John Brown's Weapons

John Brown came to Harpers Ferry in part to capture firearms from the national arsenal that he hoped to eventually place in the hands of slaves.

Not many people realize though that he and his men arrived at Harpers Ferry quite well armed already. For his attack, Brown would choose several weapons to arm his men, some of which were the most advanced of the day.

In 1857 Brown had been given 200 Sharps rifles by the Massachusetts Kansas Committee. These rifles were unlike the common muzzle loaders of this era and had become quite popular with the antislavery free-staters in the Kansas wars. Some of the Sharps were given the name "Beecher's Bibles" because a number of them had been sent out to the plains under the auspices of being boxed Bibles, and had been praised by the abolitionist preacher Henry Ward Beecher for their effectiveness in combating the proslavery Missouri forces. The 52 caliber breech loading Sharps rifles were invented by Christian Sharps, were produced in Hartford, Connecticut, and were one of the most accurate and fastest firing weapons available. The rifles given to Brown had already been shipped west and were stored in Iowa. When Brown eventually settled on his plans for Harpers Ferry he had 198 of the rifles shipped back east, and in September they were sent to Chambersburg, and then to the Maryland farm where Brown and his men were preparing to make their raid.

Brown's most well recognized weapons were pikes (pictured top). These fierce spears had ten inch double-edged blades attached to six foot long ash handles, and were manufactured by Connecticut blacksmith Charles Blair. Brown had contracted with Blair while on the same fund raising tour to the East in 1857 that had earned him the Sharps rifles. Brown thought these lance-like weapons would make intimidating tools for the free state settlers in Kansas to keep Missouri border ruffians at bay. Brown signed a contract with Blair to pay him $1 per pike for 1000 pikes. Brown was unable to pay the required full amount before returning to Kansas so they remained in Connecticut until 1859.

Brown thought the pikes would fit in perfectly with his Harpers Ferry plan. He believed the pikes would be perfect to give out to men, both black and white, that responded to his call who were not familiar with handling firearms. Brown hoped the fearsome pikes would force shocked and awed slaveholders to relinquish their bondsmen and instill fear in Southern whites in general.

In June of 1859 Brown paid the final installment on the pikes. And, in September, 950 of them were shipped to Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and then on to the Kennedy Farm, just a few miles from Harpers Ferry. Few of the pikes were used in the Harpers Ferry raid, but the large shipment was discovered in the aftermath and were used for political capital by Southerners. Fiery Virginian Edmund Ruffin sent a pike to each of the governors of the Southern states with a note attached that said, "Sample of the favors designed for us by our Northern Brethren."

The other weapon Brown was supplied with was the 31 caliber Maynard pistol. These revolvers were produced by the Massachusetts Arms Company in Chicopee Falls and used a special tape-roll percussion cap that looked much like the cap rolls used by cap guns today. Unfortunately for Brown, the 200 Maynard pistols arrived at the Kennedy Farm without the proper percussion caps and were thus useless to him and his men.

Weapons that have provenance to John Brown's raid are some of the most sought after by serious collectors. Recently one of the John Brown pikes sold at auction for $13,000. Others pikes are in the museum collections at the Museum of the Confederacy, Harpers Ferry National Park, the Smithsonian, and the Kansas State Historical Society. The National Firearms Museum has one of Brown's Sharps rifles, and the Smithsonian has John Brown's personal Sharps, but not one that was at the Harper's Ferry raid.

Would Harpers Ferry Have Happened Without the Secret Six?

Almost any organizer planning an event will tell you that participation and funding are of utmost importance in order to encourage success. John Brown had participants for his Harpers Ferry Raid (although he certainly wished for more), and thanks to six principal Northern men, he had a source of financial funding and moral support. These men had given money and arms to Brown while he was waging his antislavery war in Kansas, and Brown readily sought them (and their money) out before his planned raid on Harpers Ferry.

Who were these so called "Secret Six?" All were noted abolitionists, and five of them had connections to the New England Transcendentalist movement. Two were or had been ministers, one was a wealthy businessman, another was a millionaire heir, and two were respected academics.

The lone non-New Englander was 62 year-old Gerrit Smith. Over his lifetime Smith ran the full spectrum of antislavery. At one time he was a committed colonizationist, but over the 1840s and 1850s he had developed into immediate abolitionist. Smith had inherited millions of dollars in script and land from his father Peter Smith, who had been in business with John Jacob Astor. Gerrit Smith had given much of his land in up-state New York (North Elba) to freed and escaped slaves for homesteads. In fact, the Brown family had moved there in the late 1840s. After Brown's successful 1858 raid into Missouri that brought eleven slaves out of bondage, Smith was impressed and provided Brown with additional much needed funds. In the aftermath of Harpers Ferry, Smith would destroy his correspondence with Brown in order help distance himself from the event and had himself committed to an lunatic asylum for a time.

57 year-old Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe had by the time of Harpers Ferry Howe led an interesting life. He had served as a surgeon in the Greek Revolution in the 1820s, and had become involved in antislavery work in the 1840s. He was married to Julia Ward, who would later write the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," based on the tune to the song "John Brown's Body." Howe had funded antislavery efforts in Kansas during the 1850s, but he had opposed the use of violence and was lukewarm at best on Brown's plans for Harpers Ferry. After the event Howe fled to Canada and published a disclaimer of his involvement with Brown.

48 year-old Unitarian minister Theodore Parker was involved in almost every reform movement in the 19th century. He was an advocate for temperance, women's rights, penitentiary reform, and public education. He was vocally adamant against slavery and strongly encouraged slave insurrections. He had provided funds and arms for antislavery forces during the Bleeding Kansas wars, and had become convinced that violence was the proper response and cure for the institution of slavery. Parker had left America in February of 1859 to recuperate from a health breakdown related to tuberculosis, but continued to support Brown. Parker later published a letter titled "John Brown's Expedition Reviewed." Parker died in Italy in May of 1860 from tuberculosis.

