Breaking the Chains
What does Juneteenth celebrate?
A) End of the Civil War
B) End of Racial Segregation in America
C) End of Slavery in America
End of Slavery in America
Juneteenth is a federal holiday in the United States celebrating the emancipation of African American slaves. The holiday has been called "America's second Independence Day".
What day is Juneteenth celebrated?
A) June 19th
B) June 17th
C) June 16th
June 19th
The Emancipation Proclamation was issued by Abraham Lincoln on September 22, 1862. It went into effect on January 1, 1863, but slaves were not set free in Confederate states until the Union army arrived to take over. On June 18, 1865 the Union army arrived in Galveston, Texas. The next day, June 19th, Union General Gordon Granger announced that the slaves in Texas were free by order of the president of the United States.
What is the name of the official order given by General Granger announcing that all slaves had been freed?
A) General Order No. 1
B) General Order No. 3
C) General Order No. 66
General Order No. 3
According to the Texas Historical Commission and Galveston Historical Foundation, Granger's men marched throughout Galveston reading General Order No. 3--first at Union Army Headquarters at the Osterman Building (at the intersection of Strand Street and 22nd Street), then in the Strand Historic District. Next they marched to the 1861 Customs House and Courthouse before finally marching to the Negro Church on Broadway, since renamed Reedy Chapel-AME Church.
What is the period immediately after the announcement of the General Order known as?
A) The Scatter
B) The Fracture
C) The Migration
The Scatter
What followed became known as, "The scatter," with droves of formerly enslaved people leaving the state to find family members or more welcoming accommodations in the northern states.
When were the last slaves actually freed?
A) 1866
B) 1868
C) 1903
1868
Despite the announcement, some slave owners resisted. There is one report of a Texas horse thief named Alex Simpson, whose enslaved people were only freed after his passing in 1868.
Where was Juneteenth first celebrated?
A) Louisiana
B) Texas
C) Washington, D.C.
Texas
Celebrations date to 1866, at first involving church-centered community gatherings in Texas. These celebrations quickly spread across the South, but waned during the era of Jim Crow laws. The holiday grew in popularity again during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, when it began to incorporate other activities such as rodeos, street fairs, cookouts, historical reenactments, and Miss Juneteenth contests.
What drink is traditionally associated with Juneteenth?
A) Strawberry Soda
B) Root Beer
C) Ginger Ale
Strawberry Soda
When Texas slaves were finally informed that they had been freed, they celebrated with everything red to symbolize the blood that had been shed in the struggle for freedom. These early celebrations featured watermelon, barbecue, red velvet cake, and strawberry soda, which had previously been reserved for slave owners. (According to other sources, red drinks made from hibiscus tea or kola nuts were always a part of festive celebrations in West Africa. Thus, strawberry soda simply became a stand in for those traditional teas.)
What was Juneteenth originally called?
A) Joyful Day
B) Jamboree Day
C) Jubilee Day
Jubilee Day
On June 19, 1866, one year after the announcement, freedmen in Texas organized the first of what became the annual celebration of, "Jubilee Day." By the 1890s, Jubilee Day had become known as Juneteenth.
Which African American author published a novel titled, Juneteenth?
A) Ralph Ellison
B) Toni Morrison
C) Langston Hughes
Ralph Ellison
Ralph Ellison's novel Juneteenth was published posthumously in 1999, increasing recognition of the holiday. Publishers Weekly called the manuscript "a visionary tour de force, a lyrical, necessary contribution to America's perennial racial dialogue, and a novel powerfully reinforcing Ellison's place in literary history."
What was the first state to establish Juneteenth as a state holiday?
A) Georgia
B) Texas
C) Illinois
Texas
The bill passed through the Texas legislature in 1979, and Juneteenth was officially made a state holiday on January 1, 1980.
What year did Juneteenth become a federal holiday?
A) 1981
B) 2021
C) 1901
2021
It became a federal holiday on June 17, 2021, when President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law.
What does the bursting star on the Juneteenth flag represent?
A) God's promise of freedom
B) Breaking the chains of slavery
C) A new beginning
A new beginning
The colors are red, white and blue, echoing the American flag, a reminder that slaves and their descendants were and are Americans. The star in the middle pays homage to Texas, while the bursting "new star" on the "horizon" of the red and blue fields represents a new beginning.
How many U.S. states have officially recognized Juneteenth?
