US President Joe Biden signs Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law

US President Joe Biden on Thursday signed the Juneteenth bill into law after it cleared the House of Representatives on Wednesday. His stroke of the pen makes June 19th America’s 11th federal holiday.

In his address before signing the bill, Biden described Juneteenth as “a day of profound weight and profound power, a day in which we remember the moral stain and the terrible toll that slavery took on the country—and continues to take”, reported ABC News.

Also Read: Who are the 14 lawmakers who voted against Juneteenth bill in US House?

The legislation garnered significant support in the US Congress, which seemed to fast-track its approval. 

Union General Gordon Granger, who arrived in Texas’ Galveston on June 19, 1865, informed the enslaved African Americans that the Civil War had ended and that they were now free. This event marked the solidification of the Emancipation Proclamation, which was issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863.

The bill commemorates the true end of slavery in the United States.

US Vice President Kamala Harris, who was also present at the signing ceremony spoke before Biden and recognised the value of freedom. She said, “On that summer day, 156 years ago the enslaved people of Texas learned the news, they learned that they were free and they claimed their freedom — it was indeed an important day”, reported ABC News.

The day has also been commonly known as ‘Freedom Day’, ‘Emancipation Day’ or the ‘Juneteenth Independence Day’.