PRINTER'S NO. 3227
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No. 463
Session of
2024
INTRODUCED BY N. NELSON, JUNE 4, 2024
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON TOURISM AND ECONOMIC AND RECREATIONAL
DEVELOPMENT, JUNE 4, 2024
A RESOLUTION
1 Recognizing June 19, 2024, as "Juneteenth Independence Day" in
2 Pennsylvania in commemoration of June 19, 1865, the date on
3 which slavery was abolished finally in all regions of the
4 United States.
5 WHEREAS, For 154 years, Americans of African descent have
6 celebrated June 19 as "Juneteenth Independence Day" or
7 "Juneteenth National Freedom Day" in recognition of the human
8 struggles of their enslaved descendants; and
9 WHEREAS, According to the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade
10 Database, between 1525 and 1866, the duration of the
11 transatlantic slave trade to the Americas, an estimated 12.5
12 million men, women and children were captured and forcibly
13 transported in bondage from their African homelands to the
14 Americas; and
15 WHEREAS, An estimated 10.7 million Africans, mostly from the
16 Congo, Nigeria, Angola and Senegambia, survived the hazardous
17 Middle Passage and disembarked in North America, the Caribbean
18 and South America; and
19 WHEREAS, History characterizes the transatlantic slave trade
 1 as a brutal and horrific commercial and economic enterprise and
2 the enslavement of Africans as cruel, exploitative and
3 dehumanizing; and
4 WHEREAS, Lasting for nearly four centuries, the transatlantic
5 slave trade represents one of the longest and most sustained
6 assaults on the life, integrity and dignity of human beings in
7 history and one of the greatest tragedies in the history of
8 humanity; and
9 WHEREAS, With the enactment of the Act to Prohibit the
10 Importation of Slaves of 1807, the United States outlawed the
11 transatlantic slave trade in 1808; and
12 WHEREAS, Although the 1807 Federal legislation ended the
13 legality of the transatlantic slave trade in the United States,
14 the law was not universally enforced; and
15 WHEREAS, Enslaved Africans continued to be smuggled into the
16 United States and the domestic slave trade was not affected; and
17 WHEREAS, On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued
18 the Emancipation Proclamation, which proclaimed all enslaved
19 Africans to be free; and
20 WHEREAS, News of the Emancipation Proclamation did not reach
21 the frontier, in particular the State of Texas and the other
22 southwestern states, until Union troops, commanded by Major
23 General Gordon Granger, arrived in Galveston, Texas, on June 19,
24 1865; and
25 WHEREAS, On that day in Galveston, more than two years after
26 President Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation, Major
27 General Granger announced the end of the Civil War and issued
28 General Order No.3, which proclaimed all slaves to be free,
29 including absolute equality in personal rights; and
30 WHEREAS, Slavery, as an institution, was not officially
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 1 abolished until the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the
2 Constitution of the United States on December 6, 1865; and
3 WHEREAS, On June 18, 2020, H.R. 7232, the Juneteenth National
4 Independence Day Act was introduced and reintroduced as H.R.
5 1320, on February 25, 2021, in the House of Representatives,
6 marking the first time in Congress a bill had been introduced to
7 declare Juneteenth a Federal holiday; and
8 WHEREAS, On June 17, 2021, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.,
9 signed into law the bill that established Juneteenth as a
10 Federal holiday, one day before the first anniversary of the
11 introduction of H.R. 7232, making it the most recent addition to
12 the list of Federal holidays; and
13 WHEREAS, The faith and strength of character demonstrated by
14 former slaves remains an example for all people of the United
15 States, regardless of background, religion or race; and
16 WHEREAS, People nationwide join together to celebrate June 19
17 as "Juneteenth Independence Day" in recognition of the end of
18 slavery in all regions of the United States and to commemorate
19 the survival and determination of African men, women and
20 children who survived the monthlong journeys across the Atlantic
21 Ocean, also known as the Middle Passage, and debarked to a life
22 as slaves; and
23 WHEREAS, The faith, courage and strength of character
24 demonstrated by former slaves and the descendants of former
25 slaves remain an example for all people of the United States;
26 and
27 WHEREAS, The United States is the worldwide symbol of
28 democracy and freedom; therefore be it
29 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives recognize June
30 19, 2024, as "Juneteenth Independence Day" in Pennsylvania in
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 1 commemoration of June 19, 1865, the date on which slavery was
2 abolished finally in all regions of the United States; and be it
3 further
4 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives encourage
5 residents to observe "Juneteenth Independence Day" with
6 appropriate ceremonies, activities and programs; and be it
7 further
8 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives support the
9 continued celebration of "Juneteenth Independence Day" to
10 provide an opportunity for the residents of this Commonwealth to
11 learn more about the past and to better understand the
12 experiences that have shaped the nation.
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