Category Archives: Slavery

April 9, 1863: Why should a colored man enlist?

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Allen Gathman

From Douglass’s Monthly, April 1863, an admonition to black men to join the Union army and fight for freedom. WHY SHOULD A COLORED MAN ENLIST? This question has been repeatedly put to us while raising men for the 54th Massachusetts … Continue reading →

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April 2, 1863: Does the south want to reopen the slave trade?

Posted on April 2, 2013 by Allen Gathman

The Confederate constitution required abolition of the slave trade, but it appears that they’re dragging their feet. Surprisingly, secretary of state Judah Benjamin refuses to entertain abolition by treaty, which will surely hurt the prospects for recognition of the Confederacy … Continue reading →

Posted in Judah Benjamin, Shiloh, Slave trade, Slavery | Leave a comment

March 26, 1863: Irish won’t fight for slaves

Posted on March 26, 2013 by Allen Gathman

I always take reports of Northern disunity from the Richmond Daily Dispatch with a grain of salt. Still, there’s considerable evidence of enmity between recent Irish immigrants and freed blacks at the time. The Yankee Irish soldiers. –An Irish Legion … Continue reading →

Posted in Abolitionism, Racism, Slavery | Leave a comment

March 24, 1863: Runaway

Posted on March 24, 2013 by Allen Gathman

Meanwhile, in Virginia, the Richmond Daily Dispatch runs ads for runaways every day. Somehow the misguided blacks imagine they’ll be better off free than enslaved. Five Hundred Dollars Reward. –I will pay $500 reward for the apprehension and delivery to … Continue reading →

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February 19, 1863: Fighting for the negro.

Posted on February 19, 2013 by Allen Gathman

The Richmond Daily Dispatch ridicules the North for fighting to free African-Americans. After all, they’re better off as slaves, right? Fighting for the negro. One of the few indications of reason and common sense which has been given by any … Continue reading →

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November 14, 1862: Contrabands were better off slaves?

Posted on November 14, 2012 by Allen Gathman

The Richmond Daily Dispatch indulges in a little schadenfreude over the condition of the poor contrabands, who of course were better off as slaves. The correspondent in Cairo seems to find it perverse that the freedmen he talks to don’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Abolitionism, Contrabands, Illinois, Slavery | Leave a comment

October 31, 1862: Nothing scares the South like emancipation

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Allen Gathman

A letter to the editor of the New York Times says that it’s just politicians complaining about the Emancipation Proclamation; in the field, the army says it’s about time we used all our weapons to win the war. The letter … Continue reading →

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October 25, 1862: Big sale of “Negroes”

Posted on October 25, 2012 by Allen Gathman

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch, it appears that despite the war and the increased chance of escape, at least in South Carolina the trade of human beings was still going strong, and quite lucrative. The Inflation Calculator, using data from … Continue reading →

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October 19, 1862: Give freedmen land in Florida

Posted on October 19, 2012 by Allen Gathman

A slaveholding Floridian wrote to the New York Times to denounce the secessionists, and to advocate for freed slaves to colonize Florida. The Colonization of Florida Views of a Slaveholder. To the Editor of the New-York Times: I noticed in … Continue reading →

Posted in Florida, Reconstruction, Slavery | Leave a comment

October 9, 1862: London News says emigration won’t work

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Allen Gathman

The New York Times reprinted an editorial from the London News, arguing that the solution to the fate of the freed slaves was to employ them as soldiers and in industry, not to colonize them to Africa. From the London … Continue reading →

Posted in Abolitionism, Slavery | Leave a comment