After the end of the War Between the States, the Union army established the District of Texas under the command of Major General Gordon Granger. The Emancipation Proclamation had been enforced by the Union army in every other state of the Confederate States of America which it had occupied. Texas escaped Union occupation during the war and the Union army did not occupy the state or any part of it until after the war’s end. General Granger issued General Order No. 3, which he read publicly in Galveston on June 19, 1865. It stated that all slaves in the state of Texas were free in accordance with the Emancipation Proclamation, which had been issued by President Abraham Lincoln two and a half years earlier. The day, which has been since dubbed Juneteenth, has since come to commemorate the abolition of slavery in Texas. When I lived in Texas in the 1950’s, it was celebrated as such by many of the state’s black citizens. It became an official state holiday in 1979. However, after I moved to Virginia, I never heard of its celebration again until recent years. Now, it is recognized in other states and there is a proposal that it be made a national holiday. But what significance does it have beyond Texas?
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