May, 1863 to August, 1863

SUMTER, South Carolina

Civil War, Slavery, Family and Home Life, Military, Food/Provisions

Mrs. Doane remembers the hard work that had to be done on her South Carolina plantation while her father was away at war.  Though they never saw any Yankees, Confederate soldiers were frequent guests at the Cumming’s home.  Ragged and half-starved, these desperate soldiers took full liberties to raid their provisions, passing in hordes and killing their chickens.  Mrs. Cummings, however, did not...

August, 1861

ORLEANS, Louisiana

Farm Equipment, Slavery, plantation, Civil War

In August of 1861 the Civil War was beginning to show its true colors, bloody and drawn out battles of attrition revealed the war would be much longer and bloodier than anyone had expected. Failed offensives by both the North and South were publicized throughout the nation, and the newly established Confederate was burdened with building a country from scratch and governing a war.  At this same time...

January, 1858

MARION, Indiana

Divorce, Slavery, Anti-slavery

J.D.B De Bow printed one of the most widely circulated southern agricultural chronicles of the 1800’s; the purpose of the journal was to bolster the South and the region’s economy. In one article printed in January 1858, entitled “Northern Morals,” De Bow claimed the higher rate of divorce in northern states was due to poor character, loose morals, and weak faith. Indiana’s 19th century divorce...

January 2, 1847

DARLINGTON, South Carolina

Prices, African-Americans, Slavery

To a group of slaves about to be sold to a new owner, the future is uncertain. Their new home may promise decent food and board, or it may mean the separation from their closest family members, abusive overseers, and grueling work that drives them to the brink of death. This is what thirteen slaves faced when they were sold on January 2, 1847 by John D. McCullough to Samuel W. Evans. The document promised...

1822

ABBEVILLE, South Carolina

African-Americans, Church/Religious-Activity, Slavery

After years of meetings focused on the business of dealing with church members who struggled with drunkenness or loose morals, the minutes of the Turkey Creek Baptist Church took a fairly drastic turn into the nineteenth century, showing records of meetings now consumed with the granting of fellowship to slaves.  Almost every entry in the mid-nineteenth century included some account of “a woman...

1936 to 1938

Lafayette, Louisiana

African-Americans, Slavery

Agatha Babino was born a slave of Ogis Guidry near Carenco, Louisiana.  She was at least 87 years old when she was interviewed by a member of the Depression-era WPA Federal Writers’ Project sometime between 1936 and 1938.  In a mere two pages of her recorded reminisce about her time as a slave, Babino addressed many of the topics common to a slave’s life. Babino described the plantation where...

August 31, 1835

ONTARIO, New York

Economy, Politics, Slavery, Abolition

When residents of Geneva, New York acquired their daily copy of the Herald on August 31, 1835 they had no idea they were about to read a prophetic vision of the United States’ future. After acknowledging an anti-abolition meeting that had taken place in the town just a few days prior, the anonymous author of the front-page article went on to denounce the meeting as foolish and to predict the gradual...

February 6, 1832

Washington City, District of Columbia

Politics, Government, Slavery

On February 6, 1837, John C. Calhoun made public his opinions by speaking out on slavery and the future of the Nation to the United States Senate.  Calhoun stated, “I feel myself called upon to speak freely upon the subject where the honor and interests of those I represent are involved.”  By this time Calhoun had taken a stand, given a reason for speaking out, and begun to foreshadow the divisive...

1850 to 1860

NEW YORK, New York

Ain't I a Woman?, Anti-Slavery Act, Sojourner Truth, Slavery

In 1851, Sojourner Truth stood in front of the Women's Convention in Ohio, looking over the numerous white faces, and asked the crowd “Ain’t I a woman?”. In the speech that followed, Truth challenged the idea that men should treat all women the same, “That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody...

May 7, 1928

Orange, Florida

Segregation, Slavery, racial identity

A person’s racial identity is the “global human population distinguished as a more or less distinct group by genetically transmitted physical characteristics.”[1] Segregation has been deeply rooted within American culture for the past two centuries. It has forced people to become more aware of their racial identity and moreover, it has been taken to the extent of violence as well as less extreme...