A) 50
B) 22
C) 37
50
As of 2021, all 50 states have recognized Juneteenth as either a holiday or an observance. South Dakota became the last state to do so on June 17, 2021. "All men are created equal," said South Dakota governor Kristi Noem, upon announcing the holiday. "That is America's foundational ideal. Juneteenth celebrates an important day when we came closer to making that ideal a reality for all Americans, regardless of race."
Which famous Civil Rights leader is known for their activism in making Juneteenth a state holiday in Texas?
A) Al Sharpton
B) Al Edwards
C) Jesse Jackson
Al Edwards
Albert Ely Edwards was an American politician who served in the Texas Legislature, representing District 146. He is best known as the principal proponent of the Juneteenth Texas state holiday, approved in 2007, which in 2021 became a federal holiday.
Which colors are often associated with Juneteenth celebrations?
A) Red, Green & White
B) Orange, Black & Blue
C) Red, Black & Green
Red, Black & Green
The colors red, black and green are often associated with Juneteenth to symbolize the Pan-African flag.
Which amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolished slavery in the United States?
A) The 13th Amendment
B) The 2nd Amendment
C) The 5th Amendment
The 13th Amendment
Amendment Thirteen to the Constitution – the first of the three Reconstruction Amendments – was ratified on December 6, 1865. It forbids chattel slavery across the United States and in every territory under its control, except as a criminal punishment
Juneteenth has been celebrated under many names, which of these is NOT a name it was celebrated under?
A) Emancipation Day
B) Lincoln Day
C) Cel-Liberation Day
Lincoln Day
Although Abraham Lincoln played a major role in the emancipation of slaves, the holiday was never celebrated under the name, "Lincoln Day."
The Civil War ended in the summer of __________.
A) 1832
B) 1865
C) 1889
1865
The Confederates abandoned Richmond, and on April 9, 1865, Lee surrendered to Grant following the Battle of Appomattox Court House, setting in motion the end of the war. Lincoln lived to see this victory but was shot by an assassin on April 14, dying the next day.
What Civil War battle caused the most casualties?
A) Chickamauga
B) Shiloh
C) Gettysburg
Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg was the costliest battle of the Civil War, with 51,112 casualties (23,049 Union and 28,063 Confederate). Gettysburg was a victory for the Union forces and is considered by many experts to have been the turning point in the Civil War.
What was the name of Robert E. Lee's horse he used throughout most of the Civil War?
A) Traveler
B) Achilles
C) Visitor
Traveler
Traveler weighed about eleven hundred pounds and stood nearly sixteen hands high. He outlived General Lee and, upon his death, was buried next to the Lee Chapel. Although Traveller was Lee's favorite horse, his stable also included four other horses: Richmond, Brown-Roan, Ajax, and Lucy Long.
What was remarkable about the naval battle between the Monitor and the Merrimack?
A) Both were ironclads
B) Both were unarmed
C) Both were confederate ships
Both were ironclads
On March 9, 1862, two American warships, the Monitor and the Merrimack, engaged in a four-hour close-range duel which finally resulted in a draw. The battle was remarkable because it was the first engagement between two ironclad warships and, thus, marked a revolution in naval warfare.
What was the first state to secede from the Union?
A) Alabama
B) South Carolina
C) Mississippi
South Carolina
South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union on December 20, 1860. South Carolina troops also fired the first shots of the Civil War in 1861 when they fired on Union troops in Fort Sumter. Ironically, South Carolina had also been the first state to ratify the original constitution of the United States on February 5, 1778.
How long did it take Abraham Lincoln to deliver his famous Gettysburg Address?
A) 2 minutes
B) 2 hours
C) 2 days
2 minutes
Considered one of the greatest speeches ever written, Lincoln's Gettysburg address took less than two minutes to deliver.
Who served as the Secretary of State during the Civil War?
A) Ambrose Burnside
B) Montgomery Blair
C) William Seward
William Seward
A determined opponent of the spread of slavery in the years leading up to the American Civil War, William H. Seward was a dominant figure in the Republican Party in its formative years, and was generally praised for his work on behalf of the Union as Secretary of State during the American Civil War.
What Union General was the Democratic nominee for President of the United States in 1880.
A) Winfield S. Hancock
B) James A. Garfield
C) Albert S. Johnston
Winfield S. Hancock
Winfield S. Hancock served with distinction in the Army for four decades, including service in the Mexican-American War and as a Union General in the American Civil War. Known to his Army colleagues as, "Hancock the Superb," he was noted in particular for his personal leadership at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. When the Democrats nominated him for President in 1880, he ran a strong campaign, but was narrowly defeated by Republican James A. Garfield.