900. 
What follows is the order given by the Union commander in the city of Galveston, Texas on June 19th, 1865 which completed the emancipation of America's slave population.
Read the text, watch the video, and then try the practice questions.
“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 heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.” —General Orders, Number 3; Headquarters District of Texas, Galveston, June 19, 1865
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