Category Archives: Reconstruction

free to vote?

Posted on May 25, 2015 by SUMPTER

150 years ago today President Johnson reportedly opined that the question of whether blacks should be allowed to vote in the South should be decided by loyal whites in the South. From The New-York Times May 26, 1865: The President … Continue reading →

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“A bark canoe in a tempest on mid-ocean”

Posted on May 23, 2015 by SUMPTER

150 years ago this week the Utica Morning Herald & Daily Gazette (at the Library of Congress) devoted its front page to a reprint of an article that assessed Abraham Lincoln’s historical significance. The president did not seem up to … Continue reading →

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May Day Memorial Day

Posted on May 20, 2015 by SUMPTER

It’s been over four years now since JASPER, The New-York Times’ correspondent wrote from Charleston in the seceded South Carolina. After the United States’ surrender of Fort Sumter in April 1861 JASPER was made to leave town. Now that Charleston … Continue reading →

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just another rebel?

Posted on May 13, 2015 by SUMPTER

If it turned out that Jefferson Davis was not implicated in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, why should he be punished any more severely than all the other rebels who fought the United States for over four long years? From … Continue reading →

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lashless society

Posted on May 12, 2015 by SUMPTER

150 years ago today: “President Andrew Johnson appoints General Oliver O. Howard to head the Freedman’s Bureau.” A May 12th editorial argued that, just as the conduct of black soldiers upset preconceived Southern notions of African-American competence, free black labor … Continue reading →

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Richmond rubble

Posted on May 11, 2015 by SUMPTER

According to the Library of Congress photographer Andrew J. Russell spent some time at the corner of Carey and Governor streets 150 years ago this month.

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mutual respect society

Posted on May 9, 2015 by SUMPTER

An editorial wasn’t too happy that William T. Sherman kept reporters away from General Johnston’s April 26, 1865 surrender; apparently General Sherman thought the Confederate officers would be embarrassed giving up in front of the gawking Yankee press. America would … Continue reading →

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brass wall

Posted on May 7, 2015 by SUMPTER

After waxing poetical about the horrors of May 1864, an editorial from 150 years ago seemed to be thankful for peace and quite certain that a positive result of the war was that foreign nations would never dare invade the … Continue reading →

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the right executive’s in the mansion

Posted on May 5, 2015 by SUMPTER

The Democrat Reveille found some kind words to write about Abraham Lincoln after his death. It seems that Southerners and Northern Democrats appreciated President Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address and the lenient terms of surrender offered Southern armies. Here a presumably … Continue reading →

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here comes the Chief Justice

Posted on May 1, 2015 by SUMPTER

From The New-York Times May 2, 1865: AN IMPORTANT MISSION.; Chief Justice Chare Reorganizing the Southern Courts-The Freedom of Commerce. Special Dispatch to the New-York Times. WASHINGTON, Monday, May 1. Chief Justice CHASE was one of a small party who … Continue reading →

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