Senators Vote to Make Juneteenth a Federal Holiday

Yesterday, the Senate voted unanimously to pass a bill making Juneteenth a federal holiday. With the resolution, June 19th will now be known as ‘Juneteenth National Independence Day’ a U.S. holiday to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States. The piece of legislation has gained momentum since the Black Lives Matter movement which was sparked by the fatal police killing of George Floyd last May and continued once Democrats took over the White House and Congress. The bill will now head to the House of Representatives to be voted on and then be signed into law by President Biden if passed.

In 1865, Major General Gordon Granger announced the end of slavery in Galveston Texas in accordance with President Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation. In 1980, Juneteenth became a Texas state holiday. Since then, every state but South Dakota has officially commemorated it but only a handful of states observe it as a paid holiday.