Category Archives: Slavery

My Favorite Historical Person: Frederick Douglass

Posted on June 19, 2017 by

Since I was a young boy, Frederick Douglass has been the historical person I most admire in the Civil War era. Growing up a slave, Mr. Douglass was taught to read by a benevolent master, studied the Columbian Orator to … Continue reading →

Posted in Personalities, Slavery, USCT | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

U.S. Grant Urges Iowans to Approve Suffrage for Black Men

Posted on May 26, 2017 by

The following was passed along by ECW’s friend William Underhill, one of the stalwart keeper’s of Ulysses S. Grant’s flame as a member of the Friends of Grant Cottage, the organization that staffs the site where Grant died in upstate … Continue reading →

Posted in Newspapers, Politics, Primary Sources, Reconstruction, Slavery | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

“We Have A Light”: Our Shared Lie About the Confederacy

Posted on April 11, 2017 by

Today, we welcome back guest author Sam Smith. “The Confederate Constitution was virtually identical to the original, except that it explicitly protected slavery.” This is one of the most common canards of Civil War history. I don’t know where this fiction … Continue reading →

Posted in Antebellum South, Politics, Slavery | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Underground Railroad Wins Pulitzer in Fiction

Posted on April 10, 2017 by

The Pulitzer Prizes were announced this afternoon, and while most of the attention goes to the journalism awards, the Pulitzer committee also makes awards in arts & letters. This year’s winner for fiction was Colson Whitehead’s novel The Underground Railroad. ECW’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Authors, Civil War in Pop Culture, Slavery | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Women in History–EEEK!

Posted on April 1, 2017 by

What’s a girl/woman to do?? In honor of Women’s History Month, I thought I would editorialize for a few minutes here at ECW, the blog that gave me my break. Military History is not always a comfortable place for a … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil War in Pop Culture, Civilian, Common Soldier, Economics, Lincoln, Material Culture, Memory, Politics, Reconstruction, Slavery, Ties to the War | Tagged , | Leave a comment

WHM Profile: Beth Parnicza

Posted on March 2, 2017 by

by ECW Correspondent Emily Losito Elizabeth Parnicza stood next to the edge of Stewarts Canal in Maryland, which the abolitionist Harriet Tubman and her father worked on during their time of slavery. The canal was built between 1810 and 1830 … Continue reading →

Posted in National Park Service, Personalities, Slavery | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Confederate Generals and Racial Moderation

Posted on February 28, 2017 by

Today, we are pleased to welcome back guest author Sean Michael Chick When I volunteer at the Historic New Orleans Collection, I naturally prefer the room dealing with the Civil War and Reconstruction (a close second is the Battle of … Continue reading →

Posted in Leadership--Confederate, Memory, Personalities, Politics, Reconstruction, Slavery | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

Robert Penn Warren’s Reflections on Jefferson Davis’s Citizenship

Posted on February 13, 2017 by

As I mentioned in a post a couple weeks ago, I had the opportunity recently to pick up Robert Penn Warren’s short 1980 book Jefferson Davis Gets His Citizenship Back. It’s beautifully written, and Warren’s ambivalence about his native South … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Authors, Leadership--Confederate, Lincoln, Memory, Personalities, Slavery | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Paying My Respects to a “Bad, Old” Opponent

Posted on January 27, 2017 by

In Lynchburg, Virginia, for a speaking engagement, I have stopped by Jubal Early’s gravesite to pay my respects. It is grudging respect, to be sure—but I cannot deny he has been a formidable foe. Certainly, time has proven Jubal Early … Continue reading →

Posted in Emerging Civil War, Leadership--Confederate, Memory, Personalities, Slavery, Ties to the War | Tagged , , , | 13 Comments

Book Review: Gathering to Save a Nation: Lincoln & the Union’s War Governors by Stephen D. Engle

Posted on January 19, 2017 by

The study of the American Civil War is changing. Of course, there will always be battle studies and biographies of generals, but there is a pivot away from this strictly military point of view. Scholars are examining the war in … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Review, Books & Authors, Civilian, Emerging Civil War, Leadership--Federal, Lincoln, Personalities, Politics, Slavery | Tagged , , | 2 Comments