Juneteenth Freedom Day

Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, which had become official January 1, 1863, had little impact on the Texans due to the minimal number of Union troops to enforce the new Executive Order. The day was recognized as a federal holiday on June 17, 2021, when President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law. 

 

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