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Friday, June 19, 2009

Flying on Juneteenth

For some reason the blog did not update at 0500, so I am posting right now.

Juneteenth

How did it start?

The 16th president: President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation during the Civil War, and on January 1, 1863.

What it meant:

It was declared that "all persons held as slaves" within states rebelling against the Union "are, and henceforward shall be free." News reaches Texas: It took until June 19, 1865 -- more than two years -- for the news to reach Texas, which was almost completely under Confederate control.

News spreads:

On that day, Major General Gordon Granger rode into Galveston with 2,000 Union troops to deliver the news, and celebrations erupted among the freed slaves.

Annual celebrations begin:

"Juneteenth" was celebrated annually in Texas after that; in the late 19th century the party spread to other states as Southern blacks migrated north and west.
Where is it celebrated? Fittingly, Texas became the first state to officially declare June 19 a holiday, in 1980. Since then 30 other states have joined in. There is also a campaign to make Juneteenth a national holiday.

Read more about Juneteenth at http://specials.msn.com/Juneteenth-Celebrations-and-History.aspx?cp-searchtext=Juneteenth&GT1=36010

2 comments:

angie said...

I can't believe it took two years for the news to reach Texas. Talk about putting things in perspective. I wonder what they would all think if they could see the world today?

Anonymous said...

THANK YOU for this education. It amazes me. Please keep enlightening us.