US Holidays 2023: Come June 19 and Americans will have Federal holiday, know why?

Come June 19 and millions of people, black and white, will go on partying and holidaying, with government holidays in many states and hundreds of private firms will announce it as a paid holiday.

African Americans celebrate it as their actual Independence Day, the day when they were made free, and slavery was abolished.

June 19, 1865, is considered one of the most important dates in the annals of America. It was the date, on which Union Major General Gordon Granger reached Gulf Coast city and confirmed the news of abolition of slavery. It happened two months after Confederate General Robert E. Lee and his troops surrendered to Union General Ulysses S Grant in Virginia.


In his historic Order No 3. Granger proclaimed that all slaves are free, there will be absolute equality between the former master and slaves and the relation between them would be that of employers and hired workers.

The newly freed people began celebrating their independence the next year and it is continued till now.

But the US administration was too late in embracing it.

President Joe Biden signed a bill passed by Congress in 2021 and declared June 19 a federal holiday.

This day became more important as hundreds of thousands of people came to the streets protesting the murder of George Floyd in 2020, ‘Black Lives Matter’ rallies were held across the nation and once again the plight of blacks became a talking point.

A bill, sponsored by Senator Edward Markey and co-sponsored by 60 lawmakers, was introduced in Congress and it was passed by a bipartisan vote.

Abraham Lincoln who abolished slavery and faces a bloody civil war, must be smiling from heaven.

FAQs:

Q1. Who was the president when slavery was abolished in the US?
A1. Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery in the U.S. in 1863.

Q2. Who was the president when June 19 was declared a federal holiday?
A2. Joe Biden was the president when June 19 was declared a federal holiday in 2021.