People across New York celebrate Juneteenth as federal holiday –video

Days after Juneteenth was made a national holiday, communities across New York came together to celebrate 19 June 1865, the day when news of the Emancipation Proclamation reached Galveston, Texas, freeing slaves in the final Confederate state to abolish slavery.

Prior to Biden signing this legislation, Juneteenth was recognised in 48 states and Washington DC either as a ceremonial or state holiday, said USA Today. And, although the history of Texas's emancipation is the most well known, other watershed events in the history of emancipation happened on and around 19 June 1865.

• US comes together to mark Juneteenth after recognizing it as federal holiday