2.24 Freedom Days: Commemorating the Ongoing Struggle for Freedom

Freedom Days are celebrations that mark the end of legal slavery and honor the continued fight for equal rights. The biggest one, Juneteenth, remembers June 19, 1865, when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas finally learned they were free, two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation.

Why This Matters for the AP African American Studies Exam

This topic ties together the legal end of slavery and how Black communities chose to remember it, which makes it useful for causation and continuity questions. You should be able to tell the difference between a wartime order (the Emancipation Proclamation) and a constitutional change (the Thirteenth Amendment), and explain why the gap between them mattered. The required source, General Order No. 3, is a strong document to practice source analysis with, since you can connect its exact wording to bigger ideas about freedom and equality.

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Key Takeaways

• The Emancipation Proclamation (1863) was a wartime order that only freed enslaved people in Confederate states still fighting the Union, not in the border states.
• The Thirteenth Amendment (1865) permanently abolished slavery in the United States, except as punishment for a crime, and freed about four million people.
• The Thirteenth Amendment did not cover the nearly 10,000 African Americans enslaved by Indigenous nations; separate 1866 treaties ended that slavery but withheld tribal citizenship rights.
• Juneteenth marks June 19, 1865, when General Order No. 3 was read in Galveston, Texas, the last state in rebellion to learn of freedom.
• Freedom Days are a long tradition that goes back to at least the 1827 abolition celebration in New York; Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021.
• Freedom Days commemorate ancestors' struggle, a hard-won and incomplete freedom, and the choice to find joy within Black communities.

How Legal Enslavement Ended

The Emancipation Proclamation

President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation as a wartime order in 1863. It declared freedom for enslaved people held in Confederate states still at war against the Union. It did not free everyone, though. Slavery continued legally in the four border states that stayed in the Union (Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, and Delaware).

The key point: the Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery across the whole country. It only applied to the rebelling states.

The Thirteenth Amendment

The Thirteenth Amendment, ratified in 1865, did what the Proclamation could not. It secured the permanent abolition of slavery throughout the United States, except as a punishment for a crime.

• It freed four million African Americans, nearly a third of the South's population.
• It marked a major first step toward freedom, justice, and inclusion for African Americans in the country of their birth.

Slavery in Indigenous Nations

The Thirteenth Amendment did not reach the nearly 10,000 African Americans enslaved by Indigenous nations. To end that slavery, the United States government negotiated treaties with these nations in 1866.

• The 1866 treaties ended legal slavery in Indian Territory.
• They did not grant the freed people rights as tribal citizens, which left them in a difficult position.

This shows how the end of slavery did not happen all at once or in the same way everywhere. Different legal processes ended enslavement in different places and on different timelines.

Why Juneteenth Matters

Juneteenth's Origins in Texas

Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the day Union General Gordon Granger read General Order No. 3 in Galveston, Texas, informing enslaved people that they were free. Texas was the last state in rebellion to receive this news, so Juneteenth marks the end of slavery in the last holdout state.

General Order No. 3 was the first document to mention racial equality, describing equal personal and property rights for formerly enslaved people. That wording is worth remembering, because it connects the day of celebration to the larger and ongoing fight for equal rights.

Freedom Days in African American Communities

Freedom Days are celebrations that commemorate the end of slavery. African American communities have a long history of marking local Freedom Days, going back to the celebration of abolition in New York on July 5, 1827.

• Juneteenth is one of many Freedom Days that African American communities have consistently celebrated.
• More than 150 years after its first celebration, Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021.

Early Juneteenth Celebrations

The earliest Juneteenth celebrations gave newly freed African Americans a way to gather and celebrate their freedom together.

• They sang spirituals, wore new clothing that symbolized their freedom, feasted, and danced.
• The new clothing carried meaning because it broke from the dress codes that enslavers had imposed.
• At the time, Juneteenth was also called Jubilee Day and Emancipation Day.

What Freedom Days Commemorate

Juneteenth and other Freedom Days honor several things at once:

• The roles African Americans' ancestors played in the struggle to end legal enslavement in the United States.
• The way African Americans embraced a fraught, incomplete freedom while still fighting for equal rights, protections, and opportunities.
• African Americans' commitment to seeking joy and validation among themselves, even when the nation was slow to recognize this history.

Required Sources

General Order No. 3, issued by Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger, 1865

This order officially proclaimed the emancipation of enslaved people in Texas. Delivered by Major General Gordon Granger, it marked the effective end of slavery in the last rebelling state, coming two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation. The celebration of this day became the foundation for Juneteenth, and its recognition as a federal holiday in 2021 reinforced its place in American history.

General Order No. 3 announced that enslaved people in Texas were free, claimed equal personal and property rights for formerly enslaved people, and redefined the labor relationship as one between employers and paid workers. It also advised freed people to remain where they were and work for wages.

When you analyze this source, notice the tension in it. It announces freedom and "absolute equality," but it also tells freed people to stay put and work for wages, which shows how limited and controlled this new freedom was from the start.

Photographs of Juneteenth Celebrations

The required photographs include Juneteenth celebrations in West Philadelphia (2019), Louisville (2021), and Galveston (2021). These images show that Juneteenth is still celebrated today and remains meaningful in African American communities. They are useful examples of cultural preservation, showing how communities keep connections to their heritage while adapting traditions to speak to present-day concerns.

How to Use This on the AP African American Studies Exam

Using Sources Effectively

When you work with General Order No. 3, do more than summarize it. Point to specific phrases like "absolute equality of personal rights" and connect them to the larger struggle for equal rights. Then notice the limits, like the instruction to keep working for wages, and explain what that reveals about the kind of freedom being offered.

Causation and Continuity

Be ready to explain the chain of events that ended legal slavery: the Emancipation Proclamation as a wartime order, then the Thirteenth Amendment as permanent abolition, then the 1866 treaties for Indigenous nations. Show that these were separate steps on different timelines, not one single moment.

Common Trap

Watch for prompts that treat the Emancipation Proclamation as the end of slavery. It was not. Use the Thirteenth Amendment to make the distinction clear, and mention the people still enslaved in border states and in Indigenous nations after 1863.

Common Misconceptions

• The Emancipation Proclamation did not free all enslaved people. It applied only to Confederate states still at war, not the loyal border states.
• Juneteenth is not the date slavery legally ended everywhere. It marks when news of freedom reached Texas, the last rebelling state. Permanent legal abolition came with the Thirteenth Amendment, and slavery in Indigenous nations continued until the 1866 treaties.
• Becoming a federal holiday in 2021 was not the start of Juneteenth. Communities had celebrated it for more than 150 years before that recognition.
• Freedom Days are not only about Juneteenth. African American communities celebrated many local Freedom Days, including the 1827 abolition celebration in New York.
• The Thirteenth Amendment did not end forced labor completely. It allows enslavement "as a punishment for a crime," which is an exception worth noticing.

Related AP African American Studies Guides

• 2.9 Creating African American Culture
• 2.11 The Stono Rebellion and Fort Mose
• 2.5 Slave Auctions and the Domestic Slave Trade
• 2.8 The Social Construction of Race and the Reproduction of Status
• 2.12 Legacies of the Haitian Revolution
• 2.4 African Resistance on Slave Ships and the Antislavery Movement