Posted in Civil War Refugees

Kentucky Civil War Refugee Camp Reborn and Reconstructed After Expulsions

The November 1864 expulsions of the wives and children of black soldiers from Camp Nelson in Kentucky had tragic consequences. Of the 400 or more…

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Posted in Places to Visit Refugees Religion Slavery

Plymouth Church Brooklyn, Henry Ward Beecher and the Civil War Photo Tour

Although I live on Long Island, I was often in historic Brooklyn to visit Michele. I will be sharing some picture that I took in…

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Posted in Civil War Refugees

American Refugee Camp in Civil War Kentucky Destroyed: Camp Nelson Catastrophe

The Emancipation Proclamation set off a great migration of black people from plantation slavery to refuge within the lines of the Union army. Tens of…

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Posted in Ku Klux Klan Refugees White Supremacy White Terror

When Black and White Refugees Fled to Atlanta to Escape the Klan May 1869

Political and racial violence in the Reconstruction Era South was a factor in setting Southerners, Black and white, into motion as refugees. Ku Klux attacks…

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Posted in Lost Cause Myths of Reconstruction Refugees Uncategorized White Supremacy White Supremacy Apologetics

When Lost Causers Drink from the Devil’s Punchbowl They Are All Wet

When I am online writing about the treatment of African Americans during Reconstruction, I often encounter Lost Cause advocates who respond to documentation about Klan…

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Posted in African Americans Emancipation & Reconstruction Army Occupation Book Reviews Refugees

In the Wake of War: Military Occupation, Emancipation, and Civil War America

In the Wake of War: Military Occupation, Emancipation, and Civil War America by Andrew F. Lang published by LSU Press (2017) $47.50 (Hardcover) $36.30 (Kindle) If…

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Posted in African Americans Emancipation & Reconstruction End of War Refugees Women and Gender

Harriet Jacobs Describes Her Relief Work Among Liberated Former Slaves Near Savannah in 1866

Illustration: Freedpeople in Charleston from Frank Leslie’s April 25, 1865. Harriet Jacobs is today well-known as the author of Incidents in the Life of a…

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Posted in Immigrants Refugees

How German Refugee Thomas Nast Invented How Santa Claus Looks Today Back During the Civil War and Reconstruction

Thomas Nast did not invent the American Christmas, but the German immigrant did develop the iconic image of its central celebratory figure, Santa Claus. Nast’s…

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Posted in Book Reviews Refugees

Book Review: Reconstruction’s Ragged Edge: The Politics of Postwar Life in the Southern Mountains By Steven E. Nash

Reconstruction’s Ragged Edge: The Politics of Postwar Life in the Southern Mountains By Steven E. Nash Published by University of North Carolina Press (2016) $39.95…

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Posted in African Americans Emancipation & Reconstruction Book Reviews Refugees

Sick from Freedom: African-American Illness and Suffering during the Civil War and Reconstruction by Jim Downs

Sick from Freedom: African-American Illness and Suffering during the Civil War and Reconstruction by Jim Downs published by Oxford University Press (2012) Hardcover $33.95, Paper $23.95,…

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