‘Free State of Jones’: Mississippi County Rebelled Against the Confederacy

Free State of Jones is a 2016 American historical war film inspired by the life of Newton Knight and his armed revolt against the Confederacy in Jones County, Mississippi, throughout the American Civil War. (more from Wikipedia). It's also an astonishing book by Sally Jenkins and John Sauffer. "From 1863 to 1866, residents of Jones County, MS engaged in an insurrection against the Confederacy that …

April 12, 1861: Civil War Officially Started, With Firing on Fort Sumter in Charleston, SC

"At 4:30 a.m. on April 12, 1861, Confederate forces fired on Fort Sumter, a federal fort built on an artificial island in Charleston Harbor. Attacking the fort seemed a logical outcome of events that had been in play for at least four months." -- Heather Cox Richardson reminds us of the momentous events, well worth reading. …

Trump and Andrew Johnson Compared Themselves to Jesus

Donald Trump compares himself to historic martyrs Jesus Christ, Abraham Lincoln and Nelson Mandela. He "is not the first president to compare himself to Jesus Christ. In 1866, President Andrew Johnson famously did, too...." Johnson, who succeeded Abraham Lincoln after the 16th president was murdered in April, 1865, was an egotistical, enigmatic man unpopular with …

Descendants of Africans on Slave Ship Seek Reconciliation with Family of Alabama Enslaver

60 Minutes: "Descendants of the enslaved Africans brought to Alabama on the last known slave ship met with the family of the ship’s financier to discuss reconciliation." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4BWi5JuuRg Related: The Clotilda: A Centuries-Old Open Secret: A guide exploring the significance of the last known slave ship in the United States, The Clotilda. In 1860, partners …

Civil War Memory As A Teaching Tool, Blog, Substack, and Podcast

"We are in the midst of a national reckoning surrounding our collective past. Monuments are coming down and states are passing laws in an attempt to control how some of the darkest chapters in our nation’s history are taught," writes Kevin M. Levin on his Substack, Civil War Memory, which has more than 1,000 subscribers, a …

Jefferson Davis & Donald Trump: Parallel Legal Cases?

Donald Trump is not the first ex-president to undergo prosecution. "After the Civil War, Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederacy, was to be tried for treason. Does the debacle hold lessons for the trials awaiting Donald Trump?" asks Harvard historian Jill Lepore in a piece for The New Yorker. She argues that the failure …

Reconstruction: A Concise History

Nearly every American and every student of Reconstruction after the US Civil War finds something to regret about it, writes Allen C. Guelzo, formerly a professor of History at Gettysburg College, PA. In 2018 produced Reconstruction: A Concise History for Oxford University Press. Wikipedia article about Dr. Guelzo.

Why Study Reconstruction?

Facing History, Facing Ourselves: "The Reconstruction Era was a pivotal moment in American history. Civil rights were set in motion as Americans grappled to rebuild after the division and trauma of the Civil War. Facing History’s three-week unit explores essential questions about freedom and citizenship at the heart of this history. Find out more: https://www.facinghistory.org/reconst..." …

Abraham Lincoln’s Momentous Meeting with Gen. Grant in Petersburg, VA, April 3, 1865

Historic Petersburg Foundation: The Lincoln-Grant Meeting. "Momentous events in American history occurred in late March and early April 1865 in and around Petersburg, Virginia...details...Early on the morning of April 3, Grant invited President Abraham Lincoln to meet with him in Petersburg that day. Lincoln was on a visit to the front and that morning was …

What Happened to Confederates After the Civil War?

The Armchair Historian: An animated history of the post-civil war period. 16 minutes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S66Bs8ixvdQ Sources: Blair, William A. With Malice Toward Some: Treason and Loyalty in the Civil War Era. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2014. Franklin, John Hope. Reconstruction After the Civil War. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013. Herbert, Paul N. …