New Delhi, June 19 -- Galveston, Texas, holds a unique and powerful place in American history as the birthplace of Juneteenth, the holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. On June 19, 1865, Union Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston and issued General Order No. 3, announcing the freedom of enslaved people in Texas-more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

The order emphasised not only freedom but also equality of personal rights and property rights between former masters and slaves. It marked a seismic shift for the approximately 250,000 enslaved African Americans in Texas who had remained in bondage long after freedom was legally granted.

The first J...