Internet Resources
- Civil War SlavesInformation on the life of a slave from the National Human Rights Center.
- Slavery as a Cause of the Civil WarThe role of slavery in bringing on the Civil War has been hotly debated for decades. One important way of approaching the issue is to look at what contemporary observers had to say.
- Slavery during the Civil WarVirginia had the largest population of enslaved African Americans of any state in the Confederacy, and those slaves responded to the American Civil War (1861–1865) in a variety of ways. Some volunteered to assist the Confederate war effort, while many others were forced to support the Confederacy, working on farms and in factories and households throughout Virginia. Thousands escaped to the Union army’s lines, earning their freedom and forcing the United States to develop a uniform policy regarding emancipation. Others remained on their home plantations and farms but took advantage of the war to gain some measure of autonomy for their families. Slaves’ wartime actions most often exhibited their strong desire for freedom, and even those who chose not to escape frequently welcomed the Union army as liberators.
- Slavery in the United StatesWhen Europeans first colonized the North American continent, the land was vast, the work was harsh, and there was a severe shortage of labor. White bond servants, paying their passage across the ocean from Europe through indentured labor, eased but did not solve the problem. Tensions between settlers and former indentured servants increased the pressure to find a new labor source.
Streaming Media
- Aftermath of the Civil War and New "Freedom"This section of the series looks at the conclusion of the War Between the States and the effects of the outcome for slaves, slave owners and the entire country.
- Did Slavery Really Cause the Civil War?By analyzing this question and the different answers posed by generations of historians, you begin to understand "historiography" - the study of the writing of history - and take a key step in your understanding of history itself.
- The Slaves' Experience of the Civil WarFrom the beginning of the war, enslaved people understood it to be a war of freedom, a war to destroy American slavery. But President Lincoln's charge was simply to preserve the union. Find out how this tension played out on plantations and battlefields, in Congress and in the White House, during the Civil War.
Perspectives
The Causes of the Civil War
The "slave power" and the "black republicans" -- State rights and nationalism -- Economic sectionalism -- Blundering politicians and irresponsible agitators -- The right and wrong of slavery -- Majority rule and minority rights -- The conflict of cultures.
Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II
A Pulitzer Prize-winning account of the "Age of Neoslavery," the American period following the Emancipation Proclamation in which convicts, mostly black men, were "leased" through forced labor camps operated by state and federal governments. In this groundbreaking historical expose, Douglas A. Blackmon brings to light one of the most shameful chapters in American history--an "Age of Neoslavery" that thrived from the aftermath of the Civil War through the dawn of World War II. Using a vast record of original documents and personal narratives, Douglas A. Blackmon unearths the lost stories of slaves and their descendants who journeyed into freedom after the Emancipation Proclamation and then back into the shadow of involuntary servitude shortly thereafter. By turns moving, sobering, and shocking, this unprecedented account reveals the stories of those who fought unsuccessfully against the re-emergence of human labor trafficking, the companies that profited most from neoslavery, and the insidious legacy of racism that reverberates today.
The Civil War As a Theological Crisis
Viewing the Civil War as a major turning point in American religious thought, Mark A. Noll examines writings about slavery and race from Americans both white and black, northern and southern, and includes commentary from Protestants and Catholics in Europe and Canada. Though the Christians on all sides agreed that the Bible was authoritative, their interpretations of slavery in Scripture led to a full-blown theological crisis.