The war grinds on in the midst of winter, the cold largely confining the conflict to winter army camps, Union-held towns and cities, freedmen camps, war prisons,army hospitals, statehouses and courthouses, newspapers, street corner conversations, sermons, and sparse kitchen tables. Many white Baptists of the South keep abreast as best as they can of the…
In Washington, D.C. today U. S. Senator John B. Henderson of Missouri submits a joint resolution for a constitutional amendment abolishing slavery. Although the legislation does not pass this year, Henderson’s resolution signifies the momentum of the movement toward the enactment of the Thirteenth Amendment and the abolishing of slavery on February 1, 1865. Meanwhile,…
Prior to the war, “Lee Town” in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa became a refuge for escaped slaves fleeing from Missouri, as well as slaves freed by Missouri slave owners who came to oppose the peculiar institution. The Underground Railroad was nearby. Some freedman passed through Lee Town; others, finding protection, stayed. Soon after the Civil War…