{"id":2937,"date":"2021-03-03T07:41:59","date_gmt":"2021-03-03T07:41:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/stampedes\/?p=2937"},"modified":"2023-08-05T17:58:52","modified_gmt":"2023-08-05T17:58:52","slug":"selected-articles-from-mhr-part-2-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/stampedes\/selected-articles-from-mhr-part-2-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Selected Articles from MHR (Part 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Christensen, Lawrence O.\u00a0\u201cBlack Education in Civil War St. Louis.\u201d\u00a0Missouri Historical Review\u00a0<\/i>95, no. 3 (April 2001): 302-16. [WEB<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Fellman, Michael.\u00a0 \u201cEmancipation in Missouri.\u201d\u00a0Missouri Historical Review\u00a0<\/em>83 (Oct. 1988): 36-56\u00a0[JSTOR], [WEB<\/a>].<\/p>\n

Frizzell, Robert W.\u00a0\u201cSouthern Identity in Nineteenth-Century Missouri: Little Dixie\u2019s Slave-Majority Areas and the Transition to Midwestern Farming.\u201d\u00a0Missouri Historical Review\u00a0<\/em>99 (April 2005): 238-260. [WEB<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Lee, George R.\u00a0\u201cSlavery and Emancipation in Lewis County, Missouri.\u201d\u00a0Missouri Historical Review\u00a0<\/em>65, no. 3 (April 1971): 294-317. [WEB<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Naglich, Dennis.\u00a0\u201cThe Slave System and the Civil War in Rural Prairieville.\u201d\u00a0Missouri Historical Review\u00a0<\/em>87 (April 1993): 253-73. [WEB<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Strickland, Arvarh E.\u00a0\u201cThe University of Missouri\u2014Columbia History Department: Training Scholars in the Black Experience.\u201d\u00a0Missouri Historical Review\u00a0<\/em>95 (July 2001): 413-430. [WEB<\/a>]<\/p>\n

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Christensen, Lawrence O.\u00a0\u201cBlack Education in Civil War St. Louis.\u201d\u00a0Missouri Historical Review\u00a0<\/i>95, no. 3 (April 2001): 302-16. [WEB<\/a>]<\/b><\/p>\n

Black education after the Civil War was a struggle for all those involved. The key providers were the Western Sanitary Commission, the American Missionary Association (AMA), Catholic Churches and subscription teachers.<\/p>\n

The AMA and the Western Sanitary Commission were providing free schools by hiring teachers and providing resources. In an effort to provide maximum help and streamline resources, the Western Sanitary Commission, the AMA and other black ministers came together to form a temporary board in 1863. Missouri did not lift its ban on African American education until 1865; the board was supposed to be the interim substitute until the Missouri State Assembly created something concrete. But with all this consolidation, the new board suffered financially and had to temporally close its doors in February and March in 1865. Fortunately, they received aid from the state that allowed them to start up again by the end of the year. But they continued to struggle. The first problem was that attendance was not constant. Some children were so poor that they could not come to school because they lacked proper clothing and shoes for the winter. Another problem that discouraged parents was its inability to hire a black teacher or superintendent.<\/p>\n

Subscription offered the representation that parents craved. One of them was notably run by Hiram R. Revels, an ordained African Methodist Episcopal minister who later became a Mississippi senator in 1870. He was joined by three women, Jospehine Bailey, Virginia Green and Georgia L. Buckner, and they operated alongside the free schools run by the board. They were partly kept alive because of the well-to-do black population that existed and their preference for a black educator.<\/p>\n

Before these efforts, education of African Americans was not an uncommon sentiment, especially in a time when it was heavily discouraged. John Berry Meachum, a black minister, organized a school in his basement in the late 1820s and in 1845, St. Louis Catholics had school for black girls. Then there was a state law in 1847 that prevented the education of African Americans. Even then, the Sisters of Mercy opened a school in 1856 which also eventually closed. A decade later, the opposition to education was very much the same, even from Union members and abolitionists. White AMA teachers described St. Louis \u201cas a hostile work environment\u201d and teachers were forced to teach and work in horrible conditions.<\/p>\n

