Category Archives: Postbellum Society

concord in Lexington

Posted on October 2, 2015 by SUMPTER

On October 2, 1865 Robert E. Lee was inaugurated as president of Washington College in Lexington, Virginia – and signed an amnesty oath pledging allegiance to the United States and all its laws, including those regarding the emancipation of slaves. … Continue reading →

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“We must accept our own ideas”

Posted on September 26, 2015 by SUMPTER

No man is fit to be an American statesman who is afraid of American ideas. Liberty is the boon of every man, and it carries with it civil rights and citizenship…. We must accept our own ideas. I believe in … Continue reading →

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“Is this Democratic?”

Posted on September 25, 2015 by SUMPTER

150 years ago today Daniel Sickles wrote a letter to Hugh Judson Kilpatrick criticizing the New Jersey Democrat 1865 platform (see last section of the linked post). Moreover, New Jersey Democrats were even lagging behind South Carolina: The party in … Continue reading →

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nullified?

Posted on September 15, 2015 by SUMPTER

150 years ago today the South Carolina state constitutional convention repealed the December 20, 1860 Ordinance of Secession. From The New-York Times September 19, 1865: THE SOUTH CAROLINA CONVENTION.; Repeal of the Ordinance of Secession. BOSTON, Monday, Sept. 18. The … Continue reading →

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Whose Maryland?

Posted on September 12, 2015 by SUMPTER

150 years ago this week Gotham’s Times thought it was pretty funny that a presumed states-rights Democrat would appeal to the federal Constitution to negate Maryland’s election law. From The New-York Times September 8, 1865: The Democracy and State Rights. … Continue reading →

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free to “help yourselves”

Posted on September 2, 2015 by SUMPTER

And to help your helpers Massachusetts Governor John A. Andrew served as president of the New England Freedmen’s Aid Society from its founding in 1862. Check out the Library of Congress for information about the letter, the statue, two boys, … Continue reading →

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President Lee

Posted on September 1, 2015 by SUMPTER

From The New-York Times September 7, 1865: Gen. Lee Accepts the Presidency of Washington College. From the Lexington Gazette Extra. The gratifying duty of announcing to the country the acceptance by Gen. ROBERT E. LEE of the Presidency of Washington … Continue reading →

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It’s up to Uncle Sam

Posted on August 31, 2015 by SUMPTER

For, disguise it as we may, the United States government really holds and exercises the power which gives vitality to the preliminaries of reconstruction, and it is therefore responsible for all evils in the future which shall spring from its … Continue reading →

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“city of the dead.”

Posted on August 24, 2015 by SUMPTER

From The New-York Times August 25, 1865: WASHINGTON NEWS.; Return of the Andersonville Burial Party. Their Report Upon the Condition of that Earthly Hell. The Graves of Thirteen Thousand Martyrs Identified. Monuments Erected and the Cemetery Put in Order. The … Continue reading →

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A more northern North Carolina

Posted on August 19, 2015 by SUMPTER

From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in August 1865: A large number of Union soldiers in North Carolina have made up their minds to stay in that vicinity and are marrying the widows and girls and settling on the … Continue reading →

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