General Order No. 3

Issued by Union General Gordon Granger, June 19th, 1865 in Galveston, TX

This is a photo of "General Orders, No. 3" appearing in a Galveston, Texas newspaper. — The Galveston Tri-Weekly News, which printed General Order No. 3 on June 20, 1865, the day after it was issued. Texas Newspaper Collection, Briscoe Center for American History, UT Austin

The Civil War ended in the summer of 1865. Union General Gordon Granger and his troops traveled to Galveston, Texas to announce General Order No. 3 on June 19th, 1865. June 19th would go on to be known and celebrated as Juneteenth.

General Order No. 3

The people 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, become that between employer and hired labor. The freed are advised to remain 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.

The Emancipation Proclamation

Primary Source