Juneteenth: A Free Day
Tampa Bay History Center 801 Water Street, Tampa, FL, United StatesFreedom finally came on June 19, 1865, when some 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas. The army announced that the more than 250,000 enslaved black people in the state were free by executive decree. This day came to be known as "Juneteenth" by the newly freed people in Texas. On Monday, June 19, …