Quiz of the Day
Juneteenth & Freedom
Friday, 19 June 2026
Juneteenth — African American history, emancipation, civil rights milestones
1. What event does Juneteenth commemorate?
- The end of the Civil War
- The passage of the 13th Amendment
- The announcement of emancipation to enslaved people in Texas
- The signing of the Emancipation Proclamation
On June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced that all enslaved people were free — over two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued on January 1, 1863.
2. In what year did Juneteenth become a US federal holiday?
- 2023
- 2000
- 2021
- 2015
President Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act on June 17, 2021, making it the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established in 1983.
3. Which amendment to the US Constitution officially abolished slavery?
- 15th Amendment
- 14th Amendment
- 19th Amendment
- 13th Amendment
The 13th Amendment was ratified on December 6, 1865 — months after Juneteenth. Mississippi did not officially ratify it until 1995 and did not file the paperwork until 2013, making it the last state to do so.
4. Who was Harriet Tubman?
- The first Black woman elected to Congress
- The author of Uncle Tom's Cabin
- The first Black woman to attend university
- An abolitionist who led enslaved people to freedom via the Underground Railroad
Tubman made approximately 13 rescue missions and freed around 70 enslaved people. During the Civil War, she became the first woman to lead an armed assault in US history, guiding the Combahee River Raid that liberated over 700 people.
5. What was the Underground Railroad?
- An early subway system in the eastern US
- A network of secret routes and safe houses for escaping slavery
- A railroad built by freed slaves
- A publishing network for abolitionist newspapers
The Underground Railroad used railroad terminology as code: safe houses were 'stations', guides were 'conductors', and escaped people were 'passengers'. It helped an estimated 100,000 people reach freedom between 1850 and 1860.
6. Who wrote the autobiography 'Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass'?
- W.E.B. Du Bois
- Booker T. Washington
- Sojourner Truth
- Frederick Douglass
Douglass taught himself to read as a child, which was illegal for enslaved people. His autobiography was so eloquent that critics accused him of being an impostor. He became the most photographed American of the 19th century.
7. What was the significance of the 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education?
- It granted voting rights to Black Americans
- It declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional
- It ended slavery in Washington DC
- It established affirmative action
The case overturned the 'separate but equal' doctrine from Plessy v. Ferguson (1896). The lead plaintiff was Oliver Brown, whose daughter Linda had to walk past a nearby white school to catch a bus to her distant Black school in Topeka, Kansas.
8. In what year did Rosa Parks refuse to give up her bus seat in Montgomery, Alabama?
- 1955
- 1945
- 1960
- 1965
Parks was not the first Black woman to resist bus segregation — Claudette Colvin did so nine months earlier at age 15. Civil rights leaders chose Parks, a respected NAACP secretary, as the face of the movement because of her standing in the community.
9. What traditional food is commonly associated with Juneteenth celebrations?
- Fried chicken
- Sweet potato pie
- Cornbread
- Red foods and drinks such as red velvet cake and strawberry soda
The colour red in Juneteenth foods symbolises resilience and the blood shed by enslaved people. Traditional celebrations feature red velvet cake, red beans and rice, watermelon, barbecue, and hibiscus tea (agua de Jamaica).
10. Who delivered the famous 'I Have a Dream' speech during the 1963 March on Washington?
- Martin Luther King Jr.
- John Lewis
- Jesse Jackson
- Malcolm X
The famous 'I have a dream' refrain was partly improvised. Gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, standing nearby, called out 'Tell them about the dream, Martin!' and King departed from his prepared text to deliver the iconic passage.
11. What were 'Jim Crow laws'?
- Laws governing plantation labour
- State and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern US
- Federal anti-discrimination legislation
- Laws protecting freed slaves after the Civil War
The name 'Jim Crow' came from a racist minstrel show character created by white performer Thomas D. Rice in the 1830s. These laws mandated separate facilities for everything from schools to drinking fountains and lasted from the 1870s until the 1960s.
12. Who was the first African American to serve as President of the United States?
- Condoleezza Rice
- Barack Obama
- Jesse Jackson
- Colin Powell
Obama was elected in 2008 and served two terms. On election night, he addressed a crowd of over 240,000 in Chicago's Grant Park. Congressman John Lewis, a civil rights icon who was beaten on Bloody Sunday in 1965, wept openly.
13. What was the Emancipation Proclamation?
- A Constitutional amendment banning slavery
- A peace treaty ending the Civil War
- A Congressional act granting citizenship to freed slaves
- An executive order by President Lincoln freeing enslaved people in Confederate states
The Proclamation only freed enslaved people in states that had seceded — not in border states loyal to the Union. It was a strategic wartime measure that also authorised the enlistment of Black soldiers. Nearly 200,000 served by war's end.
14. What nickname is often given to Juneteenth?
- Freedom Friday
- Liberation Day
- America's Second Independence Day
- Emancipation Eve
Frederick Douglass once asked in a famous 1852 speech: 'What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July?' For many Black Americans, Juneteenth represents the true fulfilment of the promise of independence and liberty.
15. Which civil rights act, signed in 1964, prohibited discrimination based on race, colour, religion, sex, or national origin?
- Equal Rights Amendment
- Voting Rights Act
- Fair Housing Act
- Civil Rights Act of 1964
President Lyndon B. Johnson used 75 pens to sign the act, giving them as souvenirs to key supporters. He reportedly told an aide: 'We have lost the South for a generation' — predicting the political realignment that followed.