In Virginia, the time for a decision arrives. In the morning, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln meets with Virginia Unionist John Baldwin and discusses the fate of the state. The content of the conversation between the two men is disputed. Some argue that Lincoln offered to evacuate Fort Sumter if Virginia agreed to stay in the…
While Southern Baptist leaders, most of whom are slaveholders, are generally strong supporters of slavery and the Confederacy, common Baptists are more diverse. The differences among common Baptists are to a significant degree attributed to socio-economic factors; non-slaveholding whites tend to be poorer and less enthusiastic advocates of slavery, and Baptists are no exception. Waitman…
Today a career United States military officer accepts U.S. Secretary of War Simon Cameron’s offer of a commission as colonel of the First Cavalry. The officer’s name is Robert E. Lee. U.S. President Abraham Lincoln had submitted the commission to the Senate on March 21, and the offer was formalized four days later. Even as…