Juneteenth

by Denise M. Jordan

Book Overview

Why were African Americans enslaved? Why did the Civil War begin? When were slaves freed? The new editions of 'Holiday Histories' describe holidays and special days that are celebrated in the United... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Library Binding
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1432910426
• ISBN13: 9781432910426
• Release Date: August 2008
• Publisher: Heinemann Educational Books
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 7.7" x 8.7"
• Age Range: 6 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Grades 1 to 3

Customer Reviews

Introducing younger students to the Juneteenth holiday

Each book in the Holiday Histories series describes one of America's holidays for very young readers by exploring the history of each one and showing the reasons why it is important. In this particular volume Denise M. Jordan explains how Juneteenth Day is the oldest African-American holiday that celebrates the very last day of slavery in the United States. Although Abraham Lincoln ordered in the Emancipation Proclamation that all slaves were to be freed on January 1, 1863, the slaves in Texas were not told until June 19, 1865. Jordan explains how it was against the law to teach slaves how to read and write, which resulted in them pronouncing some words differently, why is how during the telling and retelling of the last days of slavery June 19 became Juneteenth.This book provides a summary of slavery in the United States, covering how the argument over slavery eventually started the Civil War. But most of the book focuses on how the rumors of freedom and the presence of Union troops in Texas finally resulted in Union General Gordon Granger reading an order declaring "all slaves are free." The last part of the book looks at how freedom was celebrated both then and now, as the celebrations that started in the churches eventually became big parades in cities like Houston, Dallas, and Fort Worth.Each page of this book contains a paragraph of simple text and either a historic illustration or contemporary photograph. The back of the book includes a list of important dates related to the topic of Juneteenth, from 1806 when Lincoln was elected president to 1994 when a movement started to make Juneteenth Day a national holiday. There is also a Glossary of key words and a trio of books where very young readers can read more about the holiday. Other books in the series look at not only the "main" holidays like Halloween, Independence Day, and Thanksgiving Day, but the ones that do not always get mentioned like Cinco de Mayo and Columbus Day. These are a nice series of books for introducing the holidays to younger students.