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Hiram Revels, Mississippi's First African American Senator — Civil Rights Heroes
Hiram Rhodes Revels was an African American trailblazer. Born as a Freeman in North Carolina in 1827, Revels fought for the Union in the Civil War and later served as a United States Senator from Mississippi. Revels, a member of the Republican Party, entered the Senate on February 25, 1870, becoming America’s first African American Senator.
Gloucester County Conspiracy — 10 Things Every American Should Know
The Servants’ Plot was a 1663 rebellion that is believed to be the first uprising of American workers against their employers. In this case, the workers were Indentured Servants and slaves working in Gloucester County, Virginia, who planned to use violence to force Governor William Berkeley to free them from their contracts. The Plot was exposed, the conspirators were arrested, and at least four of them were executed.
The New South, Henry Grady, and Black Codes
Henry Grady was a journalist and speaker from Georgia who encouraged the industrialization of the South after the Civil War and Reconstruction. Grady is most well-known for coining the term “The New South” and was known as the “Spokesman of the New South.” Despite his passion for modernizing the region, Grady also believed the “...white race must dominate forever in the South…” because it was a “...superior race…”
Republicans, the Union, and the Threat of Secession - America's Forgotten History
By the summer of 1860, a split was taking place in the Democratic Party. Southern Democrats, known as “Fire Eaters,” started to talk seriously about seceding from the Union, which was opposed by Northern Democrats. Because of this, the Northern Democrats nominated Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois for President, while the Southern Democrats nominated John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky.
Ohio Valley Museum Celebrates Abolitionists Who Helped Escaped Slaves — Hidden History
The Underground Railroad Museum was founded in 1993 by Dr. John Mattox and his wife, Rosalind. The museum commemorates the Underground Railroad that operated in East Central Ohio before the Civil War and contains a collection of 8,000 historical items. In 2023, the museum was added to Ohio’s Underground Railroad Historic Trail.
Ohio's Underground Railroad Triangle — Hidden History
In 1850, tensions were high in the United States over the issue of the extension of slavery in the new western territories acquired from Mexico after the Mexican-American War. “Free Soil” Abolitionists wanted to see slavery limited to the South, while pro-slavery “Fire-Eaters” argued slavery was essential to a well-ordered society.
The Pequot War — 17 Things Every American Should Know
The Pequot War (1634–1638) was the first war in the New England area between English colonists and Native American Indians. The English and their Indian allies won, nearly exterminated the Pequot, and took control of the Connecticut River Valley.
Southern State Threatens Secession Over Tariff Plans
The Nullification Crisis (1832–33) led to the Civil War by increasing tension between the North and South over tariffs. It created a debate over a state’s ability to declare Federal laws unconstitutional and set precedents for a President to use force against a state in the Union, and for a state to threaten secession.
President Sends U.S. Troops To Break Up Railroad Strike
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 was triggered by wage cuts amid the Panic of 1873, spreading from Baltimore, Maryland, and Martinsburg, West Virginia, across the nation to Pittsburgh, Chicago, St. Louis, and San Francisco.
This Confederate General Supported Civil Rights for African Americans, a Forgotten Piece of History
Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard — better known as P.G.T. — commanded the Southern troops who fired the first shots at Fort Sumter, the first battle of the Civil War. While it is well-established that one of the main causes of the war was the sectional divide between North and South over slavery, it is not well-known that after the war Beauregard became an outspoken supporter of civil rights.
Cherokee Gold, Andrew Jackson, and the Dark Time of Indian Removal
One of the darkest times in American History took place from 1838 to 1839 when the United States Government relocated nearly all Native American Indians living in the American Southeast from their ancestral lands to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). The ordeal ended with the horrific “Trail of Tears” — the forced removal of the Cherokee Nation that resulted in thousands of deaths.
Pro-Slavery Forces Burn the Free State Hotel — the Sack of Lawrence
In 1856, the Kansas Territory was caught in a violent struggle between anti-slavery Free Staters and pro-slavery Border Ruffians. In May, U.S. Marshal I.B. Donaldson led a small army against the Free State stronghold at Lawrence, Kansas, intending to arrest Free Staters accused of treason. After carrying out the arrests, Douglas County Sheriff Samuel J. Jones, who was pro-slavery, took command of the army and raided the town, destroying buildings and terrorizing the inhabitants. The “Sack of Lawrence” left the town in shambles and heightened tensions in the war along the Kansas-Missouri border, and led John Brown to seek retribution.
West Virginia Miners Fight to Unionize — the Largest Uprising in America Since the Civil War
The West Virginia Mine Wars were fought between pro-union workers and anti-union forces between 1912 and 1922. Pro-union workers sought better pay and working conditions, while anti-union forces looked to control workers and coal production in southwestern West Virginia. The war culminated with the Battle of Blair Mountain, the largest armed uprising in the United States since the Civil War.
Let Us Cross the River — the Last Days of Stonewall Jackson, Confederate Legend
During the Battle of Chancellorsville (April 30–May 6, 1863), Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson led a legendary attack against the right flank of the Union Army and crushed the Union 11th Corps. This forced the Federals to fall back toward Chancellorsville and contributed to the Confederate victory. However, after the flank attack, Jackson went to scout the Union lines and was mistakenly fired on by Confederate pickets. Jackson’s wounds were severe, and doctors amputated his left arm. Within a few days, he developed pneumonia and died on May 10. Before he took his last breath, Jackson said, “Let us cross the river, and rest under the shade of the trees.”
The Worst Confederate General Invades Kentucky — and Fails in Spectacular Fashion
In 1862, Confederate General Braxton Bragg invaded Kentucky, hoping to join forces with General Kirby Smith to defeat General Don Carlos Buell and the Army of the Ohio. Bragg intended to deliver Kentucky to the Confederacy but failed miserably and the state remained part of the Union for the rest of the war. This helped Bragg earn the reputation of being the Worst Confederate General of the Civil War.
War on the Wakarusa River — Civil War on the Kansas-Missouri Border
The Wakarusa War took place from November 21 to December 8, 1855, near Lawrence, Kansas. It was triggered by the murder of a Free State Abolitionist and escalated when pro-slavery militia known as Border Ruffians threatened to attack Lawrence, the Free State capital. Another Abolitionist, Thomas Barber, was killed before order was restored. However, the incident kicked off a decade of violence that engulfed the border between Kansas and Missouri in a devastating civil war.
Massacre at Mountain Meadows, the True Story of Utah's Darkest Day
On September 11, 1857, members of the Mormon militia and Paiute Indians murdered roughly 120 unarmed men, women, and children in southwestern Utah during the Utah War. This incident is known as the Mountain Meadows Massacre.
Ohio State Star, the Grandson of Slaves, Embarrasses Germans at the Olympics
Jesse Owens moved to Cleveland, Ohio with his family when he was just 9 years old and is most famous for being the first person to win four gold medals in track and field during a single Olympics. Owens was nicknamed the “Buckeye Bullet” for his achievements at The Ohio State University and accomplished the feat at the 1936 Olympics, in Berlin, Germany — in front of Germany’s notorious leader, Adolf Hitler.
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