Web Resources
National Archives Safeguards Original ‘Juneteenth’ General Order
"The official handwritten record of General Order No. 3, is preserved at the National Archives Building in Washington, DC."
General Order No. 3 states:
“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.”
General Order No. 3, issued by Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger, June 19, 1865. The order was written in a volume beginning on one page and continuing to the next. (RG 393, Part II, Entry 5543, District of Texas, General Orders Issued)
View in U.S. National Archives Catalog
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Public Law 117–17 ‘‘Juneteenth National Independence Day Act’’ Approved June 17, 2021.
17th Congress
An Act To amend title 5, United States Code, to designate Juneteenth National Independence Day as a legal public holiday. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Juneteenth National Independence Day Act’’. SEC. 2. JUNETEENTH NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE DAY AS A LEGAL PUBLIC HOLIDAY. Section 6103(a) of title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to Memorial Day the following: ‘‘Juneteenth National Independence Day, June 19.’’. Approved June 17, 2021.
Brochure [8 pgs.] about preserving the actual document of The Emancipation Proclamation, with the transcript of its content.
National Archives and Records Administration
A page by page outline and description of the Emancipation Proclamation.
Library of Congress
This guide provides access to material related to "Emancipation Proclamation" in the Chronicling America digital collection of historic newspapers.
by Erin M. Smith
U.S. Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service
CRS Report R44865 (vers. 23, June 21, 2021) [10 pgs.]
--Juneteenth celebrates the end of slavery in the United States. It is also known as Emancipation Day, Juneteenth Independence Day, and Black Independence Day
"This eBook presents the Emancipation Proclamation in its social and political context with documents in the National Archives' holdings that illustrate the efforts of the many Americans, enslaved and free, white and black, by whom slavery was abolished in the United States. It was created to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation."
--special software required to download EPUB
- Resources from the National Museum of African American History & Culture