celebration for freedom. now, a national holiday, juneteenth is the direct result of centuries of resistance and revolution by black people leading a fight for their liberation. in 1861, tension between the north and the south reached its breaking point over slavery and statehood, and the civil war began. on january 1, 1863, as the nation approached its third year of the civil war, president abraham lincoln issued the emancipation proclamation, declaring that all people held as slaves within the confederate controlled states were now free. the proclamation also granted black men access into a struggling union army. by the end of the war, more than 200,000 black soldiers, known as the united states colored troops, had enlisted, becoming instrumental to the union s victory. the civil war officially ended in april of 1865, but it wasn t until june 19th of that year, two years after the emancipation proclamation, that thousands of colored troops arrived in galveston texas, to rea
as union soldiers spread paving the way for them to mayor, to vote, to vote and to worship and decide their own destiny. the civil war officially ended in april 1865, but in a small community of gavelston island, texas, enslaved slaves were owe believious to their reality, two and a half years after the signing of the emancipation proclamation when a u.s. general informed the last enslaved black people in america that freedom had finally comp the people erupted in joy. that joy became the catalyst for juneteenth. in 2021 juneteenth became an official federal holiday. now recognized across the united states as a day of national celebration. juneteenth is a reminder. it is a reminder of what black people in america have been through and what black people have overcome. it is a commemoration of our resilience. our ingenuity, and most importantly our capacity for joy. our joy is worthy of celebration, and on this day we remember that our freedom must be honored, nurtured and pr
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