US Civil War
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Comparing Slave and Serf Emancipations
Both emancipations of the 1860s ended long periods of bondage yet in each case significant differences undermined the altruistic motives usually equated with freedom. more...
New Orleans Captured by Admiral David Farragut
The capture and occupation of New Orleans closed the Mississippi River to trade and shut down the prosperous cotton exports to Europe while fueling Northern morale. more...
John Brown and the Harpers Ferry Raid
In the turbulent decade of the 1850s, John Brown's raid at Harpers Ferry was the culminating act that convinced Southerners civil war was a real possibility. more...
In the wake of Southern resistance to Federal Reconstruction laws, Congress crafted the 14th Amendment to guarantee all citizens equal protection of the laws. more...
The Fall of Richmond April 1865
The Confederate government had no evacuation plans in effect, leaving Richmond to mob rule and self-inflicted destruction as Union troops advanced. more...
The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution
Only a Constitutional Amendment would guarantee an end to slavery in every state for all time despite earlier legislative acts and presidential proclamations. more...
The Presidential Election of 1864
Although renominated unanimously, Republicans had strong doubts that Abraham Lincoln would be returned to office given the shift in mood among Northern voters. more...
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Union General and Republican Carl Schurz
Carl Schurz, a German emigrant from the 1848 European revolutions, supported Abraham Lincoln and led soldiers into the major battles of the Civil War. more...
First Civil War Training Camp for Black Soldiers
By: Linda N. Riggins
Camp William Penn was the first and largest of 18 federal training camps for black soldiers, who were officially designated United States Colored Troops (USCT). more...
Civil War Battles – Ball's Bluff or Leesburg
By: Shri Desai
Though a well-qualified individual, McClellan would lack the risk-taking needed to wage war, resulting in many political problems, and an increasingly hostile public. more...
Civil War Battles – Wilson's Creek or Oak Hills
By: Shri Desai
After Bull Run, the focus of operations turned to securing the west, particularly Missouri, while McClellan trained the soon-to-be famous Army of the Potomac. more...
By: Ron Goodwin
The Emancipation Proclamation declared the Union would fight to end slavery, but its promises of full citizenship initially went unfulfilled. more...
By: Ron Goodwin
Sharecropping replaced slavery as the southern labor system after the Civil War and became just as restrictive to the freedoms of blacks. more...
By: Ron Goodwin
The United States should have flourished during the Reconstruction, but instead failed to provide equal status for its black citizens. more...
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