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James Rumley was a 50-year-old government clerk living in Beaufort, North Carolina when President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Rumley, a single man, had owned two slaves at the outset of conflict and had spent most of the previous year … Continue reading
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During Christmas week in 1936, a ninety-two-year-old woman from Washington, D.C. created a local incident that drew the attention of the Washington Post. The woman had walked a few miles out to the Soldiers’ Home, a federal retirement community for … Continue reading
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January 1, 1863 was an important day at the former plantation of John Joyner Smith near Port Royal, South Carolina. Thousands of people, white and black, gathered to celebrate “Emancipation Day” and the resulting newspaper reports, diary accounts and recollections … Continue reading
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Orville H. Browning was an old friend of President Lincoln’s from Illinois who became a United States senator in June 1861 following the death of Stephen A. Douglas. Browning served in the Senate until January 1863. He then continued … Continue reading
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This remarkable story comes from the wartime diary of Union recruiting agent James T. Ayers, edited by John Hope Franklin (Illinois State Historical Society, 1947) and that has been featured in James Oakes’s new book, Freedom National: The Destruction of Slavery … Continue reading
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The story of how runaway slaves helped launch the movement toward wartime emancipation in spring 1861 is becoming better known, yet it remains one that is typically not featured in history textbooks or classrooms. However, students and teachers can find … Continue reading
The National Archives offers unique online access to the original five-page handwritten version of the Emancipation Proclamation along with several helpful tools well-designed for classroom use. However, a transcript of the document can be found below with study questions interjected … Continue reading
(By Cory Palmer, Dickinson College, Class of 2012) Thomas Rutling was born a slave in 1854 in Wilson County, Tennessee. He was the youngest of nine children, whose father either ran away or was sold before he was born. His … Continue reading
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In September 1841, Abraham Lincoln encountered a group of chained slaves (called a “coffle”) from Kentucky being taken down the Ohio River on a steamboat –victims of the domestic slave trade. The sight affected Lincoln deeply, although he described its … Continue reading
Abraham Lincoln hated slavery, but he always appeared to proceed cautiously about emancipation. Why? There are many possible answers to this profound question and all good students need to figure out for themselves what they believe best explains the evolution … Continue reading
