The History of Juneteenth by Houston Chronicle, Adapted by Newsela Staff on 10.31.19 Word Count 626 Level 700L

Home , Freedman, George Washington Carver

The History of Juneteenth By Houston Chronicle, adapted by Newsela staff on 10.31.19 Word Count 626 Level 700L

Image 1. Juneteenth Memorial Monument of a freedman and a freedwoman at the George Washington Carver Museum, Culture and Genealogy Center in Austin, Texas. The monument demonstrates how people learned about the news of emancipation. Juneteenth celebrates June 19, 1985, when enslaved people were freed in Texas and the Confederate States of America. Since Texas was further from other states in the U.S., emancipation did not happen until later on in Texas when the Confederacy lost the Civil War. Photo from: Wikipedia/Jennifer Rangubphai.

History was made in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865. General Gordon Granger issued General Order No. 3. The order declared an end to slavery in Texas. All enslaved people were to be freed. The announcement came near the end of the Civil War. June 19, or "Juneteenth," is still celebrated today.

Freedom Came Two Years After Emancipation Proclamation

The response by some of the quarter-million enslaved people in Texas was joyous. However, the news did not spread quickly. Some plantation owners waited to deliver the news. Some waited until they were forced to act. This situation was similar to President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, delivered in 1863. That proclamation freed enslaved people in Confederate states, but did not impact Texas.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. The lag between Lincoln's Proclamation and General Order No. 3 speaks to Texas' unique role in the Civil War.

Slavery wasn't a practice in Texas until 1836. That's when the Republic of Texas was established. The state operated independently for 10 years. The Republic of Texas opened up business for slavery, which quickly grew. When Texas became a U.S. state in 1845, the practice continued.

Texas Fought With The Confederacy In The Civil War

At the beginning of the Civil War in 1861, Texas Governor Sam Houston opposed the war. He thought it would destroy the South. Still, the Texas government decided to leave the Union for the Confederacy. Houston remained against the action. He refused to join the Confederate States of America. As a result, he was replaced in March 1861 by the lieutenant governor. Texas then joined the Confederacy in its war against the Union.

Texan soldiers played an important role in the war. By 1861, Texan troops were leaving the state for combat in the east.

John Bell Hood was a Kentuckian who made Texas his home. He quickly rose up in the ranks of the Confederate Army. He was briefly a leader in Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Lee's Army was one of the most important for the Confederacy. Hood suffered injuries in the Battle of Gettysburg and at another battle in Chickamauga. These injuries ended his leadership of the brigade.

Upon Hood's return to Texas, the Confederacy quickly fell apart. Things weren't going well in Texas, either. General Edmund Kirby Smith led the Army of the Trans-Mississippi. It had soldiers from Texas, Arkansas and parts of Louisiana. That army was also growing weak. Union forces had cut off Texas from the east by taking control of the Mississippi River. News of the war's unavoidable end traveled from the east to the west.

Hood and Smith surrendered about the same time in early summer 1865. Hood surrendered in Natchez and Smith surrendered in Galveston. Smith then fled the country.

Juneteenth Now An Official Texas Holiday

Days later, General Granger was placed in command of the U.S. Army's Department of Texas. He set up headquarters in the city of Galveston. There, he made the famous proclamation on June 19. Granger urged freed men to continue working on plantations, but only after signing labor agreements. These agreements were like contracts to ensure fair treatment and pay.

Many celebrated on June 19, 1865. But there were also acts of violence against freed men and women. Still, Juneteenth was celebrated the next year, particularly by freed slaves. June 19 was more important to them than the Fourth of July. The slaves had not been freed by the Declaration of Independence; they were freed on Juneteenth.

In 1980, Texas recognized Juneteenth as an official state holiday. It is now celebrated across the country, including Los Angeles, New York and La Crosse, Wisconsin.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. Quiz

1 Read the following selection from the section "Freedom Came Two Years After Emancipation Proclamation."

Some plantation masters waited to deliver the news. Some waited until they were forced to act.

Based on this sentence, choose the statement that is TRUE.

(A) Some plantations had not been told that slavery was over.

(B) Many slaves were forced to take charge of the plantations.

(D) No slaves knew that freedom had come because no one told them.

2 Which sentence from the article helps the reader understand that Texas was once a state that made its own rules?

(A) Slavery wasn't a practice in Texas until 1836.

(B) The state operated independently for 10 years.

(D) Texas then joined the Confederacy in its war against the Union.

3 How does the information in the section "Juneteenth Now An Official Texas Holiday" support the main idea of the article?

(A) by explaining why Juneteenth is an important day

(B) by explaining the differences between Juneteenth and the Fourth of July

(D) by suggesting that General Granger should be celebrated as a hero

4 Select the sentence that summarizes the article.

(A) Texas began practicing slavery in 1836 when it was its own republic, and when slavery was over, it began celebrating Juneteenth.

(B) Juneteenth is a day that celebrates the end of slavery in Texas, because, even though the official end came two years earlier, it did not affect Texas.

(C) Juneteenth is an important holiday that was not recognized in Texas until 1980, because Texas did not want to stop the practice of slavery.

(D) Texas was its own republic for many years and made its own rules about slavery, so it did not have to stop slavery when President Lincoln said to.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. Answer Key