Blaine city council recognizes “Juneteenth Independence Day”

The Blaine City Council designated June 19, 2020 as Juneteenth Independence Day at its June 22 council meeting, recognizing June 19,1865 as the day slavery legally came to an end in the United States.

That date is nearly two-and-a-half years after Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, council member Garth Baldwin pointed out at the meeting. Enforcement of the proclamation relied on the advance of the union army into the confederacy, so many Americans were still enslaved years after the Emancipation Proclamation.

On June 19, 1865, Union general Gordan Grancer announced in Galveston, Texas, that all slaves in Texas were free and that the civil war had ended. That day has since become an annual celebration of freedom.