36 year-old Thomas Wentworth Higginson like Parker had been a minister, but had been forced to resign by his church for being too radically liberal in his views in the 1840s. Higginson had traveled to Kansas and participated in antislavery activities there in the 1850s before returning to Boston and continuing his work as a writer there. Higginson had urged Brown to undertake his Harpers Ferry plan almost a year before it actually happened and was the only "Secret Six" member who did not flee the country and he never denounced Brown's raid or his involvement. In the Civil War he was a colonel of the 1st South Carolina Colored Infantry.

49 year-old George Luther Stearns was a wealthy factory owner that had met Brown and immediately took to him "like iron to the magnet." Stearns provided both arms and money to Brown. While visiting with Stearns in Boston, Brown became friends with Stearns's young son, to whom Brown wrote a fascinating autobiographical letter. Stearns too left the United States for Canada after the raid was put down, but he remained proud of his involvement with and support for Brown. During the Civil War Stearns helped raise black troops for the Union army.

28 year-old Harvard educated Franklin Sanborn was a Boston-area teacher (Emerson's children were among his students) and secretary of the Massachussetts State Kansas Committee. Sanborn had introduced Brown to Parker and Higginson, and had pledged allegiance to Brown and his cause, often providing financial (sometimes very small amounts) support and moral encouragement through letters to Brown. In 1885 Sanborn published a Brown biography; The Life and Letters of John Brown.

These six men certainly helped Brown's Harpers Ferry plan unfold. Without their support of arms and money it is likely that Brown could not have kept his small army fed, clothed, and armed. While in later years some of the six felt remorse for their support and Brown's use of violence, others cherished and reveled in their association with Brown and their role in helping bring on the Civil War and the conflict that helped begin the end of slavery in the United States.

Was Youth a Factor in John Brown's Raid?

George Bernard Shaw is quoted as having said or wrote something to the effect that youth is a gift wasted on the young. I suppose what he meant is that when we are young we don't appreciate all the greatness of life due to inexperience. Much along the same lines, but in a somewhat different context, is the thought that youth make the best soldiers. Being young often means being impetuous. Sometimes being young means being daring. Being young can mean acting without thinking. And, being young often means carrying through on a cause when self preservation is whispering in your ear.

Could there be something to the fact, that of the twenty-one men who went with John Brown to Harpers Ferry, only Brown and two others were older than thirty-four years old? Could youthful enthusiasm have blinded these young men from thoughts of deadly repercussions? Or, was it commitment to their leader and cause that made them seemingly ignore that clear and present danger and rush into history?

For your consideration, here is a roll of the raiders, and their ages, that followed Brown:

Jeremiah Anderson, 26 years old

Osborne Perry Anderson, 29 years old

Oliver Brown, 21 years old

Owen Brown, 34 years old

Watson Brown, 24 years old

John E. Cook, 30 years old

John Anthony Copeland, Jr., 25 years old

Barclay Coppoc, 20 years old

Edwin Coppoc, 24 years old

Shields Green, approx. 23 years old

Albert Hazlett, 22 years old

John Henry Kagi, 24 years old

Lewis Leary, 24 years old

William Leeman, 20 years old

Francis Jackson Meriam, 21 years old

Dangerfield Newby, approximately 35 years old

Aaron Stephens, approximately 26 years old

Stewart Taylor, 22 years old

Dauphin Thompson, 21 years old

William Thompson, 26 years old

Charles Plummer Tidd, 25 years old

Of the raiders, sixteen were white men, three were free African Americans, one was a freed slave, and one was a fugitive slave. Five of the men escaped the raid and pursuit dragnet. Four of the five that escaped later fought for the Union in the Civil War.

Just finished reading - They Fought Like Demons: Women Soldiers in the Civil War by DeAnne Blanton and Lauren M. Cook

In an introductory historical methods class as an undergraduate student we were asked to read An Uncommon Soldier: The Civil War Letters of Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, alias Lyons Wakeman, 153rd Regiment New York State Volunteers, 1862-1864. This brief but fascinating book provided the story of Wakeman, a tomboy-type young woman from rural New York, who disguised herself as a man and enlisted to fight in the Civil War. No, it is not a novel it is a true tale. Her letters to her family give a story of duty to her country, life in the army, and her determination to soldier as well as the men surrounding her. Unfortunately, like so many male soldiers, she gave the ultimate sacrifice, her life, to her cause and country when she died of disease in Louisiana.

Lauren Cook, the author of An Uncommon Soldier is one of the co-authors of They Fought Like Demons. Cook is an independent scholar from North Carolina. Her partner in this work, DeAnne Blanton, is a senior military archivist at the National Archives and specializes in 19th century army records.

They Fought Like Demons not only tells the story of New Yorker Union soldier Wakeman, and Kentuckian Confederate Mary Ann Clark (see my May 29 posting), but also well over 200 other women who disguised themselves as men to enter the service of their country.

The authors contend that women were able to remain secretly in the armies for a number of reasons. First, entry examinations were not very thorough in that time. A check of sight, hearing, and teeth (to tear cartridges) was often as far as physicians often went to claim a soldier fit for duty. Ill-fitting clothes were the rule rather than the exception in the Civil War, and thus hid women soldier's unmasculine figures. In addition, women had the ability to separate themselves from comrades when nature called. Instead of visiting the community sinks, female soldiers (and male ones too) often sought out a more private setting for their bodily functions. Bathing was hit and miss in Civil War armies, so detection by this method also was not always easy, and with so many young men in the armies, it was often difficult to tell the difference between beardless boys and disguised women unable to grow facial hair.

Women soldiers were most often detected when they had physical features that gave them away. Small hands and feet, along with a soft womanly face or neck lines sometimes made comrades suspicious. Also, feminine movements such as jumping or throwing also sometimes belied their disguises. But, the most common determiner was when women were wounded or sick and had to be examined by a physician. Another give away was when they became pregnant and remained in service but were unable to perform their duties or hide their condition.

Why did some women go to all the trouble to enlist? The authors relate that women's reasons for becoming soldiers varied widely. Most women that went into the service did so for the same reason men did; a true desire to help their side and for patriotic reasons. Some wanted to remain with their male lovers when they enlisted. Others saw the opportunity for adventure and freedom and a better paying job than they could get as a woman. Some that remained in the service undetected and came home after the war, chose to keep up the disguise to maintain the level of citizenship that they were afforded to them in they army as men but denied to them as in civilian life as women, such as voting and property rights.

