Juneteenth · Worksheet 1
Freedom Comes Late to Texas
Read the story. 英文を読もう。
1On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers were in the port city of Galveston, Texas. That day, General Gordon Granger gave an order with big news. It said that all slaves are free. About 250,000 enslaved people lived in Texas at that time.
2But there is a surprising part of this story. President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation started on January 1, 1863. That was 900 days earlier! So why was Texas so late? Texas was far away, and very few Union soldiers were there. Without soldiers, nobody could make enslavers follow the law.
3The news did not reach everyone on the same day. Some enslavers kept it a secret until the cotton harvest was over. When people finally heard it, some were shocked, and others were full of joy. Many left right away to look for family members.
4One year later, freed people in Texas held the first celebration. They called it Jubilee Day. Later, people put the words June and nineteenth together and made a new name, Juneteenth. In 1872, a group in Houston raised 1,000 dollars and bought land for a park. They named it Emancipation Park.
5For a long time, Juneteenth was mostly a Texas holiday. Then, at age 89, a woman named Opal Lee started a long trip from Texas to Washington, D.C. She wanted a national holiday. In 2021, her dream came true, and she stood next to the president. Today, families enjoy parades, barbecues, and red drinks like strawberry soda.
- enslaved 奴隷にされた
- free 自由な
- freedom 自由
- order 命令
- general 将軍
- soldier 兵士
- harvest 収穫
- secret 秘密
- celebration お祝い、祝典
- emancipation （束縛からの）解放
- national holiday 国の祝日
- parade パレード、行進