The conclusion of the war has been marked by a series of events, each considered by some persons to be the end. Today, however, the war comes to a final conclusion when the last Confederate army, that of General Edmund Kirby Smith in Texas, formally surrenders. There will be a few more surrenders of small…
With the war over, former slaveowners who at one time were the elites of the South face a future devoid of privilege, power and riches. The thought of starting over without slave labor is daunting. And in the minds of many, living in a United States where blacks are free and equal to whites is…
Some five weeks after the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, the ripples of the South’s defeat continue to spread. Today Jacob Elliot, a lawyer and Texas Baptist, hears rumors of the surrender of the Trans-Mississippi Department of the Confederate Army: “May 19: — Mr. S. Williams reports that the…