On Jan. 1, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect. Eleven months later on Nov. 19, at the Gettysburg battleground, Lincoln dedicated the Union lives lost to the vindication of the promise of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness made four score and seven years before. But the war continued. Two and half years later, on June 19, 1865, Union Army General George Granger declared that the quarter-million slaves in Texas were now free. Congress had on Jan. 31 passed the 13th Amendment: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States.” Ratified on Dec. 6, 1865, the 13th Amendment was soon followed by the 14th and 15th amendments promising equal protection and the right to vote regardless of race.

Although those events were a second founding, none of those dates has been embedded in the nation’s consciousness like Independence Day has been. But African Americans in Texas have long celebrated “Juneteenth.” Now we all will. After a year of plague, conflict, and even insurrection, as the country reemerges we now have a hoped-for moment of unity. Two weeks ago, the House of Representatives voted 415-14, joined by a unanimous Senate, to declare Juneteenth a new national holiday—promptly celebrated on Saturday, June 19, after gaining the signature of President Joseph R. Biden. Many employers followed with a day off last Monday. We hope everyone had a peaceful and reassuring first-observed Juneteenth. We wish ourselves and the country many more.

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