Juneteenth holiday gifts supplies and resources at farmers market online

Juneteenth, or June 19, commemorates the day in 1865 when slavery was ended in the United States.

Also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, Juneteenth is recognized as a state holiday or state day of observance in 41 U.S. states.

Why June 19th?

Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. The proclamation declared that slaves were free, but it did not actually end slavery in the U.S. It was not until Jan. 31, 1865, that the 13th Amendment was passed, which formally abolished slavery in the United States, and many African-American slaves were not aware of their freedom until many years later.

And it was not until June 19, 1865 -- following the last battle of the Civil War at Palmetto Ranch in Texas -- that Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger and Union soldiers marched into Galveston and announced that the Civil War had ended and that the enslaved were now free. The celebration that followed the announcement was called Juneteenth.

Emancipation Day

Celebrations of the abolition of slavery occur on different dates in various countries and U.S. states. Washington D.C., for instance, celebrates April 16, the anniversary of the day in 1862 when President Lincoln freed 3,100 people in that city nine months before the Emancipation Proclamation. Other emancipation celebrations:

Barbados: "Season of Emancipation" is celebrated April 14 to August 23.
Bermuda: August 2 with the first day of "Cupmatch," a cricket competition.
Canada: Ontario celebrates Emancipation Day on the first Monday in August, when slavery was abolished in Upper Canada in 1810. The Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 officially ended slavery throughout the British Empire.
Florida: May 20, the day the Emancipation Proclamation was read in
the state in 1865.
Kentucky: August 8, marking the day Kentucky's slaves learned of their freedom.
Mississippi: May 8, also known as "Eight o' May."
Puerto Rico: March 22 is the official Emancipation Day holiday.
U.S. Virgin Islands: July 3 is Emancipation Day, commemorating the day
that Gov. Peter Von Scholten abolished slavery in 1848.

In many other countries, such as Trinidad and Tobago, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Anguilla, Emancipation Day celebrations take place during Carnival.