Juneteenth

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June 19 marks Juneteenth, a federal holiday acknowledging the day in 1865 that slaves in Texas learned of the Emancipation Proclamation

Juneteenth – short for ‘June nineteenth’ – is a celebration marking the moment in 1865 when enslaved black people in Galveston, Texas, found out they were freed – more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.

On 19 June 1865, Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas, to inform enslaved African-Americans of their freedom and to tell them the Civil War had ended.

Led by Union Major General Gordon Granger, the Union troops took control of the state and announced that the 250,000 enslaved black people in the state were free by executive decree. Gordon informed the residents that slavery would no longer be tolerated and that all enslaved people were now free.

Enslaved people would henceforth be treated as hired workers if they chose to remain on the plantations, according to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

When General Granger shared the news in Texas about the Emancipation Proclamation, slaves in the remaining rebel state were unaware that President Abraham Lincoln had issued the 1863 proclamation that freed slaves in Confederate states. 

It’s important to note that slavery wasn’t actually abolished with the Emancipation Proclamation — which was passed on Jan. 1, 1863. Slavery was formally abolished through the nation’s 13th amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which was ratified on Dec. 6, 1865.

Yet, the end of slavery did not mean equality for black Americans. “The ending of slavery in a formal sense turned into less official forms of abuse of African-Americans,” says Lucy Worsley. “Racial segregation became a fact of life in many formerly Confederate states, as did using the formerly enslaved as poorly paid labour. Indeed, ‘slavery’ was still possible – in all but name.”

A collection of statutes known as the Jim Crow laws forced black people to live, work, and play separately. The laws existed for about 100 years, from the post-Civil War era, through two World Wars, until the 1950s.

Juneteenth, a National Holiday

U.S. stock markets will observe Juneteenth. While the holiday technically fell on Sunday, June 19, the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq will be closed in observance on Monday. The markets will resume normal hours on Tuesday, June 21, with the regular session starting at 9:30 a.m. Eastern.

President Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act on Thursday 17 June 2021, recognizing Juneteenth as a national holiday.

“Great nations don’t ignore their most painful moments,” President Biden said. “We come to terms with the mistakes we made. And remembering those moments, we begin to heal and grow stronger.”

References:

  1. https://www.historyextra.com/period/modern/juneteenth-history-facts-how-to-celebrate-meaning/
  2. https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/juneteenth-what-why-celebrate.amp
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