Monthly Archives: August 2011

Slaveholders created the Confederate States of America to secure the ownership of human property. Free of the non-slaveholding states of the North, they believed, slavery’s future would be assured and the peculiar institution able to expand and prosper. Looking back at … Continue reading →

A momentous event in the history of emancipation in the United States occurred at the end of August 1861, as a result of the initiative of one man: John C. Frémont, the recently appointed commander of the U.S. Army’s Department … Continue reading →

In August 1861, support for emancipation began to gain momentum in the North. With the realization after the Battle of Bull Run/Manassas the previous month that the Civil War would not be settled quickly, and that it would be costly … Continue reading →

Emmanuel Dabney over at Interpretive Challenges has a particularly interesting post relevant to the June 29 edition of Civil War Emancipation entitled “Why the Slaves Fled.” My June 29 post made the point that it was not only the prospect of freedom that led … Continue reading →

At the risk of being accused of beating a dead horse, here is another relevant nugget about whether African Americans fought at the First Battle of Bull Run/Manassas on July 23, 1861. (Click on the links to read the first … Continue reading →

The July 10 edition of Civil War Emancipation featured a letter from Congressman Charles Calvert to Abraham Lincoln complaining of fugitive slaves from Maryland finding sanctuary with units of the Union army encamped in his state and the District of Columbia. … Continue reading →

There is a tendency in Civil War studies to see the war through a domestic-only perspective, neglecting its international manifestations except to the extent they affected the war at home. This approach is understandable given the conflict largely was internal, … Continue reading →

The July 30 edition of Civil War Emancipation featured an emotional letter from Gen. Benjamin Butler to Secretary of War Simon Cameron in which Butler essentially asked what was to become of the about 900 fugitive slaves within his lines. Butler’s … Continue reading →

On August 6, 1861, Abraham Lincoln signed into law what became known to history as the First Confiscation Act. This piece of legislation was a major milestone on the path to emancipation in the United States. It basically transformed into … Continue reading →

Brooks Simpson over at Crossroads has just posted an excerpt from U.S. Grant’s Memoirs, in which Grant discusses what he saw as the causes of the Civil War. From the excerpt Simpson provides, it is clear that Grant believed that slavery … Continue reading →