Juneteenth (or June 19th), is a day to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States. Although President Lincoln, signed the Emancipation Proclamation, on January 1, 1863, it would take until 1862, and the 13 Amendment(1865) for many enslaved people would learn that slavery had been abolished. On June 19, 1865, enslaved people in Texas learned that they were free people. A celebration started in the Texas with prayers, dancing and cookouts that continues to this day. Also known as Black Independence Day or Freedom Day, a number of states, including Oregon, Washington, Virginia, Texas, Pennsylvania and New York, have made it a state holiday. This week, Congress voted to make Juneteeth a federal holiday. The day after the bill was passed, President Joe Biden signed the bill into law. It is the first new national holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was declared in 1983.
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