This website contains approximately 1,600 documents focused on six different phases of Black Freedom: Slavery and the Abolitionist Movement (1790-1860) The Civil War and the Reconstruction Era (1861-1877) Jim Crow Era from 1878 to the Great Depression (1878-1932) The New Deal and World War II (1933-1945)

On March 13, 1865, Jefferson Davis signed the Negro Soldier Law which promised slaves freedom for service in the Confederacy. Although some enlistment occurred and a few companies were raised in Richmond, no regiments were formed, and the war ended before any black Confederate soldiers actually saw action.

The story of the Civil War is often told as a triumph of freedom over slavery, using little more than a timeline of battles and a thin pile of legislation as plot points. Among those acts and skirmishes, addresses and battles, the Emancipation Proclamation is key: with a stroke of Abraham Lincoln’s pen, the story goes, slaves were freed and ...

Nov 11, 2020 · From fighting on bloody battlefields to espionage behind enemy lines; from daring escapes to political maneuvering; from saving wounded soldiers to teaching them how to read, these six African...

In fact, many African Americans were quite prepared for freedom, as they demonstrated in 1865 and after by demanding their civil rights, the vote, the reunion of their families, education and economic opportunities.

When war broke out in 1861, African Americans were ready. Free African Americans flocked to join the Union army, but were rejected at first for fear of alienating pro-slavery sympathizers in the North and the Border States.

Jun 3, 2019 · The volumes document slave reactions to the war, fugitive slave experiences, emerging patterns of race relations, the efforts of freedmen to acquire capital and land, violence in white-black contacts, the enforcement of justice in the courts, laws that subverted black rights, and black social institutions and conditions including the family ...

This curated selection of primary sources is designed for teaching and learning about the struggles and triumphs of Black Americans. Developed with input from Black history scholars and advisors, its easily discoverable materials are ideal for assignments and special projects focused on U.S. Black history.

This curated selection of primary sources (historical documents) is designed for teaching and learning about the struggles and triumphs of Black Americans. The site covers several time periods in American history: The Civil Rights and Black Power Movements (1946-1975), The Contemporary Era (1976-2000).

Category Archives: Civil War and Reconstruction Era (1861-1877) The Civil War pitted secessionist Southern pro-slavery states against the pro-Union, anti-slavery states of the North. The war concluded with the emancipation of enslaved people, and the passage of constitutional amendments and laws meant to protect the rights of newly freed citizens.