Southern slave holders long ago staked out the public position that their African slaves are happy and fulfilled in their lives of bondage. Africans’ inherent intelligence, so the reasoning goes, is suitable–at its best– for a life of enslavement consisting of social and racial isolation, hard work, meager rations, primitive housing, no familial bonds, and…
Union forces continue their march to Richmond. Norfolk is now occupied by Union troops, while the U.S. Navy searches for the Confederates’ flag ship ironclad, CSS Virginia. Boxed in and unable to make a run for freedom because of a low tide and unsuitable wind, the order is given to scuttle the Virginia. Early this…
The city of Troy, New York, prior to the Civil War grew to become one of the 20th largest cities in America. Growth, however, came with consequences. Like many other cities of the early and mid-nineteenth century, the city of largely wooden buildings has by now experienced a series of increasingly destructive fires. Today, however,…