The mensa patient proclamation was the emancipation proclamation was signed into law of 1862 to go into effect january 1, 1863 but the words and the enforcement of the emancipation proclamation did not go into effect here in the south until 2. 5 years after the effective date. Africanamerican slaves could not read. It was against the law for them to be able to read so i dont think they knew about it. The union troops arrived in galveston on june the 18th, 1865. There was 2000 union soldiers. Some of the slaves, one heard they were free, were jubilant and others were depressed because they had never been on their own. They did not have a place to go. They did not have any money to purchase anything. A lot of the slaves stayed at the First Baptist church which was established in 1840. Where we are at is ashton villa which was the first brick mansion constructed on galveston island. It was constructed in 1859. This place also served as the residence for the Confederate Army and later Gordon Grangers residence when he arrived on june 18, 1865. We have been having a celebration here at ashton villa for 36 years. It coincided with the state of texas holiday. The texas state holiday occurred by an africanamerican representative by the name of al edwards of houston, texas who remembered as a kid the celebration of juneteen so he introduced a lawmaking that a paid holiday. There were only eight africanamerican black legislators in the legislature. This bill passed. It was signed into law. It went into effect june 13, 1979. It was mainly here in the south where the celebration where you had major celebrations. Today, you have big celebrations in mill walk he, washington, d. C. , new york, san antonio there are a lot over 40 states. We have been told there are at least five Foreign Countries that even celebrate the june teenth this update is very important because it showed it that even though texas is a Southern State , and had compassion it had compassion for the africanamerican struggle of slavery. American history tv is featuring galveston, texas. Our staff traveled there to learn about its rich history. Learn more about galveston and other stops on www. Cspan. Org citiestour. 150 years ago this month president lincoln gave his second inaugural address on the east front of the u. S. Capitol. The country was still in the midst of the civil war, but thousands gathered to hear the president speak on march 4 1865. To commemorate the anniversary the library of congress will display the president s manuscript and reading copy of the speech for a limited time due to their delicate condition. Up next, we visit the librarys Conservation Lab to view the documents and learn about their importance. This runs about 15 minutes. The occasion of this address was march 4, 1865, for lincolns second inaugural. People were expecting a much more celebratory kind of the speech. The war wasnt over. It would continue for a little over a month. Actually, a little bit more than that, but about a month until