I’ll admit, I didn't know much about Juneteenth until fairly recently.

Starting on Monday, I heard several commentators mention that it would be a shortened trading week. But I didn’t remember why.

I generally keep close tabs on market holidays, and I like to think I know my way around American history.

But this one caught me off guard — and I suspect I’m not the only one.

Juneteenth only became a federal holiday in 2021. Before 2000, it was officially recognized in just four states: Texas, Oklahoma, Minnesota, and Florida.

Over the next two decades, it gained traction across the country, especially after the national reckoning of 2020.

By the time it was federally recognized, 49 states had already acknowledged it in some form. The last holdout joined in early 2022.

So what exactly is Juneteenth, and what does it say about the American experience?

The Story of Juneteenth

The holiday's name combines "June" and "nineteenth," representing the date in 1865 when the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation was put in place in Texas.

The Emancipation Proclamation, issued by Abraham Lincoln on Jan. 1, 1863, promised freedom to all enslaved people in all the secessionist Confederate states, including Texas.

Interestingly, it did not free enslaved people across all states. Several border states, like Kentucky and Delaware, were not governed by it.

And several native tribes kept enslaved peoples. This didn't end until the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution was passed on Dec. 6, 1865.

The Texas date was significant, though, as many enslavers had migrated to the state to escape the conflict in the South.

Estimates are that there were still 250,000 enslaved people in the state on June 19, even though the Emancipation Proclamation had passed 900 days earlier and General Robert E. Lee had surrendered two months earlier.

The earliest celebrations took place in the state of Texas but were negatively impacted by Jim Crow laws that prevented Black people from having access to many areas.

In many places, it was known as "Emancipation Day.” As America saw waves of migration of Black people to the North and West Coast, the idea of this holiday began to spread nationally.

In the 1960s, though, with the Civil Rights Movement, Juneteenth began to see a genuine revival.

Soon, large celebrations emerged in the Midwest and large-scale gatherings in Texas, which became the first state to make Juneteenth a paid state holiday on Jan. 1, 1980.

Across the next two decades, the celebrations grew in size and stature. They also began to receive broader recognition as they were highlighted in several popular TV shows.

A New Market Holiday

Momentum grew over the following decades, culminating with Juneteenth’s recognition as a federal holiday in 2021.

With that recognition came a stock market holiday and a broader holiday for many employees nationwide.

It’s one of only five date-specific federal holidays, the others being New Year's Day, Independence Day, Veterans Day, and Christmas Day.

And it’s the first new one since Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was declared a federal holiday in 1986.

There is even a Juneteenth flag that was created in the late 1990s.

The lone star represents the state of Texas, and the rays bursting from it represent the expansion of the celebration to other states.

The red and blue represent a new horizon for African Americans in the United States.

Researching the holiday got me thinking about the American experience, and now I will share this story with my children.

An Optimistic Way Forward

To me, Juneteenth represents America's ability to recognize its mistakes and work to improve.

While some may think that America is going backward on many fronts, I STRONGLY disagree.

I believe that the American experience has always been an evolution in which many have suffered and sacrificed to give us the freedoms we enjoy.

The American experience is one where constructive optimism moves us forward to a better society for all.

Our responsibility is to work hard to maintain this positive outlook and continue this success.

With our optimism — and willingness to work with our fellow Americans — we honor those who have sacrificed for us to have these freedoms and continue to build a better world.

I hope you enjoy the holiday and reflect on its significance. We’ll be back tomorrow with our regular stock market analysis.