There was no mention of a stampede or any variant, or any group escapes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fellman, Michael.\u00a0 \u201cEmancipation in Missouri.\u201d\u00a0Missouri Historical Review\u00a0<\/em>83 (Oct. 1988): 36-56\u00a0[JSTOR], [WEB<\/a>].<\/strong><\/p>\n

This article gives a summary on how the views on slavery changed for those in Union Army and the reaction to this change by slaveholders. The Civil War led to an abhorrence of slavery by those in the Union army. Other than a small German community in Missouri, slavery was \u201can organic\u201d part of Missouri society and the state economy had come to depend on the free labor it provided (More information on this German community and their relationship to slavery can be found here<\/a>). But as free African Americans began to participate in guerrilla warfare and provide valuable information to the Union Army, the support for slavery began to wane for the Unionists. In exchange of information, they were ready to protect and prevent previous enslavers\u00a0 from getting back their slaves. An example was the Unionist commander, John C. Fremont, who emancipated the slaves before Lincoln. He was asked to rescind his proclamation and ultimately, he stepped down from his positiion. Still, the efforts of men like Fremont were helpful in seeing the humanity of the freed people and this visibility allowed freed African American certain liberties they were denied before.<\/p>\n

These new liberties involved the plundering of slaveholders’ properties with the backing of the Union army. In a letter written to the St. Louis district attorney, white people “shuddered over negro insurrection and terrible outrages of negro freedom.\u201d This \u201cshuddering of the negro freedom\u201d led to an increased presence of lynching of freed people to restrict their liberties. Black women were even more vulnerable, as they were constanlty being sexually assualted and puninshed for the actions for the men in the army. This violence gradually <\/span>helped enforce the system of segregation that took after the war was over.<\/p>\n

While it mentions ex-bondsmen going back to destroy their slaveholders’ properties, there was no mention of a stampede or any group escapes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Naglich, Dennis.\u00a0\u201cThe Slave System and the Civil War in Rural Prairieville.\u201d\u00a0Missouri Historical Review\u00a0<\/em>87 (April 1993): 253-73. [WEB<\/a>]<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dennis Naglich\u00a0 provides a chronological narrative of slavery in Prairieville. The arrival of Virginia emigrants in the 1830s introduced Prairieville to the slavery. The most prominent among them were the Merriweather Lewis and Davis families. Living on the borders on Lincoln and Park, they grew tobacco, corn and raised livestock. It was important to have different crops because while tobacco, was very profitable, it fluctuated within each season and required special care.<\/p>\n

Slave labor made Prairieville one of the richest neighborhoods. In fact, between the years of 1850 and 1860, where the value of land more than doubled. This profitability required that slaveholders adopt several practices to keep their enslaved in check. Some enslavers employed overseers, who were sometimes sons of the slaveholders. As to how these overseers worked, the article informs us that a \u201cmeasured brutality often provided the only means by which an overseer could effectively do their job.” Some slaveholders were more lenient and allowed married bondsmen to live next to each other. An example is Elizabeth Lewis who left specific instructions in her will to allow her enslaved to choose their masters to make sure that families remained in the same vicinity after she passed.<\/p>\n

But this was not freedom; escapes and stampedes occurred but they were rare. According to the article, this was because it was difficult to cross the Mississippi River into Illinois. There was no guarantee that the bondsmen would meet someone willing to help reach their freedom.\u00a0 Because of this, bondsmen like Y.W. Moeseby was unsuccessful in his quest for freedom. He was able to cross the river but was caught when he reached Pleasant Hill, Illinois. There was also the incident of Resin MacKay, who was accused and convicted of murdering his slaveholder. He was hanged and the local newspaper described his death, \u201ca spectacle so novel in its character to our county\u201d<\/p>\n

