President Joe Biden on Friday signed a bill to make make Juneteenth a federal holiday, keeping in mind the abolishment of slavery in the United States.
"On June 19, 1865 - nearly nine decades after our Nation's founding, and more than 2 years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation - enslaved Americans in Galveston, Texas, finally received word that they were free from bondage," Biden stated in a proclamation on Friday. "As those who were formerly enslaved were recognized for the first time as citizens, Black Americans came to commemorate Juneteenth with celebrations across the country, building new lives and a new tradition that we honor today. In its celebration of freedom, Juneteenth is a day that should be recognized by all Americans. And that is why I am proud to have consecrated Juneteenth as our newest national holiday."
This will be the very first federal holiday that has been put into effect by Congress in about four decades, with the last being Martin Luther King Jr. Day back in 1983. The bill went through the Senate unanimously this past Tuesday and was accepted 415-14 in the House this past Wednesday.
Juneteenth, also known as Emancipation Day, Black Independence Day, and Jubilee Day, honors June 19 as the date when Major General Gordon Granger marched in with federal troops into Galveston, Texas, and gave a directive that would free the nation's last slaves. This came about more than two months after the ending of the American Civil War and about two and a half years after then-President Abraham Lincoln had put out the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves in the U.S.
"Our federal holidays are purposely few in number and recognize the most important milestones," said House Representative Carolyn Maloney from New York in a statement on the holiday. "I cannot think of a more important milestone to commemorate than the end of slavery in the United States."
This past Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer tweeted that Juneteenth "will be the only federal holiday recognizing the horrors of slavery and the transformative legacy of emancipation."
Both the Federal Reserve and New York Stock Exchange have made announcements that they will evaluate closing operations in observance of the holiday in 2022.