Juneteenth

Recently*, US President Joe Biden made Juneteenth a federal holiday in the United States but what is Juneteenth and why is it important to know about it in this day and age?
Juneteenth celebrates the end of slavery in the United States following the criminalising and abolition of slavery in 1863 during the presidency of Abraham Lincoln. While the Emancipation Proclamation was signed in 1863, it took 2 years (and the start of Andrew Johnson's presidency on account of Lincoln's assassination) for the American Civil War (which started because of the slavery controversy) to end but Texas landowners needed another harvest so slavery didn't end nationwide in the US until 19 June 1865 when an army ship arrived in Texas and declared that the slaves were free. To African Americans, 19 June/Juneteenth is also known as Emancipation Day and Black Independence Day

*This fact card was made in June 2021.