A Juneteenth Tribute
The first enslaved Africans arrive in the English colonies at Point Comfort, Virginia. The system of chattel slavery begins its 246-year existence in what will become the United States.
The Declaration of Independence proclaims that "all men are created equal" — even as many signers, including Thomas Jefferson, hold human beings in bondage. The contradiction will take 89 years to resolve.
The Constitution is ratified with the Three-Fifths Compromise, counting enslaved people as 3/5 of a person for representation purposes while denying them all rights. The word "slavery" never appears in the document.
The international slave trade is banned, though domestic trade continues and the enslaved population grows through natural increase.
Nat Turner leads a slave rebellion in Virginia. William Lloyd Garrison founds The Liberator. The abolitionist movement intensifies.
Harriet Beecher Stowe publishes Uncle Tom's Cabin, which becomes the best-selling novel of the 19th century and galvanizes anti-slavery sentiment in the North.
The Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision declares that Black people "had no rights which the white man was bound to respect" and cannot be citizens. The ruling inflames tensions.
John Brown raids Harper's Ferry, attempting to spark a slave uprising. He is captured and executed, becoming a martyr for abolition.
Abraham Lincoln is elected president. Seven Southern states secede before his inauguration.
The Civil War begins at Fort Sumter. Lincoln initially frames the war as being about preserving the Union, not ending slavery.
Lincoln issues the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, warning Confederate states that their slaves will be freed if they do not return to the Union.
The Emancipation Proclamation takes effect. It declares "all persons held as slaves" in Confederate states "are, and henceforward shall be free." It does not free slaves in border states that remained in the Union.
Robert E. Lee surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, effectively ending the Civil War.
Abraham Lincoln is assassinated by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theatre. He dies the following morning.
JUNETEENTH. General Gordon Granger arrives in Galveston, Texas, and reads General Order No. 3, announcing that all slaves in Texas are free. The last enslaved people in the United States learn of their liberation.
The 13th Amendment is ratified, abolishing slavery throughout the United States: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States."
The first Juneteenth celebrations are held in Texas. Freedpeople gather for prayer, feasting, and celebration of their first full year of freedom.
The 14th Amendment grants citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States" and promises equal protection under the law.
The 15th Amendment prohibits denying the right to vote based on "race, color, or previous condition of servitude."
Texas becomes the first state to make Juneteenth an official state holiday.
President Joe Biden signs legislation making Juneteenth a federal holiday. It is officially designated Juneteenth National Independence Day.