The Juneteenth National Independence Day to become the United States 11th national holiday
June 15, 2021
WASHINGTON (AGN.News) – Today, the US Senate Passed the 2021 Juneteenth bill, titled the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act. The bill has 60 Senate cosponsors. Juneteenth celebrates the end of slavery on June 19, 1865. This bill, once passed by the House and signed by President Joe Biden, will make a Juneteenth the 11th national holiday.
What is Juneteenth?
Juneteenth Holiday is an annual holiday celebrating the emancipation of those who had been enslaved in the United States. Originating in Texas, it is now celebrated annually in this 21st century on the 19th of June throughout the United States, with varying official recognition.
Specifically, Juneteenth commemorates Union Army Major General Gordon Granger (with 2,000 federal troops) announcing federal orders at Ashton Villa on the corner of 24th Street and 2328 Broadway Street in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, proclaiming that all slaves in Texas were free.
General Granger’s 2,000 federal troops marched through Galveston reading General Order No. 3 first at the Union Army Headquarters located at Strand Street and 22nd Street, then at the 1861 Custom House and courthouse before marching to the Negro Church on Broadway (renamed Reedy Chapel-AME Church). These troops were in Galveston to enforce the emancipation of slaves. For more information, please go here.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, first introduced the bill last spring at the height of racial tension in the country following the murder of George Floyd, but they could not garner the support needed. Now, about a year later, the bill included 18 GOP co-sponsors.
“It has been a state holiday in Texas for more than 40 years,” Cornyn tweeted Tuesday afternoon. “Now more than ever, we need to learn from our history and continue to form a more perfect union.”
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