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…
More than a month has passed since the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia. Some Texas troops, although having learned of Lee’s surrender, have thus far refused to lay down their arms. Today in the Battle of Palmito Ranch they surprise a contingent of Union forces en route…