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Full-Text Articles in Political History
"Prophecies Of Loss": Debating Slave Flight During Virginia's Secession Crisis, Evan Turiano
"Prophecies Of Loss": Debating Slave Flight During Virginia's Secession Crisis, Evan Turiano
Publications and Research
This article examines debates over fugitives from slavery during Virginia’s secession movement. By considering these debates in the context of Virginia’s history of freedom seekers, the constitutional politics of fugitive slave rendition, and white fears of politically informed slave resistance, this article clarifies how proslavery Virginians understood the threat posed by interstate slave flight in 1861. In the wake of Abraham Lincoln's election, proslavery Virginians on both sides of the secession conflict agreed that runaways posed a grave danger to the future of slavery in the state. Early in the convention, southeastern planters and northwestern unionists forged an alliance based …
Freedom Triumphant: Embracing Joyful Freedom But Facing An Uncertain, Perilous Future, Thomas L. Tacker
Freedom Triumphant: Embracing Joyful Freedom But Facing An Uncertain, Perilous Future, Thomas L. Tacker
Publications
The newly freed slaves had almost nothing—no money, no education, and no strong social institutions, including marriage which had often been prohibited, rarely supported by slaveholders. Discrimination was rampant and government was often the worst discriminator. Yet, somehow, they triumphed. They built marriages that were actually slightly more stable than those of white families. The newly free went from virtually zero literacy to at least 50% literacy in a generation. They worked incredibly hard and increased their income about one third faster than white workers. The newly free, anchored in their strong faith, were amazingly forgiving and optimistic. Economics Professor …
Assessing Reconstruction: Did The South Undergo Revolutionary Change?, Lauren H. Sobotka
Assessing Reconstruction: Did The South Undergo Revolutionary Change?, Lauren H. Sobotka
Student Publications
With the end of the Civil War, came a number of unanswered questions Reconstruction would attempt to answer for the South. While the South underwent economic, political and social changes for a short period, old traditions continued to persist resulting in racist sentiment.
Black Radicals And Marxist Internationalism: From The Iwma To The Fourth International, 1864-1948, Charles R. Holm
Black Radicals And Marxist Internationalism: From The Iwma To The Fourth International, 1864-1948, Charles R. Holm
Department of History: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
This project investigates historical relationships between Black Radicalism and Marxist internationalism from the mid-nineteenth through the first half of the twentieth century. It argues that contrary to scholarly accounts that emphasize Marxist Euro-centrism, or that theorize the incompatibility of “Black” and “Western” radical projects, Black Radicals helped shape and produce Marxist theory and political movements, developing theoretical and organizational innovations that drew on both Black Radical and Marxist traditions of internationalism. These innovations were produced through experiences of struggle within international political movements ranging from the abolition of slavery in the nineteenth century to the early Pan-African movements and struggles …
'Dred Scott V. Sandford' Analysis, Sarah E. Roessler
'Dred Scott V. Sandford' Analysis, Sarah E. Roessler
Student Publications
The Scott v. Sandford decision will forever be known as a dark moment in America's history. The Supreme Court chose to rule on a controversial issue, and they made the wrong decision. Scott v. Sandford is an example of what can happen when the Court chooses to side with personal opinion instead of what is right.
Slaves To Contradictions: 13 Myths That Sustained Slavery, Wilson Huhn
Slaves To Contradictions: 13 Myths That Sustained Slavery, Wilson Huhn
Akron Law Faculty Publications
People have a fundamental need to think of themselves as “good people.” To achieve this we tell each other stories – we create myths – about ourselves and our society. These myths may be true or they may be false. The more discordant a myth is with reality, the more difficult it is to convince people to embrace it. In such cases to sustain the illusion of truth it may be necessary to develop an entire mythology – an integrated web of mutually supporting stories. This paper explores the system of myths that sustained the institution of slavery in the …
"A Contingent Somebody": Hannibal Hamlin's Claim For A First Reading Of The Emancipation Proclamation, Allen C. Guelzo
"A Contingent Somebody": Hannibal Hamlin's Claim For A First Reading Of The Emancipation Proclamation, Allen C. Guelzo
Civil War Era Studies Faculty Publications
On more than one occasion, the historical record has implied that Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation was a hastily composed document: an impulsive reaction to military events surrounding the Civil War. In fact, it was an evolving idea that began to take shape long before Lincoln had read the initial draft of the Proclamation to his cabinet on July 22, 1862. A closer look at the role of Vice-President Hannibal Hamlin of Maine during the most divisive presidency in American history sheds new light on the consideration and deliberation that went into drafting a document that, on January 1, 1863, essentially …
Lincoln On The Abolition Of Slavery, Allen C. Guelzo
Lincoln On The Abolition Of Slavery, Allen C. Guelzo
Civil War Era Studies Faculty Publications
That man who thinks Lincoln calmly sat down and gathered his robes about him, waiting for the people to call him, has a very erroneous knowledge of Lincoln," wrote Abraham Lincoln's long-time law partner, William Henry Herndon. "He was always calculating, and always planning ahead. His ambition was a little engine that knew no rest." And in no other pursuit was Lincoln more ambitious than in politics. As a lawyer and Whig political organizer in Illinois, "Politics were his life and his ambition and his motive power." [excerpt]
Understanding Emancipation: Lincoln's Proclamation And The Overthrow Of Slavery, Allen C. Guelzo
Understanding Emancipation: Lincoln's Proclamation And The Overthrow Of Slavery, Allen C. Guelzo
Civil War Era Studies Faculty Publications
The most common trope that governs understanding of Abraham Lincoln and emancipation is that of progress. The variations on that trope are legion, and they include notions of Lincoln's journey toward emancipation, his growth in understanding the justice of emancipation, and his path to the Emancipation Proclamation. "Lincoln was," as Horace Greeley put it, "a growing man"; growing from a stance of moral indifference and ignorance at the time of his election in 1860 toward deep conviction about African American freedom by the time of the Emancipation Proclamation less than two years later. That was a generous sentiment, since it …
0690: James Wilson Papers, 1842-1854, Marshall University Special Collections
0690: James Wilson Papers, 1842-1854, Marshall University Special Collections
Guides to Manuscript Collections
This collection contains a color copy of a bill of sale (1842) for two slaves and receipt (1854) for one slave, livestock, and other purchases by James Wilson, Cabell Couny, Virginia (now West Virginia) farmer. Individuals mentioned in the collection include Thomas M. Shelton, John M. Rece, and James C. Wilson, Celia (no age listed, 1854 document), Minerva (18 years old?, 1842 document), and Edmund (13 years old, 1854 document).