Category Archives: Slavery

Patriotic Covers and Northern Attitudes about Slavery

Posted on September 9, 2020 by ECW Guest Post

ECW welcomes back guest author Leon Reed Patriotic envelopes (also known as covers) provide important insights into public opinion in the Civil War. These envelopes were made for profit by commercial printers, who would have carefully tracked what was selling … Continue reading →

Posted in Material Culture, Slavery | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

“To Laugh in One Hand And Cry in the Other”: W.B. Higginbotham & the Black Community in Civil War Rome

Posted on August 27, 2020 by ECW Guest Post

ECW welcomes back David T. Dixon Wm. Higginbotham, a well-known free man of color, also returned on Saturday morning. He reached Manassas on the morning of the battle, but was denied the privilege of taking a gun and falling into … Continue reading →

Posted in Civilian, Reconstruction, Slavery | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Figures of the Civil War and the Women’s Suffrage Movement

Posted on August 25, 2020 by Paige Gibbons Backus

Nearly 150 years ago, the 15th Amendment extended the franchise to African American men. A generation later the 19th Amendment gave the vote to both Black and White women. Both of these events occurred long after the end of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Antebellum South, Civilian, Personalities, Politics, Primary Sources, Slavery | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Book Review: A Fool’s Errand. By One of the Fools: A Novel of the South During Reconstruction

Posted on August 24, 2020 by Meg Groeling

For historians, reading is a full-time job. Nothing is too insignificant not to read, from cereal boxes to torn bits of paper with evidence of pencil scratches. Reading books popular during a specific period of the past is an excellent … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Review, Books & Authors, Civilian, Politics, Reconstruction, Slavery | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Echoes of The Reconstruction Era: July 2020

Posted on August 19, 2020 by ECW Guest Post

ECW is pleased to welcome back guest author Patrick Young, author of The Reconstruction Era Blog. No period in United States history echoes as truly today as the Reconstruction Era. While many see contemporary parallels in the Civil War, let’s face … Continue reading →

Posted in Emerging Civil War, Reconstruction, Slavery, USCT | Tagged , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Cartooning Contraband: Humor in Harper’s Weekly

Posted on August 14, 2020 by ECW Guest Post

ECW welcomes back guest author Cameron Sauers No major battle had yet occurred in May of 1861, but a major military decision had already altered the course of war. Union General Benjamin Butler had decided the fate of three slaves … Continue reading →

Posted in Newspapers, Slavery | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Wealthiest Slave in Savannah: Rachel Brownfield and the True Price of Freedom

Posted on August 13, 2020 by ECW Guest Post

ECW welcomes back guest author David T. Dixon Charley Lamar was always itching for a fight. Once arrested for illegally importing slaves, he quipped that “a man of influence can do as he pleases.” Lucrative profits from blockade running led … Continue reading →

Posted in Civilian, Slavery | Tagged , , , , , | 10 Comments

BookChat with Cody Marrs, author of Not Even Past

Posted on July 15, 2020 by Chris Mackowski

As a big fan of the Civil War in pop culture, I was especially looking forward to Cody Marrs’ new book Not Even Past: The Stories We Keep Telling About the Civil War, which deals with the ways “the story … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Authors, Civil War in Pop Culture, Lincoln, Memory, Politics, Reconstruction, Slavery | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Resonance of The Field of Blood

Posted on July 6, 2020 by Chris Mackowski

I recently finished reading The Field of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil War by Joanne B. Freeman, and in all honesty, I can’t remember a history book that seemed more relevant or resonant. Published in 2018, … Continue reading →

Posted in Antebellum South, Book Review, Books & Authors, Politics, Slavery, Ties to the War | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Granger’s Juneteenth Orders and the Limiting of Freedom

Posted on June 23, 2020 by Edward S. Alexander

Juneteenth is recognized as the symbolic end of slavery in the United States. Galveston, Texas, held out as a Confederate stronghold after Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox. Once occupied by Union forces, Major General Gordon Granger established his headquarters … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Memory, Newspapers, Primary Sources, Reconstruction, Slavery | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments