the difference between Juneteenth and Independence Day is primarily related to what each holiday commemorates and who it pertains to within the context of American history. Independence Day, celebrated on July 4th, marks the date in 1776 when the Thirteen Colonies claimed their independence from British rule. It is recognized as the birth of the United States as an independent nation.
Juneteenth, observed on June 19th, commemorates the day in 1865 when Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas, with news that the Civil War had ended and that the enslaved were now free. This was significant because it occurred two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation had officially outlawed slavery in the Confederate states on January 1, 1863. However, enforcement of the Proclamation generally relied on the advance of Union troops, and Texas was the most remote of the slave states, with a low presence of Union forces, thus delaying the enforcement of emancipation.
Independence Day celebrates the nation’s independence and the values of freedom and democracy broadly for all Americans, while Juneteenth specifically celebrates freedom and emancipation for African Americans who had been subjected to slavery and acknowledges the struggle for equal rights and justice.