From the archive, Black education was under assault from its earliest origins after emancipation: "A very respectable young colored Female, teacher of the colored School near Vienna Dorchester Co md. was assaulted on the road near the school House by a white man named Cyrus Stack."

In December 1865, 2500 Black Washingtonians petitioned Congress for the right to vote. "Experience teaches," they wrote, "that all reforms have their opponents. The same experience also teaches that apprehensions of evil arising from reforms founded in justice, are but seldom if ever realized."

Same as it ever was

After emancipation, Black schoolteacher & future Alabama state legislator William V. Turner reported to the Freedmen's Bureau that local officials were illegally withholding food assistance from Black mothers, telling them it "is not for negroes, but for the poor white women."

A Black veteran, Sergeant Joe Brown, testified that he was attacked by white cops in Memphis for having served in the military: "he then stepped back a few paces & ran up and struck me with his club, on the head."

“…the longor you keep my Child from me the longor you will have to burn in hell and the qwicer youll get their…” Spotswood Rice, a Black soldier in the US Army, to a Missouri woman who held his daughter in slavery, #otd 1864

The Freedmen and Southern Society Project is a terrific resource and everyone should use it!

As we begin the 1st few weeks of classes, a reminder that FSSP hosts a large collection of classroom-ready documents related to slavery & its destruction. These first-hand testimonies of enslaved people, Black soldiers, & officials give life to lessons on slavery & the contested arc of emancipation.

The latest issue of Scholarly Editing by ‪‪@editorial-notes.bsky.social‬ features an important essay on how to use documentary editing assignments to help students grapple w the legacies of inequalities, esp in instances where teaching abt these topics is banned. Highly recommend!

We hope you'll join us for today's Annual Meeting sessions and again tomorrow for Rachel Lane's lightning talk about "My Hat Is In the Drink: The Story Behind the Cocktail Inspired by TR’s Unprecedented Run for a Third Term." All Annual Meeting info: www.documentaryediting.org/wordpress/?p...

After emancipation, Green Jones testified that he was dragged from his home & brutally beaten by white vigilantes for daring to rent land & employ other formerly enslaved people. The men told him "that they would not allow negroes to live off to themselves."

After emancipation, Elizabeth Weden, who was sold away from her family in 1845, managed to locate her father, writing that "I am at this place trying to do the best I can for my self. times are harde here & money scearse. I wish to leve this place, & move out to whare you are."

After emancipation, Elizabeth Weden, who was sold away from her family in 1845, managed to locate her father, writing that "I am at this place trying to do the best I can for my self. times are harde here & money scearse. I wish to leve this place, & move out to whare you are."

Formerly enslaved ppl like Richmond Body regularly had their wages stolen by white employers. He explained: "Mr Beckwith has had all of our part of the crop attached claiming that we were owing him a very large amount– I dont' know what we can owe him for we never have received any thing."

After they won their freedom, formerly enslaved ppl from coastal VA staged a daring raid to rescue their loved ones from slavery. When they were cut off by white locals seeking to kill them or return them to slavery, a desperate struggle ensued.

After they won their freedom, formerly enslaved ppl from coastal VA staged a daring raid to rescue their loved ones from slavery. When they were cut off by white locals seeking to kill them or return them to slavery, a desperate struggle ensued.

The Commander of the U.S.S. Dale reported a Rebel attack on a self-directed community of formerly enslaved ppl: "At early dawn they fired a volley though the house; as the alarmed people sprang nearly naked from their beds & rushed forth frantic with fear, they were shot, arrested or knocked down."

Facing eviction to restore their land to former enslavers, Bayley Wyat denounced the government's orders as an affront to justice: "Our wives, our children, our husbands, has been sold over & over again to purchase the lands we now locates upon; for that reason we have a divine right to the land."

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After Maryland abolished slavery on November 1, 1864, Jane Kamper complained that her former enslaver "told me that I was free but that my Children Should be bound to [him]" & "locked my Children up so that I could not find them."

In June 1863, Harry McMillan testified abt his experiences in slavery in Georgia & South Carolina. Here he describes the extreme working conditions endured by enslaved people. freedmen.umd.edu/mcmilln.htm

Black Corporal James Henry Gooding of the famed 54th Massachusetts wrote to President Lincoln protesting the inferior pay of Black troops: "all we lack, is a paler hue, and a better acquaintance with the Alphabet. Now Your Excellency, We have done a Soldiers Duty. Why cant we have a Soldiers pay?"

Louisiana enslavers, witnessing the increasingly free movement & demands of enslaved people, complained to the Union Army that "we are in a State of anarchy."

Louisiana enslavers, witnessing the increasingly free movement & demands of enslaved people, complained to the Union Army that "we are in a State of anarchy."

