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The transatlantic slave trade, began in 1619 with the arrival of the first enslaved Africans at Old Point Comfort, Virginia. -
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The declaration of Independence was signed, creating the United States of America -
President Abraham Lincoln (16th) signs the Emancipation Proclamation during the U.S. Civil War. The Proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free." -
On June 19, 1865, nearly two years after President Abraham Lincoln emancipated enslaved Africans in America, Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas with news of freedom. More than 250,000 African Americans embraced freedom by executive decree in what became known as Juneteenth or Freedom Day. -
