While Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, the August 8th observance is common to parts of Kentucky and Tennessee, where then-governor Andrew Johnson freed his personal slaves on August 8th. More commonly known is the annual “Juneteenth National Freedom Day,” a state holiday recognized by the Kentucky legislature in 2005. June 19, 1865, is the date slaves in Texas were freed by union troops.
Emancipation came to the colored race in America as a war measure. It was an act of military necessity. Manifestly it would have come without war, in the slower process of humanitarian reform and social enlightenment.
The Emancipation Proclamation, signed by President Abraham Lincoln, was put into effect on January 1, 1863, but news of the Proclamation and enforcement did not reach Texas until after the end of the Civil War almost two years later.