Witnessing the mass exodus of enslaved people from their grasp, Georgia enslavers petitioned the Confederate gov't for swift action as "the injury inflicted upon the interests of the citizens of the Confederate States by this now constant drain is immense."

Witnessing the mass exodus of enslaved people from their grasp, Georgia enslavers petitioned the Confederate gov't for swift action as "the injury inflicted upon the interests of the citizens of the Confederate States by this now constant drain is immense."

Dependent on her son for support, Black Pennsylvania woman Jane Welcome asked Abraham Lincoln "wether I can have my son relest from the arme." "he is all the subport I have now" she explained, as "his father is Dead and his brother that wase all the help that I had."

Dependent on her son for support, Black Pennsylvania woman Jane Welcome asked Abraham Lincoln "wether I can have my son relest from the arme." "he is all the subport I have now" she explained, as "his father is Dead and his brother that wase all the help that I had."

After winning his freedom, John Q A Dennis wrote the secretary of war to ask for custody of his enslaved children. "I went too know of you Sir is," he asked, "is it possible for me to go & take my Children from those men that keep them in S[l]avery"

After winning his freedom, John Q A Dennis wrote the secretary of war to ask for custody of his enslaved children. "I went too know of you Sir is," he asked, "is it possible for me to go & take my Children from those men that keep them in S[l]avery"

Unable to collect her wages after emancipation, Levinah Malby wrote to the military "please do me a peace of kineness if you please Sur... to see that I shall get my part of the crop that I have laboured for in the year of our freedom."

Unable to collect her wages after emancipation, Levinah Malby wrote to the military "please do me a peace of kineness if you please Sur... to see that I shall get my part of the crop that I have laboured for in the year of our freedom."

An enslaved woman in Missouri writes to her husband in the 2nd Missouri Colored Infantry, "Send me some money as soon as you can for me & my child are almost naked."

An enslaved woman in Missouri writes to her husband in the 2nd Missouri Colored Infantry, "Send me some money as soon as you can for me & my child are almost naked."

In 1864, a Maryland Black soldier writes to the mother of his fallen comrade: "Dear Madam, I receave A letter from You A few day Ago inquir[ing] in regard to the Fait of Your Son. I am sarry to have to inform You that thear is no dobt of his Death."

In 1864, a Maryland Black soldier writes to the mother of his fallen comrade: "Dear Madam, I receave A letter from You A few day Ago inquir[ing] in regard to the Fait of Your Son. I am sarry to have to inform You that thear is no dobt of his Death."

The Emancipation Proclamation left enslaved people in the "border states" like Maryland under slavery. Enslaved woman Annie Davis petitioned President Lincoln for some pathway to freedom: "Mr president It is my Desire to be free. to go to see my people on the eastern shore."

A group of Black religious leaders met with General Sherman & Secretary of War Stanton in January 1865, outlining their vision of life after emancipation: "The way we can best take care of ourselves is to have land, & turn it & till it by our own labor."

A group of Black religious leaders met with General Sherman & Secretary of War Stanton in January 1865, outlining their vision of life after emancipation: "The way we can best take care of ourselves is to have land, & turn it & till it by our own labor."

Weeks later, both Washington & Georgetown (then separate jurisdictions) held referenda about whether to maintain racial restrictions on voting. The vote among their white, male electorates was: Washington: 6,602 "against negro suffrage" to 35 Georgetown: 712 to 1 🗃️

After the Civil War, Black Washingtonians petitioned Congress for political & civil rights, since "without the political rights enjoyed by every other man, the colored men of the District of Columbia are but nominally free."

After the Civil War, Black Washingtonians petitioned Congress for political & civil rights, since "without the political rights enjoyed by every other man, the colored men of the District of Columbia are but nominally free."

After the Union Army forced Black commissioned officers out of their regiments in Louisiana, they petitioned to be reinstated "to assist in putting down this wicked [Confederate] rebelion."

We are delighted to announce that Robert K. D. Colby (@rkdcolby86.bsky.social) has won the 2025 John L. Nau III Book Prize in American Civil War Era History for his new book, "An Unholy Traffic: Slave Trading in the Civil War South" (Oxford University Press, 2024)!

After the Union Army forced Black commissioned officers out of their regiments in Louisiana, they petitioned to be reinstated "to assist in putting down this wicked [Confederate] rebelion."

Read this thread. Follow this account. 🙌🏿

The Freedmen and Southern Society Project is now on Bluesky! This project has truly transformed historical scholarship on wartime emancipation and its aftermath. 🗃

I’m so happy to see @fssp.bsky.social on here. Its Missouri papers have been indispensable for my graduate students these last few weeks of the semester.