06/17/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/17/2025 18:58
Pago Pago - Congresswoman Uifa'atali Amata is highlighting Juneteenth, which became an official national holiday through bipartisan votes by Congress in 2021, and released the following statement:
"On Juneteenth, we celebrate shared ideals of freedom that can give us powerful unity as a country. Freedom is a cherished value that America's founders declared a God-given right, but those blessings of freedom were not yet available to all. That freedom became the life's mission and calling for many American abolitionists, but it did not become a nationwide reality until after hundreds of thousands of lives were lost in a long and bloody Civil War.
"The cause of freedom prevailed then, and has been defended since. Our great nation, including our own Toa o Samoa, lifts up the enduring cause of freedom today throughout the world.
"On Juneteenth, we send our love and goodwill to African American countrymen and women that descend from that Civil War history. We celebrate 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness' together, and our dedication to a strong, united country for the generations ahead."
History: Juneteenth is a celebration of freedom. The date is in commemoration of June 19, 1865, when news of freedom finally reached the last known place practicing slavery in the United States - two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on New Year's Day, 1863. The two largest Confederate armies had surrendered to Union forces in April of that same year, ending all major fighting of the Civil War.
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