159 Years Ago, Last US Slave Owners Ordered to Free Slaves

June 19, 2024: 159 years ago, on June 19, 1865, Union Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation. The Proclamation had declared all enslaved people free from Jan. 1, 1863, but enforcement largely relied on the advancement of Union troops. Granger’s order would finally bring about the end of slavery in America.

A Scott Rasmussen National Survey conducted by RMG Research found that in response to an open-ended question just a third (34%) of voters correctly identify what Juneteenth is about. An additional 6% identify it as a Black holiday, while the rest either don’t know (36%) or give an incorrect response (24%)

Methodology

The survey of 1,000 registered voters was conducted online by Scott Rasmussen on June 10, 2024. Field work for the survey was conducted by RMG Research, Inc. Certain quotas were applied, and the sample was lightly weighted by geography, gender, age, race, education, internet usage, and political party to reasonably reflect the nation’s population of registered voters. Other variables were reviewed to ensure that the final sample is representative of that population.The margin of sampling error for the full sample is +/- 3.1 percentage points.

Note: Scott Rasmussen is the president of RMG Research, Inc. He hosts “The Scott Rasmussen Show” on Merit Street Media Sunday mornings at 10 Eastern.

Survey Question

[Asked of those who said they knew what Juneteenth celebrates] In just a few words, please tell me what Juneteenth celebrates.

(Of all voters)

32%-Were not asked — said they did not know what Juneteenth celebrates
34%-Celebrates the end of slavery
6%-Black holiday
24%-Incorrect
4%-Don’t know

Scott Rasmussen is founder and president of the Rasmussen Media Group. He is a political analyst, author, public speaker, independent public opinion pollster and a columnist. Read Scott Rasmussen’s Reports — More Here.