General Order No. 3 (Juneteenth General Order)

6/19/1865

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On June 19, 1865, two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln’s historic Emancipation Proclamation, U.S. Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger issued General Order No. 3, which informed the people of Texas that all enslaved people were now free. Granger commanded the Headquarters District of Texas, and his troops had arrived in Galveston the previous day.

This order represents the Federal Government’s final execution and fulfillment of the terms of the Emancipation Proclamation. The people to whom this order was addressed were the last group of Americans to be informed that all formerly enslaved persons were now free.

The effects of this order would later be celebrated as the "Juneteenth" holiday, a combination of June and nineteenth. It is also called Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, and it is the oldest known celebration commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.

Transcript

Headquarters District of Texas
Galveston Texas June 19th 1865

General Orders
No. 3

The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor.

The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.

By order of Major General Granger
F.W. EMERY
Major A.A.Genl

This primary source comes from the Records of U.S. Army Continental Commands.

National Archives Identifier: 182778372

Full Citation: General Order No. 3, issued by Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger; 6/19/1865; General Orders Issued; General Orders Issued, 6/1865 - 7/1865; Records of U.S. Army Continental Commands, Record Group 393; National Archives Building, Washington, DC. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/juneteenth-order, April 29, 2025]

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