On this day 160 years ago (June 19, 1865) the news of President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and of Congress’s 13th Amendment was delivered with finality and authority on the shores of Galveston, TX, effectively ending slavery in the Lone Star State.

Although President Lincoln issued the “Emancipation Proclamation” as an Executive Order September 22, 1862, and although it became effective January 1, 1863, the 13th Amendment was not passed by Congress until January 31, 1865 (and it was not ratified until December 6 that year).

Looking Back

The Civil War officially ended when General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysess S. Grant in Virginia on April 9, 1865. Six days later, April 15, 1865, President Lincoln would pay the ultimate price for boldly leading the way to ensure the freedom of every human being in these United States, regardless of his or her skin color or nationality of origin. For two months, Texans refused to acknowledge the war had ended and slavery had been abolished. Two months and four days after President Lincoln was murdered, on June 19, 1865, General Granger arrived on the island of Galveston, TX armed with 2,000 troops and a proclamation that would change the trajectory of Texas history—and American history—by declaring freedom for the 250,000 human beings who had been enslaved against their will in the Lone Star State.

General Granger delivered a proclamation: “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 rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and free laborer.”

Looking Forward

Regretfully, 160 years later, racial tensions in these United States still exist. Two days ago (June 17, 2025), South Carolina marked the tenth anniversary of one of the most hateful, demonic racist events in our generation—the brutal murder of nine African American brothers and sisters in Christ as they worshiped peacefully at Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston. But today, Juneteenth, is a wonderful day to celebrate a pivotal moment in our country. The Palmetto State owns a deep and troubled past in racial disharmony. But today, we can all choose to fix our eyes and our hearts on the unique beauty of diversity in our culture at large and especially within the Body of Christ.

African American brothers and sisters, may your day be filled with shouts of joy and prayers of peace. And may the gladness of this temporal celebration direct all our hearts and minds to the eternal oneness that is ours in Christ Jesus alone:

“For He is our peace who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility… He did this so that He might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross by which He put the hostility to death,” (Ephesians. 2:14–16).