In Raleigh this day the first Convention of the Colored People of North Carolina convenes, a gathering “novel to the white people.” Prior to the end of the war and the defeat of the Confederacy, such an assembly was not merely unlawful, but inconceivable. Even now, many delegates from distant towns and cities traveled to…
Under Union occupation during the Civil War, Alexandria, Virginia became a safe haven for runaway slaves (also known as contraband). Near an old slave pen area on Duke Street the Shiloh Baptist Church, a congregation of former slaves, began on March 29, 1863. The first worship service was held in a U.S. government mess hall.…
Treated as non-humans by Southern state laws in the decades prior to and during the war, slaves were not allowed to marry. Many slave couples compensated by engaging in simple rituals signifying informal marriages. White Baptist leaders of the South remained defiantly supportive of black slavery throughout the war, although some voiced support of laws…