Monthly Archives: January 2011

Yesterday’s Disunion in the New York Times, written by Jamie Malanowski, prominently mentions the “Thanksgiving Sermon” of the Reverend Dr. Benjamin Morgan Palmer, delivered in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Nov. 29, 1860.  The lengthy sermon defended secession as necessary to defend … Continue reading →

On January 26, 1861, the New York Times published a short article which stated simply, “PROVIDENCE, Friday, Jan. 25.  The House of Representatives have concurred with the Senate in repealing the Personal Liberty bill. The vote stood 49 to 18. … Continue reading →

Adam Goodheart, in his most recent post to Disunion, features the farewell speech of Alfred Iverson, U.S. Senator from Georgia, 150 years ago today (January 28, 1861).  Iverson was resigning his seat and spoke rather emotionally as he addressed the Senate … Continue reading →

This week, 150 years ago, Lucy Bagby, a slave from Wheeling, Virginia (now West Virginia) was returned to slavery after being recaptured in Cleveland, Ohio.  She had escaped in late 1860 and was arrested after Bagby’s owners tracked her down there.  They convinced … Continue reading →

There are some people who like to claim that had the Confederacy survived it would have soon emancipated its slaves.  While I suppose this event might have occurred eventually as farm machinery made slave labor in the South uneconomic it certainly wouldn’t have … Continue reading →

As many readers of this blog are aware, the New York Times has established a blog, Disunion, exploring various aspects of the Civil War as part of the sesquicentennial.  The articles often look at events exactly or almost exactly 150 years … Continue reading →

With the sesquicentennial commemoration of the U.S. Civil War well underway, I thought I would join in by starting a blog on emancipation.  While there are plenty of subjects to focus on when studying this conflict, freedom for the slaves is … Continue reading →