the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. Note that this was two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation – which had become official January 1, 1863. The Emancipation Proclamation had little impact on the Texans due to the minimal number of Union troops to enforce the new Executive Order. However, with the surrender of General Lee in April of 1865, and the arrival of General Granger’s regiment, the forces were finally strong enough to influence and overcome the resistance.
Later attempts to explain this two and a half year delay in the receipt of this important news have yielded several versions that have been handed down through the years. Often told is the story of a messenger who was murdered on his way to Texas with the news of freedom. Another is that the news was deliberately withheld by the enslavers to maintain the labor force on the plantations. And still another is that federal troops actually waited for the slave owners to reap the benefits of one last cotton harvest before going to Texas to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation. All of which, or none of these versions could be true. Certainly, for some, President Lincoln’s authority over the rebellious states was in question. Whatever the reasons, conditions in Texas remained status quo well beyond what was statutory.
Paid holiday
This country is made up of laws…the only way to to sustain freedom.
When the dust settles you should know that nothing will have changed.
This country was successful and the envy of the world because of the rule of law. Now that the hordes have taken control and they can literally destroy a life in minutes through social media attacks, law only applies to certain groups of peaceful people we are headed for turmoil. The transformation of this country into some unrecognizable mix of socialism, humiliating and destroy white people, creating artificial divide between Americans of different colors and backgrounds and inciting them against each other is an experiment that will really destroy the world as we know it. Conflict after conflict, division after division is the path to self destruction. We are under the siege of extreme ideologies that nobody seems to be able to stand against.
I feel so bad for the children and I sympathize with the new couples who would rather raise dogs than kids.
They couldn’t think up a better name?
Saint Pats day Parade in NYC in March 2021 should be the target for all the hard work
lets keep the hard work up..our kids are watching for leadership
good luck Families and Friends
So very true.
I immigrated from Europe to the States and became a US citizen. I still think it was a great move on my part but I have started to have doubts about the worrying directions this country is moving in in recent weeks. I worry about the mindset of this country’s youth and young adults.
Now ridgewood jolt knows what Juneteenth means
Yo-yo yo congratulations
Hey if it’s a day off I’m getting paid I’ll celebrate. I’m still waiting for Groundhog Day to be a paid day.