In their conclusion the authors explain why studies of women soldiers in the Civil War are important: "Clearly, the service of women did not alter the outcome of battles and campaigns, and the service of women did not alter the course of the war. Their individual contributions and exploits are fascinating but are not the primary reasons for their historical significance. Women soldiers of the Civil War merit recognition because they were there and because they were not supposed to be. They deserve remembrance because their actions made them uncommon and revolutionary, possessed of a valor at odds with Victorian and, in some respects, even modern views of women's proper role. Quite simply, the women in the ranks of the Union and Confederate armies refused to stay in their socially mandated place, even though it meant resorting to subterfuge to achieve their goal of being soldiers. They faced down not only the guns of the adversary but the sexual prejudices of their society."

They Fought Like Demons is an easy and quick read that needs to be in every Civil War enthusiast's library. Without it, the story of the Civil War soldier is not complete.

More John Brown: Online Information

While doing some searching on the web for John Brown information I have come across a multitude of pictures and perspectives on this historically controversial figure. And, with this being the sesquicentennial anniversary of his famous effort at Harper's Ferry, his coverage has naturally increased. Two sites that I have been impressed with are the Civil War Preservation Trust's site and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History's site.

The CWPT has had an ongoing effort to preserve land at historic Harper's Ferry for a number of years and they have been largely successful. Their site is quite brief in nature on the surface, but once you explore it, there is actually a lot of information to be had. I especially liked the map that showed the route of Brown and his raiders from their base at the Kennedy Farm in Maryland to the town of Harper's Ferry. Also, there are three excellent published articles. Two are by Harper's Ferry Historian Dennis Frye that were featured in the latest issues of the CWPT's magazine Hallowed Ground. One of these articles is a brief history of the raid, while the other looks at how the event has been commemorated over the years. Great stuff! Another article, borrowed from Civil War Times Illustrated about the raid, is by Tim Rowland. The site includes an impressive photo gallery of images of participants and places associated with the raid, but unfortunately the images do not have labels that describe the people or their significance. In addition, there are online lesson plans for teachers, online resources for more learning, and several primary resources about this monumental event. The CWPT's John Brown site is located at: http://www.civilwar.org/150th-anniversary/john-browns-harpers-ferry.html

The Gilder Lehrman online exhibition of John Brown is an ongoing project that is being featured in conjunction with a formal exhibition now being shown at the New York Historical Society. The site will feature additional information each month while the exhibition is in progress.

The site offers some special images of primary source documents that describe the national events that led up to Harper's Ferry, Brown's personal history up to Harper's Ferry, the political violence that helped lead to Civil War, and Brown's legacy from the end of the war to the present. This site is located at: http://www.gilderlehrman.org/collection/online/johnbrown/#1

Happy browsing!

150 Years Ago Today: John Brown's Raid

One of America's most significant events in history happened 150 years ago today. In my mind John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry on the evening of October 16, 1859 was the spark that brought the nation to civil war 18 months later.

Many people do not realize that Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry wasn't his first assault on the institution of slavery. In 1856 he and several of his followers attacked a family of Southern settlers in Kansas, hacking five men to death with swords. Then, in 1858 he helped assist a number of Missouri slaves make their way to Canada and freedom.

So, what made Harper's Ferry so important to go down in history? Well, timing has a lot to do with it. Of course he didn't know that the nation would go to war a year and a half later, but the raid's importance is largely tied to and included in the important events preceding the Civil War. Another important fact is that the United States arsenal there made it an attractive target for Brown and his men. They hoped to capture the weapons stored there, arm area slaves with them, and then carry on a war against slavery by using the Appalachian Mountains as a stronghold. Brown's plan has received its fair share of criticism. He attacked in an area where there was not a large number of slaves. He only had a small band of committed followers to complete a mission that called for many more. In fact, some historians believe that he went into the raid wishing to be captured to become a martyr, and thereby stir the national controversy over slavery to the fever pitch it became and create the war he would not live to see.

Brown has been labeled many things over the years. Some have called him a madman, others have called him a terrorist, but I think the best labels would be "dedicated" and "earnest." He hated slavery like probably no other white man in his time. Socially he felt totally comfortable in the presence of blacks and he treated them like he did anyone else; a very rare thing in the mid-19th century. To Brown violence was the means toward ending the scourge of slavery. He believed that it had to be cut out like a cancer.

As we know Brown's mission failed to free a large number of slaves immediately. But, it could also be argued that his plan and actions eventually did accomplish his goal. By straining relations between the North and South over this most divisive of issues he did actually help bring on the war that would in effect end slavery in America.

Brown is an interesting figure that has received his fair share of historical attention; some of which are better than others. If you want to learn more about him and his mission try Stephen Oates's, To Purge this Land with Blood: A Biography of John Brown, or David S. Reynold's, John Brown Abolitionist: The Man Who Killed Slavery, Sparked the Civil War, and Seeded Civil Rights.

My Visit to Gettysburg National Battlefield Visitor Center

As I mentioned in the last post, I was in Gettysburg last weekend. I had heard a lot about the new $135 million Visitor Center, both good and bad, since it opened about a year ago, so I really wanted to see it for myself and make my own judgement.

The first thing that surprised me was the parking lot. I had been to the old Visitor Center a number of times, and it was always busy, but I don't remember the parking lot there being all that full. When we got to the new Center at about 11:00 am last Friday, we had to park in the last row of the last lot. It was that full. I suppose I could have been negative and complained about having to walk so far, but I couldn't, I was too happy to see a historic site having so much business.

The new building is quite impressive. The main entrance is stone and the rest is a kind of red siding that I think is architecturally designed to look somewhat like a traditional Pennsylvania barn...um, a barn on steroids that is.

Inside it has a huge bookstore, a cozy looking restaurant, ticket lines, and lots of people. There is no charge to look around, but if you want to see any of the special features you have to buy a ticket. I can't imagine that any Civil War nut would not want to see what all is available. The tickets for the museum, film, and Cyclorama were only $9.50 each with a AAA discount. We looked around at some of the weapons and artifact displays while we waited for our time to see the film. I had heard that some people were disappointed that the huge number of weapons and artifacts that were displayed at the old center were not available for viewing now. I didn't think this was a significant drawback because now the museum holds a great deal of artifacts and they are displayed and interpreted better than before.

