freedmen — Bunk History

Group of freedmen and women posing for a picture.

How Could ‘Freedmen’ Be a Race-Neutral Term?

An opinion from Justice Clarence Thomas exposed the limits of originalism.

by Adam Serwer via The Atlantic on July 7, 2023

The Freedmen’s Bureau drawn by A.R. Waud, 1868.

Social Welfare and the Politics of Race in the Post-Civil War South

The politicized rhetoric linking race and welfare has a long, ingrained history.

by Ryan W. Keating via Black Perspectives on May 24, 2023

Painting of ships in Boston Harbor.

Pressured to Leave

Black refugees’ journey from Virginia to Boston after the Civil War.

by Jacqueline Jones via Lapham’s Quarterly on January 11, 2023

A group of the newly emancipated working with the US army, 1862.

The Promise of Freedom

A new history of the Civil War and Reconstruction examines the ways in which Black Americans formed networks of self-reliance in their pursuit of emancipation.

by Elias Rodriques via The Nation on October 3, 2022

Map of Freedmans Village

The Long Afterlife of Freedman’s Village

Freedman's Village, created in Arlington, VA at the end of the Civil War, became a thriving community of Black residents as part of Reconstruction.

by Lindsey Bestebreurtje, Livia Gershon via JSTOR Daily on February 23, 2022

John Marshall Harlan and Robert James Harlan

The Black Hero Behind One of the Greatest Supreme Court Justices

John Marshall Harlan's relationship with an enslaved man who grew up in his home showed how respect could transcend barriers and point a path to freedom.

by Peter S. Canellos via Politico Magazine on June 6, 2021

Illustration of black calvary officers with a Native American, circa 1874

Is This Land Made for You and Me?

How African Americans came to Indian Territory after the Civil War.

by Alaina E. Roberts via Lapham’s Quarterly on May 26, 2021

Corey Lea, a beef and pork rancher in Murfreesboro, Tenn., who also advocates for Black farmers.

Black Farmers Have Always Faced Injustice. Will the American Rescue Plan Help?

This plight dates back to the era of slavery.

by David W. Dangerfield via Made By History on April 1, 2021

Map of Oberlin Village in Raleigh, NC.

Vanishing Neighborhoods

The fate of Raleigh's 11 missing freedman's villages.

by Heather Leah via WRAL on January 21, 2021

The Electoral Politics of "Migrant Caravans"

To alleviate voters' fears during the Civil War, Northern governors refused to open their states to formerly enslaved refugees.

by Amy Murrell Taylor via Muster on December 18, 2018

"What is Sport to You is Death to Us."

In 1867, African-Americans in Virginia stood up for their new political rights in the face of threats from their white neighbors.

by Ed Ayers on October 31, 2017

A line of prison laborers by a railroad.

“One Continuous Graveyard”: Emancipation and the Birth of the Professional Police Force

After emancipation, prison labor replaced slavery as a way for white Southerners to enforce a racial hierarchy.

by Keri Leigh Merritt via Black Perspectives on July 11, 2016

Black family outside their homestead, Nicodemus, Graham County, Kansas.

Exodusters

Migration further west began almost immediately after Reconstruction ended, as Black Americans initiated the "Great Exodus" outside the South toward Kansas.

by Todd Arrington via National Park Service on April 10, 2015

“In the White Interest”

Many founders expressed their hope that slavery would be abolished, while simultaneously exerting themselves to defend it.

by Timothy Messer-Kruse via HNN on September 18, 2024

40 Acres and a Lie

We compiled Reconstruction-era documents to identify 1,250 formerly enslaved Black Americans given land—only to have it returned to their enslavers.

by Alexia Fernández Campbell, April Simpson, Pratheek Rebala via Mother Jones on June 13, 2024

Portrait of Creek men.

A Federal Court Has Ruled Blood Cannot Determine Tribal Citizenship. Here’s Why That Matters.

The struggle over blood and belonging in American Indian communities.

by Alaina E. Roberts via Made By History on March 9, 2024

Robert Smalls.

