[jeffersondem]

“Juneteenth celebrates the day Republican troops freed the last of the Democrat-owned slaves.”

That is not quite right. Juneteenth celebrates the day that it was announced in Texas that slaves in the defeated Confederate States of America had been freed.

The United States clung to slavery until passage of the 13th amendment which occurred later.

It is interesting to note that according to official records Virginia ratified the 13th amendment before Ohio; Louisiana before Minnesota; Arkansas before Connecticut; and Georgia before New Jersey.

[Verginius Rufus]

It was announced in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, that the war was over and the South had lost. Texas was covered by the Emancipation Proclamation so it meant that slaves in Texas were freed--but probably only a few hundred or a few thousand slaves actually got the news on June 19. It may have taken weeks for the word to spread throughout the state.

Slavery did not officially end until the ratification of the 13th amendment on Dec. 6, 1865. The loyal slave states (and occupied areas of the Confederacy as of Jan. 1, 1863) were not covered by the Emancipation Proclamation.