Monthly Archives: October 2012

Reaction to the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation fell along predictable lines. Abolitionists greeted it with enthusiasm. Supporters of the Lincoln Administration dutifully lined up behind the policy. Democrats and Conservative Republicans condemned it, as did the Confederate government and its white … Continue reading →

On October 17, 1862, the New York Times, attempted to estimate the number of slaves that had escaped slavery up to that point in the war. The article read: A recent Richmond paper, in speaking of the devastation caused to the … Continue reading →

Today, 150 years ago, the Confederacy enacted its infamous “Twenty Negro Law,” which exempted persons owning twenty or more slaves from military service in the southern army. The law read: The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact… … Continue reading →

Do not get me wrong: I have nothing but respect for the Emancipation Proclamation and consider it to be one of the most important milestones on the path to freedom for the slaves in the Civil War. But overemphasizing it … Continue reading →