The film "A New Birth of Freedom" was quite well done and narrated by Morgan Freeman. I especially liked the images, pictures, and documents that they chose to show in the antebellum section of the film. Although only about 2o some minutes, the film deftly covers the events that led up to the war, the three days of battle at Gettysburg, the end of the war, and even covered a little Reconstruction. Overall the film reemphasizes the importance of learning about this monumental era and the relevance of it on our present lives.

From the film we were taken to the area where the restored Cyclorama painting is now displayed. This huge painting-in-the-round measures some 377 feet in circumference and 42 feet in height. The narration and light show almost made me feel like I was right in the thick of the Union lines that received the brunt of Pickett's charge. The recent 5 year restoration project of the painting, which was painted in 1884, makes this a must see. The foreground of the painting is littered with battlefield debris to make the feeling all that much more life-like and visually leads right to the edge of the enormous painting.

Next we went through the museum. I was very impressed with the displays and interpretation. There were interactive computer displays throughout the museum, and a number of short videos. Instead of covering just the three days of battle (which it did in great detail), the museum went much further, by explaining the causes of the conflict, and the significant events of the war.

We finished our visit with a trip to the bookstore. I was good and didn't buy any books, but they had just about any Civil War book that you could ask for, and certainly almost every book on Gettysburg. The store also had a plethora of other items that museum stores carry, but with a much wider selection than usually available.

I left feeling good about the new Visitor Center and wondering why some people were not pleased with it. I guess you can't suit everyone. If you ever get to the Gettysburg area, you should make time to stop in and see it for yourself.

For more information see their web site: http://www.gettysburgfoundation.org/index.html

Have Your "Likeness" Made at R.J. Gibson Photography

Amateur and professional historians alike are thankful for the invention of photography. When the Frenchman Louis-Jacques-Mande Daguerre presented his work in the late 1830s, the ability to tell stories about the past changed forever. The daguerreotype, and later processes such as the tintype and ambrotype (glass plate) quickly made photographic images of the past a more significant source of information than painted portraits. Whereas painted portraits are often subject to an artist's interperation, photographs capture exactly what is in front of the lens.

Last Friday Michele and I visited Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and took the opportunity to call on Ron Gibson's photographic studio on Steinwehr Avenue to have our "image struck." We had wanted to have a period picture made for quite some time and thought we would take a few minutes to do so while we were so close to one of the most respected period photographers around. When it was all said and done were so happy we chose Mr. Gibson's studio because Ron and his wife Dee made the experience really special. Not only was it fun and entertaining, but it was an educational experience as well. Ron took the time tell and show us the photography process the mid-nineteenth century way in great detail. Both Ron and Dee took extra-care to find the right wardrobe selections for us to make our civilian appearance period correct and to position us in an era-appropriate pose.

The process of making our tintype was fascinating. First the sheet of metal had to be prepared by brushing all dust and debris away to make a clean and clear surface. Then a chemical was poured over the sheet of metal to create the "film" that would capture the image. We were then posed, even to the point of using a period "headrest" for Michele since she was standing to make sure she didn't move while the picture was being taken. The "tin" was placed into the camera, the lens opened and as about twelve seconds ticked off, the image was made. Then the tin was put into a chemical bath, and then finally another bath in which the image you see above slowly emerged.

Getting a period photo made was one of those rare chances to step back in time. I highly recommend it, even if you aren't a history nut like me. You will come away impressed at how difficult it must have been for period photographers to practice their craft and how special it felt to have your "likeness" made so long ago.

To find out more about Ron Gibson's photography please visit his web site at:
www.civilwarphotography.com

Web Site Review: Slavery in the North

Few people with only a basic understanding of American history know that slavery was legal for a number of years in the North after the Revolutionary War. Before, during, and shortly after America's war with England slavery flourished in Northern urban areas such as New York and Philadelphia where African Americans were used for both domestic and commercial labor.

In effort to correct much of this misunderstanding and to shed more light on the institution of slavery in the North, Mr. Douglas Harper has created a web site chocked full of information of slavery in the Northern states.

I found the pages on "Northern Profits from Slavery," and "Fugitive Slaves" especially interesting. Northern shippers, particularly from New England benefited from the transportation of Africans to America until 1808. Congress forbade the slave trade in the Constitution to end in that designated year as a compromise between the states. The page on fugitives brings up the important Prigg vs Pennsylvania case that influenced much later legislation on escaped slaves.

All of the information that is provides is very useful and informative, but is not presented in the most aesthetically pleasing manner. Another downside to the site is that it takes a significant amount of time to load. But, other than those two drawbacks, I really enjoyed browsing the site and learning more about "Slavery in the North;" hopefully you will too.

The site can be viewed at the following link: http://www.slavenorth.com/index.html

The Power of Partnership: Rosenwald School Building Program

One important thing that I have learned from studying history is that partnerships can make a big difference in the lives of others. Decisions to help those less fortunate or in difficult circumstances can impact the lives of those in need like few other things.

In 1912, African American educator Booker T. Washington and Sears and Roebuck Company president Julius Rosenwald met and a relationship was formed that would certainly impact the lives of thousands of African American Southerners.

Rosenwald was a member on the Tuskegee Institute's Board of Trustees and had provided generous funds to the school's mission of educating black youth. In 1913 and 1914 six small schools in rural Alabama were built from surplus funds that Rosenwald had provided. In the next few years a school construction program was started and based at Tuskegee. In 1917 a formal fund, the Julius Rosenwald Foundation, was set up and run from Chicago. The school building program was moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1920 that had a large impact on offering educational facilities all across the South to African American students. By 1928 one of every five rural schools for blacks in the South was a Rosenwald school that taught one-third of the region's children.

The program largely stopped in 1932 with Rosenwald's death. By that time it had built almost 5,000 new schools, 217 teachers' homes, and 163 shop buildings at a price of some $28.4 million. These school served over 663,000 students in 883 counties of 15 states.

