Juneteenth: A Celebration of Nothing

On June 19, 1865, Union forces arrived in Galveston, Texas and declared to the population of that state that the Emancipation Proclamation had freed its slaves. Called “Juneteenth,” it was initially celebrated in Texas, but it is now recognized in one way or another by 45 states and the District of Columbia. But what is it a celebration of? President Abraham Lincoln had no constitutional authority to free slaves, so no slaves were legally freed under the Proclamation.

As this was the last place that those declared free under the Emancipation Proclamation were informed that they were free, is it presumed that the last of the slaves obtained their freedom on that day? It is presumed wrongly if it is. The Emancipation Proclamation declared the slaves in ten states free, but there were seventeen states in which blacks were held as slaves. The states whose slaves were allegedly freed by the Emancipation Proclamation were Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. Furthermore, the portions of Virginia and Louisiana which were occupied by Union forces were exempt from it, meaning that their slaves were not freed. This was made clear by a circular issued by Union Provost Marshall Captain A.B. Long in New Liberia, Louisiana on April 24, 1863. In it, he informed the slaves in St. Martin Parish who thought that they were freed by the Emancipation Proclamation that they were not because that Parish was exempted in it.