00 HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 21                                                                                    
01 Recognizing and observing June 17, 2000, as Juneteenth Day.                                                             
02 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                              
03  WHEREAS Juneteenth Day is the oldest and only African-American holiday                                               
04 observance in the United States and commemorates the strong survival instinct of African-                               
05 Americans who were first brought to this country stacked in the bottom of slave ships in a                              
06 month-long journey across the Atlantic Ocean known as the Middle Passage; and                                           
07  WHEREAS Juneteenth Day is more than 130 years old and is also known as                                               
08 Emancipation Day, Emancipation Celebration Day, Freedom Day, and Jun-Jun Day; and                                       
09  WHEREAS 11,500,000 African-Americans survived the voyage to the New World,                                           
10 while the number that died is likely larger; and                                                                        
11  WHEREAS, for more than 200 years after arrival in the United States, the African-                                    
12 Americans who survived the voyage and their descendants were forced to submit to slavery;                               
13 and                                                                                                                     
14  WHEREAS events in the history of the United States that led to the Civil War in 1861                                 
01 centered around regional differences between the northern and southern regions of the United                            
02 States, and these differences were based on economic and social factors that were aggravated                            
03 by the existence of slavery; and                                                                                        
04  WHEREAS Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated President of the United States in 1861,                                      
05 and, although as President, Lincoln believed and stated that the paramount object of the Civil                          
06 War was to save the Union rather than to save or destroy slavery, Lincoln had stated his wish                           
07 that all persons everywhere could be free, and this increased the growing anticipation by                               
08 slaves that their ultimate liberation was at hand; and                                                                  
09  WHEREAS, in 1862, the first clear signs that the end of slavery was imminent                                         
10 appeared when the territories of Oklahoma, Nebraska, Colorado, and New Mexico passed laws                               
11 abolishing slavery; and                                                                                                 
12  WHEREAS, in September, 1862, President Lincoln warned the 11 rebellious                                              
13 confederate states that if they did not return to the Union by January 1, 1863, he would                                
14 declare their slaves free forever, and he subsequently issued an emancipation proclamation to                           
15 free the slaves; and                                                                                                    
16  WHEREAS, in the confederate states, enforcement of the emancipation proclamation                                     
17 only occurred after the confederate states were controlled by the Union army; and                                       
18  WHEREAS the United States Congress subsequently passed the Thirteenth                                                
19 Amendment to the Constitution of the United States on January 31, 1865, and this amendment                              
20 abolished slavery throughout the United States and its territories, including Alaska upon its                           
21 purchase in 1867; and                                                                                                   
22  WHEREAS news of the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment reached the states at                                        
23 different times, and it was not until June 19, 1865, that the message of freedom reached the                            
24 slaves in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas; spontaneous celebration erupted                                     
25 throughout the country when African-Americans learned of their freedom; and                                             
26  WHEREAS Juneteenth Day celebrations demonstrate that slaves hated slavery and                                        
27 celebrated its abolition with excitement and great joy, and Juneteenth Day is a reminder to all                         
28 Americans of the status of Americans of African descent as American citizens and their                                  
29 importance to this nation;                                                                                              
30  BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature recognizes June 17, 2000, as                                        
31 Juneteenth Day and urges all Alaskans to reflect on the suffering and sacrifice endured by                              
01 millions of early African-Americans and to appreciate the unique freedom and equality                                   
02 enjoyed by all Alaskans today.