Today is June 19, or Juneteenth, as it has come to be known in the United States. It marks the anniversary of Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger issuing General Order No. 3 after arriving in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, over two months after the Civil War ended. The order announced the enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing any remaining slaves in the state. Now a federal holiday, Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery, even though it existed for nearly another six months, until the 13th Amendment was ratified, ending the institution once and for all.

However, what, to the American, is Juneteenth?