Today is the 150th African American Emancipation Day also
known as Juneteenth. Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated
commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States.
From its Galveston, Texas origin in 1865, the observance of
June 19th as the African American Emancipation Day has spread across the United
States and beyond .In 1865, enslaved Africans on Galveston Island, Texas, had
been declared free two years earlier but didn’t know it. With the United States
still divided over the institution of slavery and recovering after the Civil
War, members of the Confederacy weren’t eager to spread the word.
Only after Union
soldiers, led by Major Gen. Gordon Granger, worked their way South for more
than two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation
Proclamation did word reach Galveston Island. On June 19, 1865, known as
Juneteenth—a melding of the day’s month and date—the last remaining slaves in
America were declared free.
Juneteenth, America’s “second Independence Day,” is now
celebrated around the country. It is officially observed in 43 states and is a
state holiday in Texas, home of the last to know.
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