On April 9, 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses Grant, effectively ending the Civil War. Word of Lee’s surrender and the actual end of the Civil War did not officially reach Galveston, Texas, until June 19, 1865. Thus, instead of celebrating the Union victory and the actual African slave emancipation, Juneteenth becomes a comfortable compromise. The Civil War was one of many wars fought and won by the United States. Juneteenth is a non-threatening compromise to acknowledge the freedom of the formerly enslaved (in Texas) without celebrating the actual end of a horrible war.

Source: Daily Sun June 22, 2024 10:06 UTC