The program was built upon the idea of matching grants. African Americans of the community where the school was to be built had to match the funds Rosenwald provided in cash or in-kind donations of labor and or materials for construction. This idea of self-help was strongly encouraged by both Washington and Rosenwald. They both understood that personal sacrifices of blood, sweat, tears and hard-earned cash would build a strong community commitment to education and its future rewards.

The schools not only served as educational facilities, but also turned into community gathering spaces for their local communities. Barbecues, family reunions, political speeches, dances, and other activities happened at the school buildings when not occupied by the scholars.

Even after schools were desegregated in theory in 1954 with the Supreme Court decision in the Brown vs. Board of Education case, many of the schools stayed in operation until integration was fulfilled in practice in the 1960s and 1970s.

In recent years a movement has started preserve a number of the Rosenwald schools, many of which have become dilapidated, or at best are in disrepair. This of course brings up some level of controversy in the African American community about whether we should preserve buildings from times (segregation) that brought such terror and pain. I personally think most of the preservation work is an honest and sincere effort to commemorate and show the power of community pride and cooperation it took to build the schools rather than a remembrance of the "Jim Crow" era and its practices.

History Meets Pop Culture

I have always been a "to each, his own" type of person. I wouldn't necessarily go out and get a tattoo of the 16th president of the United States on my throat, but hey, who am I to say DeShawn Stevenson of the NBA's Washington Wizards can't do it.

I have no idea why this young man would have a backwards "P" on the side of his face, or why he has a Frankenstein crack inked on his forehead. Maybe if I made almost $4 million a year I would find some unique ways to spend it too. I certainly have no idea why he would choose Abraham Lincoln to put on his neck. Maybe it is to honor the man. I noticed that on either side of Lincoln's countenance are number 5's. So, I'm not sure if this is a tribute to the five dollar bill or to the Great Emancipator. DeShawn is number 2 on the court, so I guess he is not making a statement about his number.

No doubt it would be a great conversation starter. And if Mr. Stevenson is looking for endorsements, maybe he will get a call from Subway to do a "Five dollar foot long" commercial. Well, as I began, "to each, his own."

Online Exhibit Review: Debating Emancipation at the Lincoln Cottage

Last winter I attended the "Lincoln and the South" conference in Richmond, Virginia. At one of the sessions Frank Milligan, Director of the President Lincoln's Cottage at the Soldiers Home spoke about the history of the cottage (more mansion than cottage) and how they are presently attempting to interpret the site. I was certainly impressed with the site and I hope to make a visit when I get to D.C. in the future.

To help interpret the importance of this historic site where Lincoln's partly formulated his decision to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, the Lincoln Cottage has developed an online exhibit. In this online exhibit you an active participant in the debate and are able to place yourself in the shoes of Lincoln's cabinet members and see how they advised the president in this epic announcement.

Part of "Debating Emancipation" follows Doris Kearns Goodwin's lead in her best selling A Team of Rivals. The site gives short biographies on the cabinet members, their thoughts on issues related directly to emancipation, and lists their political rivals, and relationship with Lincoln.

As you travel throughout the site you will get to learn about figures such as David Hunter and John C. Fremont who played secondary roles and the events in Missouri and South Carolina that they instigated. Also you can learn about congressional acts such as the confiscation acts that played into Lincoln's evolution in thinking on race and winning the war. In addition, as you go, you get to test your knowledge of what you have learned to advance to the next section. The site concludes with Lincoln's proclamation and what you as a cabinet member did to help or hinder the president's decision.

Be sure to take a few minutes to visit this site and learn more about this event that is one of the most important in our nation's history. The following is a link to the site: http://www.lincolncottage.org/lcstage/player.swf

Just finished reading - Subduing Satan: Religion, Recreation, and Manhood in the Rural South, 1865-1920 by Ted Ownby

So which is it? Is it the reverent and evangelical South, or is it the impulsive and violent South? Well, it is and has almost always been both. In writing Subduing Satan author and professor Dr. Ted Ownby of the University of Mississippi has produced an interesting and easy to read social/religious history that most anyone interested in Southern history can appreciate.

In Subduing Satan, Ownby covers a lot of territory. He divided the book into three sections that cover the thoughts expressed in the subtitle. The first part, "Male Culture," explores the "sinful" Southerner. To do so he explains that most of the impiousness of Southern men usually occurred away from home, family, and church. The second part looks at Southern "Evangelical Culture." And, the third and final part shows that even the South was not immune from the "Change and Reform" that came with the technological inventions of the early twentieth-century.

Southerners often found their worlds to be worlds divided between an earthy heaven and hell. In the field, on the farm, and in town on Saturdays and on court days Southerners, (especially men-due to age old double standards) found outlets of vice. Competitions in drinking, fist-fighting, and card playing, and circus entertainments brought out the worst in many men on Southern main streets. Blood sports such as betting on cock fights and dog fights, and manly agricultural contests such as corn shuckings, fodder pullings, and log rollings were often fueled by spirits in liquid form and held on farms and fields, and on plantations.

Spirits in the heavenly form were the domain of Southern homes, churches, and revival tents where women were expected to be the guardians of virtue, and where men were expected to aspire to better natures. No matter the denomination, Sundays were meant to be days of praise, worship, quiet rest, and visiting with friends and family.

As the years rolled on into the early twentieth century, ideas and change came to the South. Inventions such as the telephone, phonograph, the automobile, and moving pictures brought changes to sinners and saints. How to deal with these modern conveniences and their potential to increase sins found in courting, dancing, and entertainment worried many evangelical Southerners. Southern churches had long disciplined their members for unbecoming behavior, but during the early twentieth-century fewer and fewer churches could be found formally correcting their member's misbehavior. Ownby contends that, "No longer satisfied to separate themselves from the sinful excesses of non evangelical behavior, they now tried to stamp out many sins altogether. By giving up church discipline, evangelicals were not giving in to the world but redefining their place in it."

Although Ownby touches on race at a few places in the book, his focus and discussion is clearly on white Southern culture and society. To me this seems somewhat strange because even though Southern society was segregated more and more during these years, whites and blacks were interacting in diverse ways in many of the places that are studied in Subduing Satan. Regardless, the book is very informative and well supported with strong research. I heartily recommend it.

