J.C. Watts: “Mr. Speaker, as has been described here on the floor today, Juneteenth is the traditional celebration of the day on…”

“Mr. Speaker, as has been described here on the floor today, Juneteenth is the traditional celebration of the day on which the last slaves in America were freed. In September of 1862, in my opinion our greatest President, Abraham Lincoln, the Great Emanicipator, issued the Emancipation Proclamation which officially freed the slaves as of January 1, 1863, a full 87 years after the War of Independence began, with the support of thousands of black American patriots. But the official act and the actual liberation were separated by months of continuing war, and long distances and news of freedom was slow to travel during those remaining years of the Civil War. It was not until June 19, 1865 that word finally reached the people in one of the farthest corners of the South, Galveston, TX, when Gen. Gordon Granger marched into the city and announced that the State's 200,000 slaves were free.”