THE LEGEND OF JOHN HENRY
THE LEGEND OF JOHN HENRY THE LEGEND OF JOHN HENRY John Henry was born into a slave family. When he was just a boy, he had to do the work of a full-grown man. He grew so fast that sometimes the pants he put on in the morning were too short by nightfall. Soon, he was the biggest man around and the strongest, too. When the Civil War ended, the slaves became free, but life was still hard. John Henry needed to find a job. “Who will hire me?" he wondered. John Henry lived before there were cars o
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THE LEGEND OF JOHN HENRY
THE LEGEND OF JOHN HENRY
John Henry was born into a slave family.When he was just a boy, he had to do the work of a full-grown man.He grew so fast that sometimes the pants he put on in the morning were too short by nightfall.Soon, he was the biggest man around and the strongest, too.
When the Civil War ended, the slaves became free, but life was still hard.John Henry needed to find a job.“Who will hire me?" he wondered.
John Henry lived before there were cars or airplanes.Railroad companies were hiring workers to build tracks all across America.The work was hard and dangerous, but John Henry was brave and strong.So, like many other black men who had once been slaves, he went to work on the railroad.
John Henry became a steel driver—a hammer man.Every day he swung his twenty-pound hammer over and over again.Another man would hold a drill bit against a rock.Then John Henry would hit the end of the drill bit with his hammer.He broke up rocks and dug tunnels through hills to make a path for the tracks.
The other workers liked John Henry.He worked harder and faster than any three other men.John Henry had a deep, booming voice, and the other men enjoyed singing work songs with him.
One day, the railroad tracks ran smack into Big Bend Mountain.Big Bend was so huge that the railroad couldn't be built around it.A tunnel would have to be built through the mountain instead."Don't worry," John Henry said."That ol' mountain's just a big rock, and smashing through rocks is what I do."
