Remembering Solomon Northrup
One of the most gut-wrenching personal accounts of the horrors of American slavery during the 19th century was a book written by Solomon Northrup, a free black man who was kidnapped and forced into...
Remembering Harriet Beecher Stowe
In the year 1852, one of the best-selling books of the 19th century was published by a 40-year-old Connecticut woman. The book was Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and the woman was Harriet Beecher Stowe, who...
Remembering Stephen Douglas
Among the famous moments in the years leading up to the American Civil War were the “Lincoln-Douglas Debates,” which took place in August through October 1858. In the six debates that took place...
May 1741: A Travesty of Justice in New York City
Also known as the, “Negro Plot of 1741.” Today, when we look back at the Salem Witch Trials, we shake our collective heads and tell ourselves that the execution of innocent men and women in 1692...
Remembering Abraham Lincoln
It would be an impossible task to write a commemoration of Abraham Lincoln in a few short paragraphs, so we will not even attempt it; it simply can’t be done. Lincoln is a towering figure in...
Remembering Clara Barton
Today we honor Clara Barton, who died this day on April 12, 1912. She has gone down in history as one of the most courageous women in the American Civil War, serving as a nurse on the battlefield,...
April 1865—A Month to Remember
This month marks the 160th anniversary of two major events in American history: the end of the Civil War following the surrender of the Confederate Army at Appomattox on April 9, 1865, and the...
Remembering Harriet Tubman
One of the most revered figures in the history of the abolitionist movement in the 19th century was Harriet Tubman, who died this day on March 10, 1913 at the age of 90. Harriet’s story is...
Remembering Frederick Douglass
We have posted before about the Civil War era and Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. Much of the impetus for Lincoln’s Proclamation came from the radical abolitionists in the...
January 1863: President Lincoln Signs the Emancipation Proclamation, Extending Freedom to Enslaved Persons
This month in 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, one of the most important Presidential acts in American history. Since the enactment of the...