Juneteenth is now officially a holiday in the United States

June 19 is now officially known as the Juneteenth National Independence Day, which is a new US federal holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. 

The commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union Army Major General Gordon Granger informed slaves in Texas of their emancipation. 

It was not until the end of the civil war that the Emancipation Proclamation, signed on January 1, 1863, could be implemented. 

The day, also commemorated as Emancipation Day, is celebrated across the country with food and festivities. 

Texas was the first state in 1980 to make the day a state holiday. 

With President Biden's signature, the holiday is the first to be approved since Martin Luther King Jr Day, which was established in 1983. 

Highlighting the importance of the day, President Biden said that this was a day of profound weight and profound power -- a day in which Americans remember the terrible toll that slavery took on the United States and continues to take. 

Most states recognise the day as a holiday or have an official observance of the day. The Juneteenth National Independence Day Act bill passed the House and Senate this week with an overwhelming bipartisan vote. 

Only 14 Republican lawmakers voted against the bill. 

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• Juneteenth
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