Episodes Around: 18611119

  1. Masters and their Female SlavesMasters and their Female Slaves Masters and their Female Slaves Masters and their Female Slaves
    date 1861map MOBILE, Alabamatags Crime/Violence, Race-Relations, Women

    Louisa Picquet was a 14 year-old slave in Mobile, Alabama in 1861. Her master was a married gentleman named Mr. Cook who lived in a boarding house while his wife was away. At the boarding house, Mr. Cook demanded that Louisa take care of him privately. Louisa realized what her master's intentions were, and shared them with a female boarder, Mrs. Bachelor. Mrs. Bachelor was furious and devised...

  2. Blurring Lines of Race
    date 1861map MOBILE, Alabamatags African-Americans, Race-Relations, Slavery

    Race in the antebellum South was not as simple as black and white. In recounting her story, Louisa Picquet discussed the races of slaves on several occasions. As a slave, Louisa recognized differences between herself and other slaves. She described herself as relatively white, but that other slaves around her where more white than she. She also noticed a difference in the way masters treated their...

  3. Border States and the Civil War
    date 1861map JASPER, Missouritags Crime/Violence, Diplomacy/International, Government, War

    Salem H. Ford realized early that his company was in for a tough battle. As a captain in the cavalry of the Confederate States Army, he worried about the lack of leadership in his unit. After all, Colonel Price, the only man who seemed to know how to "form a line of battle," was fighting on the other side of the state. As Ford glanced across Spring River, which was the only thing separating...

  4. Morgan Honors Texas Rangers with a Poem
    date 1861map GALVESTON, Texastags Arts/Leisure, War

    M. Morgan showed how proud she is of her Texas warriors that are involved with the Civil War in her poem Texan Rangers. She proclaimed in the first stanza, that the Texans are making their way towards the enemy,

    "They come They come see their bayonets bright,

    They sparkle and flash across hollow and height;

    And the dusky files in the openings appear,

    ...

  5. Texas Secedes
    date February 2, 1861 to 1861map AUSTIN, Texastags Government, Law, Politics

    War fever and the eagerness to fight ran rampant as soon as Texas officially seceded from the Union. William Williston Heartsill, a young 22 year old store clerk working in Marshall, Texas was one of the first to enlist. Before he had left for training, Heartsill began a diary to record all the moments and sentiments leading to the cause of his enlistment. He believed that it was imperative to fight...

  6. Beginnings of Pharmacology
    date August, 1861 to 1861map HENRICO, Virginiatags Health/Death, Education

    Medical care in major cities such as New York and Philadelphia was far more advanced due to increased access to education and technology; however, this was not true for many rural areas of the country. During the antebellum period, the practices of medical doctors were not always well regulated. Doctors were considered quite knowledgeable but most of their remedies were local in nature and chosen...

  7. Land Trade for more Slaves
    date August 25, 1861 to 1861map HOUSTON, Texastags African-Americans, Migration/Transportation, Slavery

    Texas land was ideal for slaveholders. There was seemingly no end to the vast land territory, there were long growing seasons, and they could grow multiple crops throughout the year. Although slavery arrived late to Texas, it soon became as powerful as an institution as elsewhere in the South.

    One example of the desire to attain slaves to work the land is evident in the slave trade offer...

  8. Call The Cavalry
    date November 1, 1861 to March 11, 1862map QUEENS, New Yorktags War

    A man sits astride a slick-coated war-horse at the forefront of battle. Uniform pressed, cap settled heavily atop his head of thick hair, hand wrapped around the hilt of his saber while his revolver sits at his hip, he demonstrates the epitome of order and ruthlessness on the battlefield. While a man on foot could be outfitted in the same manner as a cavalryman, he would never be able to compare...

  9. Ambush of Round Mountain
    date November 19, 1861map Unorganized, Oklahomatags Crime/Violence, Migration/Transportation, Native-Americans, Politics, Race-Relations, Slavery, War

    Many Indians disagreed to Secession, but not necessarily agree to abolition, either. Families owned slaves and continued to throughout the Civil War. Opoethleyohola, a Muscogee Creek Chief also known as Gouge, wished to remain neutral. Many other neutral Creeks followed him North of Indian Territory, which is now Oklahoma.

    Colonel Douglas H. Cooper had been persuaded that 'Gouge'...