The Emancipation Proclamation and General Order No. 3 issued by President Abraham Lincoln had no force of law in every state without the 13th Amendment. Juneteenth puts this all in context, also known as our country's second Independence Day. The Civil War ended in April of 1865. Texas kept people enslaved until of June 19, 1865 when the Union General Gordon Granger and army arrived. The 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution was needed to overrule states that wanted to disregard the Proclamation and keep slavery in place. It was ratified on ratified on December 6, 1865.

Watch this brief YouTube presentation in which Ophelia Wellington, Founding Director of Freetown Village explains the celebration known to African Americans as "Juneteenth" that became a federal holiday on June 17, 2021.