John Smith
Author
Language
English
Description
William Hannibal Thomas (1843-1935) served with distinction in the U.S. Colored Troops in the Civil War (in which he lost an arm) and was a preacher, teacher, lawyer, state legislator, and journalist following Appomattox. In many publications up through the 1890s, Thomas espoused a critical though optimistic black nationalist ideology. After his mid-twenties, however, Thomas began exhibiting a self-destructive personality, one that kept him in constant...
Author
Series
Lexile measure
1210L
Language
English
Description
Born into slavery in 1818, Frederick Douglass escaped to freedom and became a passionate advocate for abolition and social change and the foremost spokesperson for the nation's enslaved African American population in the years preceding the Civil War. My Bondage and My Freedom is Douglass's masterful recounting of his remarkable life and a fiery condemnation of a political and social system that would reduce people to property and keep an entire race...
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
Excerpt: "I now undertake to write a history of the part which the colored men took in the great American Rebellion. Previous to entering upon that subject, however, I may be pardoned for bringing before the reader the condition of the blacks previous to the breaking out of the war. The Declaration of American Independence, made July 4, 1776, had scarcely, been enunciated, and an organization of the government commenced, ere the people found themselves...
4) Soldiering For Freedom: How the Union Army Recruited, Trained, and Deployed the U.S. Colored Troops
Author
Series
Language
English
Description
This Civil War history provides an in-depth look at the impact and experiences of African American men fighting in the Union Army.
After President Lincoln issued the final Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863, many enslaved people in the Confederate south made the perilous journey north-then put their lives at risk again by joining the Union army. These U.S. Colored Troops, as the War Department designated most black units, performed a variety...