Click the link below the picture
.
But there’s one holiday you may know little about — even though, for many, it is the most important of the year.
Read on to learn about the history, present, and future of Juneteenth, the oldest celebration of the end of slavery in the United States.
Juneteenth Honors a Significant Moment in History
Many people think of Emancipation Day (the end of American slavery) as Jan. 1, 1863, the day President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring “all persons held as slaves … shall be then, thenceforward and forever free.”
But it wasn’t until June 19, 1865–2.5 years later — that news of the proclamation finally reached the quarter-million slaves living in Texas. That’s when Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston to make the announcement, reading, “The people of Texas are informed … all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves…”
The name “Juneteenth” marks this historic day literally, as a combination of “June” and “19th.”
In Texas, a Long Delay Keeps Slavery Alive
Why was there such a long delay to abolish slavery in Texas?
Many white landowners in Texas, as elsewhere, resisted granting enslaved Africans their freedom, and because there weren’t many Union troops in the state to enforce the new order, they were able to keep Black people enslaved for long after they were officially declared free. (It’s also worth noting that the proclamation only applied to enslaved people in the confederacy and not to Union-loyal states like Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland and Mississippi.)
Even after Granger arrived, some Texas slaves remained in bondage for several more years.
Other Stories Emerge to Explain the Delay
Many folkloric stories have been shared over the years to explain the delay in Texas. As one story goes, it took more than two years for a messenger traveling by mule to make his way from Washington to Texas. In another tale, this messenger was murdered on his way to delivering the news.
.
.
.
Click the link below for the article:
.
__________________________________________
James' World 2 
Leave a comment