US state of Pennsylvania to recognize Juneteenth

By Umar Farooq

WASHINGTON (AA) – Pennsylvania will became the 46th U.S. state to recognize Juneteenth as a holiday Wednesday as its governor will sign a bill to make it official.

The move will leave only four states that do not celebrate the holiday -- Hawaii, North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana – which marks the day slavery was abolished in the country.

"Proud to designate June 19 as #Juneteeth National Freedom Day to commemorate the ending of slavery in the United States," Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf said on Twitter.

"On this day, let us recognize the importance of continuing to build a nation that truly reflects the self-evident truth that all people are created equal."

Juneteenth, which marks its 154th anniversary on Wednesday, is the oldest celebration for the end of slavery in the U.S.

History of Juneteenth

On June 19, 1865, Union Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger told slaves in Galveston, Texas of their emancipation.

At the time, the country was divided between the Union and the Confederacy and going through a civil war, in part due to the issue of slavery.

"The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free," Granger told the slaves.

"This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and free laborer."

The day comes two years after President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, an executive order which freed slaves in the then-Confederate States of America if the Union were to win the country's civil war, which it did.

The holiday was celebrated informally since 1865, but it was not until 1980 that the first state, Texas, recognized it as a holiday. Since then, 44 other states and the District of Columbia have pushed forward to recognize the day as a holiday.

Last year, the Senate passed a resolution to commemorate Juneteenth as a national holiday, but the bill has yet to pass in the House of Representatives.

Juneteenth, a combination of the words June and nineteenth, is celebrated similarly to the Fourth of July, America's independence day, with barbecues, picnics and the coming together of families and friends.