Underrated Historic Event: The California Gold Rush

After considering a few new category ideas to examine, I thought I'd take a look at underrated historic events every now and then.

To kick things off I'll provide some information on what I think is one of the most unexamined, yet important events in American history; the California Gold Rush.

John L. O'Sullivan coined the term "manifest destiny" in the mid 1840s to describe, in his opinion, America's right to spread republican democracy across North America. The idea of manifest destiny was partly the reason for war against Mexico shortly thereafter. A win in the war with Mexico meant that the country could continue to expand, and would now stretch from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific coast.

Although the Treaty of Hidalgo (February 1848) officially ended the Mexican-American War, American settlers had already occupied what would become California and had declared it an independent republic. But, less than a month before the treaty was signed James Marshall found gold near the confluence of the American and Sacramento Rivers. California and the United States would never be the same.

The discovery set off a stream of migration to the gold fields that wouldn't end for years. People came from near and far to try to strike it rich. They came from Oregon, Mexico, China, Argentina, Australia, England, France, the Pacific Islands, and of course all points east in the United States. Those from the east coast came mainly by three routes. The longest was by sea around the southern tip of South America. The next longest was overland across the American plains and Rocky Mountains. The shortest was by sea to Panama and then across the isthmus to the Pacific. Thousands came by all three routs, and hundreds died in the gold fields or came back in poverty. Some few fortunate ones made their fortune, although those that did strike it rich usually attained their wealth by proving goods and services rather than from taking it from the streams and mountains in the form of yellow rocks and dust.

The California Gold Rush was much more of a multicultural event than some think. As mentioned above prospectors came from across the globe. Languages and customs clashed as men waded streams and partied in saloons. Southerners brought their black slaves to do the hard work of mining, and Native Americans in California that had never seen white men, black men, or yellow men, now had frequent encounters; many of which didn't bode well for the indigenous peoples.

Of course California's population explosion resulted in it becoming the 31st state in 1850. California's admission resulted in a compromise measure to keep a balance of power between the slave states and free states that made up the Union. California was admitted as a free state, so the slaves states were thrown the bone of a stronger fugitive slave law. Also included in the compromise was the organization of the Utah and New Mexico territories, and the prohibition of the slave trade in Washington D.C. (although slavery as a practice wasn't banned there). So, in effect the California Gold Rush was a major precipitating factor in the outbreak of the Civil War a little more than 10 years later.

California's role in the national schism has started to receive more attention in the past few years in books such as The Age of Gold: The California Gold Rush (2002) by H.W. Brands and the New American Dream, and The California Gold Rush and the Coming of the Civil War (2007) by Leonard L. Richards. Hopefully more work will continue on this important era and subject in America's history.

To learn more about the California Gold Rush I recommend the PBS documentary, The Gold Rush, and their interactive website located at: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/goldrush/index.html

Online Exhibit Review: Kentucky Military Treasures

Advances in technology have transformed museums. The things that are now possible with online exhibitions is simply amazing. Where once a person would have to make an appointment with a museum's curator to get a close look at artifacts; now its possible to simply log on to certain online exhibits to appreciate valued relics of the past.

The Kentucky Historical Society has recently placed many items in their military history collection into a most impressive online exhibit titled Kentucky Military Treasures.

If you are military history enthusiast this exhibit is not to be missed. But even if you don't have an interest in military history you will appreciate this incredible exhibit.

The exhibit features five different sections: "Signature Stories," "Curator's Corner," "Enduring Voices," "Timeline," and "Resources." Each section reveals a wealth of information and virtual access to the artifacts that is unbelievable. For example, in the "Signature Stories" section, when you click on Richard M. Johnson you can then click on the powder horn thumbnail picture and then enlarge and reduce it and also spin it 360 degrees to see it at different angles. The signature stories are of Kentucky soldiers that are told in a unique manner and span from the War of 1812 to the present conflicts.

In the "Curator's Corner," features are given on the weapons and flags in the KHS collections, as well as a look at the history of the Old State Arsenal, built in 1850. Currently the Old State Arsenal is undergoing a renovation process, but will soon open as the home of many of these Kentucky Military Treasures.

The following link will take you to this excellent online exhibit: http://history.ky.gov/military/ Be sure to visit when you get the chance.

Personality Spotlight: Hinton Rowan Helper

Few if any Southerners stirred up as much fuss among their own people before the Civil War as did North Carolinian Hinton Rowan Helper. His book, The Impending Crisis of the South: How to Meet It, published in 1857, was hailed by many Northerners, and especially by the infant Republican Party as a work of brilliance, but by Southern planter-politicans as an attempt at anarchy.

Hinton Rowan Helper was born in December 1829 in what was then Rowan County, North Carolina to a small farming family. Helper's father died when he was very young and his inheritance left him over 200 acres, but little direction. Although he dutifully worked the fields, Helper was not fond of farming; he preferred learning and adventure. Helper had received a better than average education from a local academy, and after spending a few years as a store clerk apprentice he left for the excitement of New York City. Like many of his generation, the goldfields of California called out the opportunity for wealth to Helper. He went west in 1851, but returned to North Carolina in 1854. Helper's first book was Land of Gold, published in 1855, and was his story of how his West Coast adventure had failed to meet his high expectations.

The book that would make him famous (or infamous, depending on political viewpoint) was his next work; The Impending Crisis of the South: How to Meet It. In it Helper argues that slavery had dramatically retarded the South's economy. He contended that slavery was the one deterrent for the majority of white Southerners to advance their economic and social status. He thought that if slavery was abolished in the South then it would develop a more diverse economy, increase industrialization, and allow greater advancement for the majority of the population (non-slaveholding whites). His plan was in no way to be confused as a sympathetic plea for the slaves. His later writing makes it clear that he felt that African American slaves were certainly inferior to whites and that there was no place for them in America. In the Impending Crisis he called for deportation of blacks, but with little explanation of how to best accomplish this act. Another underlying reason he wanted slavery abolished is that he felt the institution brought the races into too close proximity of one another.

Helper deftly used the 1850 census to show in tables how the South lagged behind the North in almost every economic category. His free state, slave state comparisons of New York to Virgina, Massachusetts to North Carolina, and Pennsylvania to South Carolina were strong sociological arguments when that discipline was still in its infancy.

