Category Archives: Uncategorized

Happy 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln signing the Emancipation Proclamation! “Like all great historical transformations, emancipation was a process, not a single event. It arose from many causes and was the work of many individuals. It began at the outset … Continue reading →

“Watch Night Meeting”: Slaves await midnight on December 31, 1862; Source: http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/odyssey/archive/04/0421001r.jpg As 1862 drew to a close, as far as emancipation was concerned the nation’s attention was riveted on whether President Abraham Lincoln would finalize the Emancipation Proclamation. They had … Continue reading →

By late 1862, the recruitment of African Americans as soldiers in the Union Army was well under way with thousands of black men already under arms and many thousands more that would soon be recruited. Although they would face discrimination–unequal … Continue reading →

From: Harper’s Weekly, December 20, 1862. Source: http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1862/december/emancipation-proclamation-cartoon.htm As December 1862 progressed the date approached (January 1, 1863) for President Abraham Lincoln to make good on his promise in the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation to free the slaves in the portions of the rebellious … Continue reading →

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 →