July 4, also known as Independence Day, marks the day the Declaration of Independence was adopted and the 13 North American colonies officially separated from Great Britain. As the Fourth of July draws nearer,

Short for “June Nineteenth,” the holiday marks the day when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people be freed, on June 19, 1865, History.com says. The troops arrived with the news a full two-and-a-half years after the signing of the proclamation.

Juneteenth, the nation's newest federal holiday, is celebrated by Americans on June 19 to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States, with a history dating back to the 1860s.