\n<\/p>\n
The crew aboard the International Space Station captured this image of Galveston, Texas, the birthplace of Juneteenth, as the station orbited 224 miles above on Nov. 23, 2011.<\/p>\n
In the early\u00a01800s, slavers periodically used Galveston Island as an outpost for operations. By 1860, about one-third of Galveston\u2019s population lived under the oppression of\u00a0chattel slavery. Even after President Abraham Lincoln issued the\u00a0Emancipation Proclamation\u00a0in 1863, in the midst of America\u2019s Civil War, change came slowly to Galveston. Most enslaved people were unaware of Lincoln\u2019s executive order, and the practice of buying and selling Black people based on race continued in Galveston and other parts of Texas until well into 1865.<\/p>\n
When Union troops arrived in April 1865, circumstances changed. U.S. Major General\u00a0Gordon Granger then issued General Order No. 3\u00a0on June 19, 1865, and Union troops marched through Galveston and read the order aloud at several locations, informing the people of Texas that all enslaved people were free. As news of the order spread, spontaneous celebrations broke out in African American churches, homes, and other gathering places. As years passed, the picnics, barbecues, parades, and other celebrations that sprang up to commemorate June 19th became more formalized as freed men and women purchased land, or \u201cemancipation grounds,\u201d to hold annual Juneteenth celebrations.<\/p>\n