Today the informal emancipation of southern slaves begins, in the form of the United States’ Act to Confiscate Property used for Insurrectionary Purposes. While not mentioning slavery specifically, the Act approved by the President and passed by the Congress gives Union armies the power to confiscate the property of southerners – including slaves, the most…
Kentucky, an officially neutral state to this point, moves toward the Union as newly-elected legislators take office today. The elected officials strong Union sympathies match the sentiments of a majority of Kentuckians. Not all the state’s residents, however, are pleased with the new legislature. Mary Beckley Bristow, a member of the Sardis Baptist Church in…
The Civil War disrupts educational institutions in Southern Baptist life. As the new school year approaches, Baptist colleges face severe shortages of students, many of whom are now enrolled in the Confederate Army. Yet the educational crisis is present beyond Baptist life. Throughout the South, public and private schools have witnessed an exodus of teachers…