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How the US military helped create the Juneteenth holiday
Blake Stilwell, Military.com 21 hours ago
One of the federal government's first attacks on slavery during the war was an "Act to Secure Freedom to All Persons Within the Territories of the United States," passed on June 19, 1862.
Exactly three years later, Gen. Gordon Granger would sail into Galveston, Texas, to read the Emancipation Proclamation to the people of Texas.
The day would become known as "Juneteenth" and would be celebrated as a holiday — a second independence day — for former slaves.
On June 19, 1865, Granger read the words written by Abraham Lincoln in 1862. Texas was the last state in the defeated Confederacy to hear them.
More:
https://www.businessinsider.com/how-the-us-military-helped-create-the-juneteenth-holiday-2020-6
