Emancipation Day in Florida Date in the current year: May 20, 2024

The first African slaves were brought to Florida in the early 16th century by Spanish explorers and conquistadors. However, their numbers were low since there wasn’t much work for them to do because the region didn’t have mines or plantations at the time.

During the Spanish rule, Florida attracted fugitive African-American slaves who fled nearby British colonies. In Spanish Florida, enslaved black workers had rights to own property, marry, and buy they own freedom. Free blacks who identified as Catholics faced no legal discrimination.

In 1763, Florida became a British colony. British settlers began to develop plantation agriculture and brought enslaved African Americans to work on sugar cane and cotton plantations. Florida became an organized territory of the United States in 1822 and achieved statehood in 1845. During all this time, slavery continued to be permitted. By the mid-19th century, slaves accounted for almost half of the state’s population.

Following the 1860 presidential election that was won by Abraham Lincoln with his anti-slavery platform, Florida became one of the Southern states to secede from the Union and found the Confederate States of America in early 1861. During the American Civil War war, Florida was a major source of food supplies for the Confederacy, as well as an important entry and exit location for blockade runners due to its abundance of bays and small inlets.

The Emancipation Proclamation that freed slaves in the Confederacy was issued in January 1, 1863. It affected ten states that were still in rebellion: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia. However, in practice most enslaved African Americans in these territories weren’t freed until they returned to Union control, with the exception of slaves who had fled their owners to seek freedom in Union-controlled territories.

In some states, including Florida, slaves were officially emancipated after the end of the Civil War. The war effectively ended on April 9, 1865, following the surrender of Robert E. Lee’s army in Northern Virginia. An end to the insurrection was officially declared a month later, on May 9, but it took eleven more days for the Emancipation Proclamation to be publicly read from the steps of the Knott House in Talahassee.

Florida observes Emancipation Day on May 20 to commemorate the first reading of the Emancipation Proclamation in the state. In the state capital of Tallahassee, Civil War reenactors act out the reading of the proclamation by Major General Edward McCook, playing the part of McCook and other union soldiers. Other events and activities include celebrations hosted by museums and educational institutions, memorial ceremonies, speeches, family activities, and more.