The Impending Crisis was published during the few years when tensions between North and South were wearing thin. The Kansas-Nebraska Act four years before had left Northerners fearing that slavery could spread to the westward territories. The events of "Bleeding Kansas" were daily headlines all over the country. Helper only added fuel to the fire by being a Southerner who opposed not only the expansion of slavery to the west, but also called for its end in the South. Helper's strong words naturually infuriated those of the pro-slavery power in the South. He wrote, "Too long we have yielded a submissive obedience to the tyrannical domination of an inflated oligarchy; too long we have submitted to their unjust and savage exactions. Let us now wrest from them the sceptre of power, establish liberty and equal rights [for whites] throughout the land, and henceforth and forever guard our legislative halls from the pollutions and usurpations of the pro-slavery demagogues." To the planter-politicians of the South this was nothing more than a call for anarchy, and thus loss of control and power. It couldn't be tolerated and served as another justification for secession only a few years later.

Helper was rewarded for his "republican" thinking by receiving an appointment to be consul to Argentina from 1861 to 1866. There he married Maria Louisa Rodriguez and they had a child. Helper returned to the United States in 1867 and continued to write about political issues. He took up the cause of white supremacy during the Reconstruction years where he called for the removal of blacks from America.

Helper's life was shortened by his own hand when he committed suicide in Washington DC in 1902. He had spent his last years in poverty and petitioning to anyone that would listen for a railroad link between North and South America. He felt this link would bring economic recovery to his beloved South and help remove the unwanted black and brown people from the United States.

The Impending Crisis today is a must read for students wanting to understand the dynamics that helped lead to Civil War, and should serve as strong evidence to those that feel that slavery had nothing to do with the outbreak of the war.

Personality Spotlight: Dangerfield Newby

A letter was found upon the body of one of the five African Americans in John Brown's raiding party on Harper's Ferry. The letter was quite well written, especially for a enslaved person not allowed to learn to read or write in antebellum Virginia. It was a letter of love and desperation; it asked for deliverance. 

 It reads as follows: August 16, 1859 Dear Husband. your kind letter came duly to hand and it gave me much pleasure to here from you and especely to hear you are better of your rhumatism and hope when I here from you again you may be entirely well. I want you to buy me as soon as possible for if you do not get me somebody else will the servents are very disagreeable thay do all thay can to set my mistress againt me Dear Husband you not the trouble I see the last two years has ben like a trouble dream to me it is said Master is in want of monney if so I know not what time he may sell me an then all my bright hops of the futer are blasted for there has ben one bright hope to cheer me in all my troubles that is to be with you for if I thought I shoul never see you this earth would have no charms for me do all you Can for me witch I have no doubt you will I want to see you so much the Chrildren are all well the baby cannot walk yet all it can step around enny thing by holding on it is very much like Agnes I mus bring my letter to Close as I have no newes to write you mus write soon and say when you think you Can Come. Your affectionate Wife HARRIET NEWBY. 

Dangerfield Newby did all he thought he could to try to free his wife and other enslaved people of Virginia by joining Brown and his raiders. His and Brown's efforts to bring freedom to the bondsmen of the Old Dominion proved to be unsuccessful, but their futile attempt in 1859 would eventually bear fruit in 1865, when the Thirteenth Amendment outlawed slavery in the United States. Dangerfield Newby was apparently born in Culpeper County, Virginia, around 1815, to his Scottish White master father and his Black enslaved mother. Since Newby's mother was a enslaved, he too was bound to that status. Newby was later freed by his master father in 1858 when the elder Newby moved to Ohio. But Dangerfield was unable to rid slavery from his existence as he had married Harriet, an enslaved woman. Newby traveled throughout Ohio trying to raise funds to free his wife, but her master in Virginia refused to sell her and his youngest child for under $1000. Newby had raised almost $750 at the time of the raid, but unable to raise more he must have felt that joining Brown and the other raiders was his best chance to free his wife. 

 Another letter, this one written in April of 1859, has also survived. Like the one written in August it is a letter of longing. Harriet asked for Dangerfield to come visit that fall no matter what. He, of course, never made it. Dear Husband I mus now write you apology for not writing you before this but I know you will excuse me when tell you Mrs. gennings has been very sick she has a baby a little girl ben a grate sufferer her breast raised and she has had it lanced and I have had to stay with her day and night so you know I had no time to write but she is now better and one of her own servent is now sick I am well that is of the grates importance to you I have no newes to write you only the chrildren are all well I want to see you very much but are looking fordard to the promest time of your coming oh Dear Dangerfield com this fall with out fail monny or no money I want to see you so much that is one bright hope I have before me nothing more at present but remain your affectionate wife HARRIETT NEWBY 

During the excitement of the raid, Newby shot John Boerly, a Harper's Ferry town grocer, who was on his way to work. Boerly was shot in the groin and bled to death shortly thereafter. Newby and Brown's son Oliver, along with some other raiders tried to hold the Potomac River bridge when they were forced back. 

During the retreat Newby was shot in the lower part of the neck; some said with a metal spike. He was the first of Brown's men to die that day. Newby would not rest in peace. Infuriated townspeople cut off his ears and other body parts, poked sticks in his wounds, and threw him into a ditch where he was soon found by wandering town hogs and partly eaten by them. Newby's Harper's Ferry raid was over quickly. 

Harriet Newby and her children were sold after the raid to a Louisiana planter. It is not know what became of them. Newby's remains eventually were taken to John Brown's farm in North Elba, New York, and buried there.

A Visit to Woodrow Wilson's Birthplace: Staunton, VA

Labor Day weekends provide a wonderful opportunity for visiting historic sites. For this year's edition of the holiday weekend my girlfriend Michele and I visited historic Staunton, Virginia (pronounced Stanton). Unfortunately I had never actually been into the town of Staunton; although I had been to some sites near there such as the Frontier Culture Museum. If I had known what I was missing I would have visited much sooner.

During our time in Staunton we were able to take in a visit to the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Museum, which also includes the home where he was born on December 28, 1856.