What a Teacher's Letters Reveal About Robert Smalls, Who Stole a Confederate Ship to Secure Freedom

Harriet M. Buss' missives home detail the future congressman's candid views on race and the complicity of Confederate women.

by Jonathan W. White via Smithsonian on February 13, 2024

People on Mason's Island

Island in the Potomac

Steps from Georgetown, a memorial to Teddy Roosevelt stands amid ghosts of previous inhabitants: the Nacotchtank, colonist enslavers, and the emancipated.

by Amelia Roth-Dishy via JSTOR Daily on February 7, 2024

Black and white photograph of an abandoned house with bare trees surrounding it

This Peaceful Nature Sanctuary in Washington, D.C. Sits on the Ruins of a Plantation

Before Theodore Roosevelt Island was transformed, a prominent Virginia family relied on enslaved laborers to build and tend to its summer home.

by Sue Eisenfeld via Smithsonian on February 7, 2024

Ambrotype of African American Woman with Flag—believed to be a washerwoman for Union troops quartered outside Richmond, Virginia

Home Front: Black Women Unionists in the Confederacy

The resistance and unionism of enslaved and freed Black women in the midst of the Confederacy is an epic story of sacrifice for nation and citizenship.

by Thavolia Glymph, Matthew Wills via JSTOR Daily on February 4, 2024

Collage of Black woman and marriage certificate.

Why Is America Afraid of Black History?

No one should fear a history that asks a country to live up to its highest ideals.

by Lonnie G. Bunch III via The Atlantic on November 13, 2023

School house with Black children playing around it.

How Reconstruction Created American Public Education

Freedpeople and their advocates persuaded the nation to embrace schooling for all.

by Adam Harris via The Atlantic on November 13, 2023

Samuel Ringgold Ward

The Many Lives of Samuel Ringgold Ward

A new biography examines the life of the abolitionist, newspaper editor, activist, and globetrotter.

by Kellie Carter Jackson via The Nation on October 18, 2023

Civilian gravestone in Arlington National Cemetery

From ‘Contraband’ to ‘Citizen’: Visiting Arlington’s Section 27

More than 3,800 formerly enslaved people are buried in the military cemetery.

by John Kelly via Washington Post on October 7, 2023

Joshua Houston leads a Juneteenth Parade in Huntsville, Texas, circa 1900.

Juneteenth, Jim Crow

How the fight of one Black Texas family to make freedom real offers lessons for Texas lawmakers trying to erase history from the classroom.

by Jeffrey L. Littlejohn, Zachary Montz via The Conversation on June 16, 2023

Silhouette of a Black man's head, against a background of Lord Dunmore's proclamation.

Enslaved by George Washington, This Man Escaped to Freedom—and Joined the British Army

Harry Washington fought for his enslaver's enemy during the American Revolution. Later, he migrated to Nova Scotia and Sierra Leone.

by Francine Uenuma via Smithsonian on June 14, 2023

Portrait of William Costin.

Did Martha Washington Have a Black Grandson?

Likely the child of Martha's son from her first marriage, William Costin used his position to advocate for D.C.'s free Black community.

by Cassandra A. Good via Smithsonian on June 5, 2023

Methodist Episcopal Church leaders: five white men and one Black man.

Black Methodists, White Church

How freedmen navigated an unofficially segregated Methodist Episcopal Church.

by Paul William Harris via OUPblog on May 22, 2023

Collage of Juneteenth-related images.

The Story We’ve Been Told About Juneteenth Is Wrong

The real history of Juneteenth is much messier—and more inspiring.

by Peniel E. Joseph via Texas Monthly on May 18, 2023

1825 painting of a white man kissing a Black woman, and a white man whipping a Black man.

Jefferson’s Secret Plan to Whiten Virginia

Jefferson’s system depended on shoring up the bulwarks of race and basing the law on a theory of government that withdrew protection from unfavored groups.

by Timothy Messer-Kruse via Commonplace on April 19, 2023

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