Skip to content
LessonPrint

Documents Behind Our Holidays is a free printable Kindergarten to Grade 2 social studies worksheet on reading a holiday's document for why the day is kept, aligned to C3 Framework indicator D2.His.10.K-2. It prints 2 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two students in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 15 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

Next set

One paper per student

12345678910111213141516171819202122232425

Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

Documents Behind Our Holidays

D2.His.10.K-2

NameDate

Read each document or text, then answer the questions.

1.Look at the source, then answer the questions.

Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation

From a proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln, October 3, 1863, during the Civil War. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.

  1. 1. Who did Lincoln invite to keep the day?
  2. 2. What was the day for?
  3. 3. Was the country at peace when Lincoln wrote this?
2.Look at the source, then answer the questions.

General Order No. 3

From General Order No. 3, read by Major General Gordon Granger in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865. June 19 is remembered as Juneteenth, a federal holiday since 2021. The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages.

  1. 1. Where was the order read, and on what date?
  2. 2. What does the order say about all slaves?
  3. 3. Why do Americans remember June 19 as Juneteenth?

LessonPrint · D2.His.10.K-2 · Set 15 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Documents Behind Our Holidays

Set 15. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. His fellow citizens in every part of the United States. 2. Thanksgiving and Praise. 3. No. He wrote it during the Civil War.
  2. 2.1. In Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865. 2. All slaves are free. 3. On June 19, 1865, the people of Texas were told that all slaves are free.

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to D2.His.10.K-2 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.