Fortunately for the enslaved, the Civil War loomed near and freedom was at hand. When it became clear that the Union army was against slavery, the enslaved began to walk off their slaveholders’ properties to join the war. Some enlisted in the Union army and provided valuable information to help with the guerrilla war. These walkouts were not always successful. Two freedom seekers, Aron Mitchell and Alfred, were recaptured. Aaron received some lashing and Alfred was shot in the heart. According to the article, women also bore some of the brunt when their men walked off to join the army. They were beaten, assaulted and were threatened with the safety of their children. To make matters worse, the army did not always provide the protection it promised. In Louisiana, ex-bondsmen did the back-breaking labor of digging trenches and were subjected to unsanitary condition and inadequate diet. This led to most succumbing to disease and ultimately death.<\/p>\n

Lee, George R.\u00a0\u201cSlavery and Emancipation in Lewis County, Missouri.\u201d\u00a0Missouri Historical Review\u00a0<\/em>65, no. 3 (April 1971): 294-317. [<\/strong>WEB<\/strong><\/a>]<\/strong><\/p>\n

The following article presents an overview of slavery in Lewis County, Missouri. It relies for evidence on wills, public records, newspapers and informational interviews with descendants of slaveholders in the county. Slaveholders began to steadily arrive in the early 1800s, starting with the arrival of Reason Bozarth in 1819. \u00a0During this time, manumissions were rare but once given, freedmen needed a trustee to ensure their freedom.\u00a0 \u00a0The article discusses the 1849 slave stampede<\/a> that happened on the McCutchan farm involving their slave Lin, and another named John who belonged to James Miller. This “slave uprising” as it was termed in the newspaper, had gathered slaves from various farms including Judge William Ellis and Samuel McKim. Surrounded by thirty white men, they did not have a chance. John was shot and everyone surrendered.<\/p>\n

Runaways from different counties counties also posed a threat. In 1853, four freedom seekers from Marion County were stopped and arrested as they tried to buy food. In 1854, there was also the arrest of two other freedom seekers, one from Howard County and the other from Tully. <\/span>After these two incidents, anti-abolition sentiment rose up and it led to the Anti-Abolition Society being formed in 1853.<\/p>\n

The article continues to describe how conditions for the enslaved changed during wartime. In 1864, restrictions on manumissions were removed and in 1865 slave clauses were repealed altogether.<\/p>\n

Strickland, Arvarh E.\u00a0\u201cThe University of Missouri\u2014Columbia History Department: Training Scholars in the Black Experience.\u201d\u00a0Missouri Historical Review\u00a0<\/em>95 (July 2001): 413-430. [<\/b>WEB<\/a>]<\/strong><\/p>\n

Historian Arvarh Strickland from the University of Missouri-Columbia\u2019s History Department summarizes the list of dissertations and theses on the black American experiences between 1910 to 1994. Below are the titles of theses and dissertations produced:<\/p>\n

1910: \u00a0The influence of slavery on Missouri politics and the features of \u201cthe Western Abolitionists.\u201d<\/p>\n

1920: \u201cMissouri and the Extension of Slavery, 1840-1850\u201d<\/p>\n

1930: The Social and Economic status of the Enslaved; \u201cSocial and Economic Aspects of Plantation Slavery;\u201d the Extension of suffrage to African American in both the South and the North after Emancipation; and Imperialism in tropical Africa.<\/p>\n

1940: \u201cBritish Travellers\u2019 Versions of American Negro Slavery;\u201d \u201cAn Appraisal of the Historical Value of Negro Slave Narratives;\u201d and \u201cA History of Slavery in Cole County, Missouri\u201d from 1820 to 1860.<\/p>\n

1950:\u00a0The \u2018Invisible Empire\u2019 and Missouri Politics: The Influence of the Revived Ku Klux Klan in the Election Campaign of 1924 as Reported in Missouri Newspapers\u201d and \u201cThe Effect of Radical Reconstruction Upon Education in Arkansas\u201d<\/p>\n

1960:<\/p>\n