Browse Items (26 total)

Many women played a prominent strategic role in the Civil War, and some lost their lives for their cause. Rose O’Neal Greenhow served as a spy and ambassador for the Confederacy. Greenhow was arrested in 1862 for espionage and exiled from…

Many southerners called the Civil War "a rich man’s war and a poor man’s fight." The Confederacy instituted a military draft in 1862, but included many exemptions that allowed the wealthy to avoid service. By 1864, however, the…

Many people believe that Republicans wanted to abolish slavery because they viewed it as an immoral and evil institution. Some abolitionists used their religious beliefs to shape political debates over the issue of slavery. In an article, the…

Not many people know that Caswell County, North Carolina, had a fairly large population in the nineteenth century. Tax and census records, however, show that the county was large enough to be split into districts to account for all residents. Thomas…

During the Civil War both the North and South often used a system of parole to deal with surrendered opponents, rather than taking prisoners. Captured soldiers were released on parole on their promise not to take up arms again, or not to take up arms…

When researching North Carolinian reactions to major judicial and political oppression in the Reconstruction era (1865-1877), many primary sources indicate that North Carolina was liberal in relation to other southern states. Yet, in an era of such…

Levi Coffin, self-proclaimed “President of the Underground Railroad,” was born in Guilford County, North Carolina (near Greensboro). Coffin, a Quaker and abolitionist, grew weary of living in a slave state surrounded by the brutality of…

The story of the Ku Klux Klan during Reconstruction is well known. Most southern states felt repercussions from Klan influence and violence. Lisa Cardyn explores Klan violence on a level that is often overlooked: the sexual nature of Klan violence.…

Many of North Carolina’s enslaved communities participated in a Christmas season celebration called Jonkonnu (Johnkannaus, John Coonah, John Canoe). Outside of North Carolina, Jonkonnu was primarily seen in the Caribbean. Though Jonkonnu…

“By the Constitution of this State I was empowered to be commander-in-chief to call out the militia, to execute the law, suppress riots and insurrections, and to repel invasion.” (Holden 1911, 120) This was Holden’s statement in…