Category Archives: Reconstruction

petition for legal protection

On February 22, 1865 “Tennessee voters approve a new state constitution that abolishes slavery” According to this report, on the same day that President Lincoln was shot, black men in Tennessee petitioned the state senate for legal rights. Freedom wouldn’t … Continue reading

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let’s be guided by his spirit

at least the spirit of President Lincoln’s second inaugural I’m pretty sure The Seneca Falls Reveille (in Seneca County, New York) was a strongly pro-Democrat newspaper during the Civil War. 150 years ago today it published an editorial on the … Continue reading

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not indispensable

Our great leader is dead, but our “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” From The New-York Times April 17, 1865: The Effect of President Lincoln’s Death on National Affairs. The … Continue reading

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“the worst blow the confederacy has yet had”

From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in 1865: WASHINGTON, April 15 – 11 A.M. At 20 minutes past 7 o’clock the President breathed his last, closing his eyes as if falling asleep, and his countenance assuming an expression of … Continue reading

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vengeance

It was supposed to be a very good Good Friday, at least for the Union. In a celebratory ceremony 150 years ago today Robert Anderson raised the old Union flag from April 1861 over Fort Sumter, which was once again … Continue reading

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grant them “unconditional forgiveness”

A publication in the Finger Lakes area of New York State pleaded for forgiveness and reconciliation for the returning rebels. From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in April 1865: The Amnesty. The terms extended to the Confederate officers and … Continue reading

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no rest for the winner

After the April 9th surrender of General Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, President Lincoln sure wasn’t looking for any triumphal celebrations or even resting on his laurels. He told a crowd on April 10th he would deliver a speech the … Continue reading

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puppet show?

From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in 1865 (in same column as the April 9, 1865 written communication between Generals Lee and Grant regarding surrender): JAMES REDPATH, the abolition leader, now the Charleston correspondent of the New York Tribune, … Continue reading

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“a dream of maniacs”

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch April 1, 1865: Saturday Morning…april 1, 1865. The occasional execution of a Confederate officer (alleged to be a spy) in the Northern cities affords the masses at home an opportunity of seeing the death-struggles of … Continue reading

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“There has been great privation here — we need not deny it”

A fellow Richmond editor has died. The Dispatch has evidence from occupied Charleston to contradict President Lincoln’s second inaugural address: victorious Yankees would really act with malice toward all white Southerners. The paper also found evidence from General Sheridan’s recent … Continue reading

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