English writer Samuel Johnson really pissed off our founding fathers in 1775 when he pointedly asked, “How is it that we hear the loudest yelps for liberty among the drivers of Negroes?”Boo-yah! Many of the men who would become known …
Did Blacks Own Slaves?
Yes, there were Black slave-owners in the Antebellum South; less than half of all Black slave-owners owned just a single Slave, most likely this slave was one of their family members whom they had purchased from their former owners. So …
From Minty to Harriet
Minty was on her way to the dry-goods store for supplies when she came across a slave who she knew worked for a nearby family.He had wandered off without permission and there was an overseer in close pursuit. When the …
From Harriet to Moses
Going against the wishes of her husband, Harriet Tubman decided in 1849 to make a run for freedom. The first time she attempted to escape, she did so with two of her brothers.Her brothers got second thoughts as one of …
Iron Shovels
John Brown’s father, Owen Brown, was a Calvinist who believed that slavery was a “breach of divine law” and that if we didn’t put a stop to it, God would have no choice but to “bring his wrath down on …
But with Blood
Knock. Knock.Who goes there?John.We’ve been expecting you. Since July, John Brown had been renting a small cabin just four miles north of Harpers Ferry under the name of Isaac Smith. The US government had already caught wind of his plan …
A Slave to Greed
Could slavery have ended in the United States without war?Think on that. When John Brown was hung for treason in 1860 for trying to take over the United States Armory and Arsenal at Harpers Ferry, the typical slave owner in …
Abolitionists Were Really Liberal, Right?
Conservatives in 1831 tried and convicted Nat Turner, a Virginian slave of leading a slave revolt. His punishment? Turner was hanged, skinned, dismembered, and his body parts were distributed souvenirs to the family of his victims. I don’t even think …
Why Abraham Lincoln REALLY Freed The Slaves
The Civil War began because wealthy Southern Planters were beside themselves that an Anti-Slavery candidate had won the Presidential Election. Outside of former President John Quincy Adams, there had always been a sitting President who had been either a Slave owner …
Sherman’s Bootstraps
The emancipation of the enslaved African in the final throws of the Civil War was nothing like you see in the movies. In movies, we are often presented with a clear hero and a clear villain. The hero’s goal is …
Special Field Orders, No. 15
Robert E. Lee and William Tecumseh Sherman are hands down two of the most important figures in the American Civil War and American military history.The irony is that Robert E. Lee, who owned slaves and was the commander of the …
Moving On: So what are the lessons we should learn from Slavery?
They say absolute power corrupts absolutely. Well, no Duh. Please name a freedom or right taken to the absolute level that doesn’t corrupt. Absolute Freedom of Press would mean that people could print things that they know to be false …