President Joe Biden has returned to Washington, D.C. from his travels in Europe. At the White House today, the president will sign the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, recently passed by Congress.
The legislation, introduced by Senator John Cornyn of Texas, recognizes the date, June 19, 1865, on which the news of the emancipation of the slaves during the Civil War was announced in Galveston, Texas, by Union Army Major General Gordon Granger, who had arrived to assume command of the federal troops.
Though President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation had been issued close to three years earlier, the more remote and isolated areas of the nation had not yet heard that all slaves had been liberated. Originally celebrated in Galveston as “Jubilee Day,” the annual observance became known as Juneteenth in the 1890s.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- With gratitude for God’s grace that liberty was granted to all Americans.
- For the president and his administration to seek God’s guidance as they determine the direction of foreign and domestic policies.
- That U.S. citizens would turn to the Lord, to know His truth more deeply, and share His love with one another.