The museum was quite well done. The staff was very personable and made us feel very welcome. In the museum's galleries there are a number of exhibits on different periods of Wilson's life. It was interesting to learn about his mother and father, his early life, and his personal accomplishments. For example, I was not aware that he was the only President (1913-1921) that earned a PhD. He also served as the president of Princeton, the governor of New Jersey, and was the 27th or 28th president (depending on how you count Grover Cleveland's two administrations). He studied at a number of different institutions, including Davidson College, Johns Hopkins University, the Princeton. The largest part of the exhibit naturally featured his two terms in office as president, which of course included the World War One years. Wilson's stance on race has been the subject of quite a bit of scholarship in the past decade or so, and while there was some mention of his attitudes on race in the museum, it was interpreted in text by stating that he was largely representative of white men of his era who thought that racial segregation was best for both blacks and whites. Wilson's upbringing in mainly Southern states probably influenced much of his thinking on race. Also a highlight of the museum is Wilson's 1919 Pace Arrow Presidential limousine. The auto has been lovingly restored to its original magnificence.

The best part of the visit was the guided tour of Wilson's birthplace house (pictured above). Our guide was great. He was a former teacher and he really knew his Wilson stuff. The birthplace home is located in the Gospel Hill section of Staunton. It was called Gospel Hill because of the religious meetings that were held at blacksmith Sampson Eagon's shop. The house was built in 1846 by the First Presbyterian Church of Staunton to house the minister (Wilson's father) and his family. The Greek Revival style home has 12 rooms and is furnished with both representative period furnishings and Wilson family furnishings. Our guide informed us that the church rented three or four slaves from local owners for the Wilson's use as domestic servants. Unfortunately, not much more is known about the servants. While the front (street side) of the house is impressive, the back is amazing. The three-level back porch overlooks the home's beautiful gardens and what is now Mary Baldwin College.

If you ever have the chance to visit Staunton please do so and take the time to stop in and look through the museum and take a tour of the birthplace house. Also take advantage of the great dining spots and historic atmosphere of the downtown area. You'll be glad you did.

Online Exhibit Review: Beauty, Virtue & Vice

As one can see from the majority of the posts I write, I am fascinated by 19th century American society and culture. From 1800, when a young nation was just coming into being, to 1900, when a plethora of inventions and discoveries were starting to emerge, so much was changing and happening. During those years, like many other things, fashion changed too, but the ideal beautiful woman largely remained much the same.

The American Antiquarian Society is currently showing an online exhibit titled, Beauty, Virtue & Vice: Images of Women in Nineteenth-Century American Prints. In this exhibit twelve different topics are covered and a number of examples are provided to give visual testimony to their interpretation.

Some to the topics that one might expect to see are of course explored, such as, the "Standard of Beauty," "Ideal Beauty," "Women as Objects of Beauty and Desire." But, also examined are topics such as "Variations on the Beauty Standard," which explains that even women from different ethic groups (Native Americans, African Americans, Islanders) were sometimes portrayed in a beautiful light, even though the population was largely racist. On the "Threats to True Womanhood: American Slavery" page, the amalgamation pictures vividly illustrate white America's fear of race mixing, and a different take on how important it was to them to keep white beauty "protected."

Certainly the 19th century white woman was expected to remain in her sphere of influence and not to venture into the "men's world." Women in that era were felt to be the bearers of morals to their children, and thus were held to expectations that men were not subjected to. Women had to be pious, submissive, pure, and domestic. Women who did not conform to society's standards were often mocked, shunned, and sometimes ostracised from the community. But as the page, "Women in Public Life" shows, women that demanded equal rights, participated in what were considered unwholesome occupations and habits were also sometimes portrayed as beautiful.

One thing that hasn't changed since the 19th century is the notion that "sex sells." On the page "Images of Women in Advertising Strategies" beautiful women are shown to market just about everything. From sheet music, to playing cards, to hair tonic, to soap, beautiful women adorned the packaging and advertisements of products in effort to get both men and women to buy them.

Probably the most common and beloved image of women (both in the 19th century and now) is that of mother and nurse. On the page"Idealizing True Womanhood: Images of Women at Home," beautiful women perform those age old duties of mothering and healing the ones she loves. The images on this page are highly romanticised and give the viewer the idea of what women were truly mean to be and do in the 19th century.

I encourage you to take a few minutes and view the images of women in the pictures shown. In addition take time to read the text that interprets the pictures; it is almost as interesting as the pictures. The following is a link to the exhibit:
http://www.americanantiquarian.org/Exhibitions/Beauty/introduction.htm

A Loss at the Wilderness, A Win at Port Republic

About seven or eight years ago a Civil War buddy and I took an extended Virginia and Maryland battlefield driving tour. One of the many spots we visited were to the battlefields of Cross Keys and Port Republic, near Harrisonburg, Virginia. I was taken at how rural the landscape had remained over the years and I remember thinking that I hoped it would stay that way.

Thanks the good work of the Civil War Preservation Trust, the Shenandoah Battlefields Foundation, and a number of dedicated individuals, almost 200 acres have just been added to those already preserved at this battlefield. This is great news coming on the heels of the Wilderness Walmart setback last week. Here is the CWPT's release:

"I now have the privilege to let you know that CWPT has successfully raised our portion of the matching grant to help save 178 absolutely key acres at Port Republic, Virginia!

Partnering with the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation (SVBF), we are helping to buy the development rights and preserve forever 178 acres at Stonewall Jackson's final battle of the 1862 Valley Campaign.

Of the total $420,000 cost, the SVBF is putting in $140,000 of the price, the Commonwealth of Virginia is putting in $140,000, and we have applied for an additional federal grant of $98,000...meaning CWPT's final $42,000 has sealed the deal. This is a $10-to-$1 match of your donation dollar.

Good economy...bad economy...ANY economy...this was a great opportunity to save significant land at a vitally important battlefield. I hope you agree.

I also hope that you will take a look at the other on-going preservation fights we are engaged in, and will help to the extent you can, so we can achieve even more victories! Thank you for your tremendous dedication, incredible support and wonderful generosity."

Congratulations CWPT and Shenandoah Battlefields Foundation. Great job and keep up the good work!