Today is June 19th, or Juneteenth. This day is important because it marks the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the US. On June 19, 1865, the union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, in Galveston, Texas, landed with news
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that war had ended & the enslaved were now free. Howvert, this didn’t free all slaves as it only applied to places under Confederate control and not to slave-holding border states or rebel areas already under Union control. Many slaves fled behind Union lines as a result.
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A BRIEF HISTORY
Texas wasn’t closely monitored and did not experience significant presence of Union Troops, so many slave owners went to Texas with their slaves and continued slavery.
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Once the war ended in 1865, General Granger’s arrival in Galveston on that June siginaled freedom for the 250,000 slaves in Texas. This day marks the major significance in American history & represents the ways freedom for black people have been delayed.
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In short, Juneteenth states that “nobody is free until everybody is free”. However, efforts to make Juneteenth a national holiday has fallen short in Congress.
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As of 2020, 47 states and the District of Columbia have passed legislation recognition Juneteenth as a state holiday or a day of observance.
States that do not celebrate this holiday include: Hawaii & North Dakota
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