Author Archives: Donald R. Shaffer

In early December 1862, the future of emancipation in the Civil War was again in flux. By that time, the initial furor over the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation had died away replaced by uncertainty over whether President Lincoln would make good … Continue reading →

I at last had the chance to see Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln this weekend, so I can finally join the small army of scholars and other commentators who have chosen to share their thoughts on this film. Simply as cinema, it was … Continue reading →

In studying the American Civil War, the Atlantic slave trade generally is not an issue that gets much attention from either history enthusiasts or academics scholars. Legal importation of slaves in the United States had ended in 1808. In the … Continue reading →

“Negroes Driven South By The Rebel Officers,” Harper’s Weekly, November 8, 1862 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ If slaves were intent on gaining their freedom in the American Civil War, southern slaveholders were just as intent on keeping their human property. In late Fall 1862, … Continue reading →

When Civil War scholars and enthusiasts think of the first experience of black Union soldiers in combat in the American Civil War, what comes to mind is generally the early battles of black troops at Port Hudson (May 1863) and … Continue reading →

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 →

Not surprisingly, other historians are weighing in on the sesquicentennial of the Emancipation Proclamation. Here is what I’ve come across so far. No doubt there is more to come. Readers: feel free to send me links to any other essays … Continue reading →