Browse Items (916 total)

In May of 1861, delegates from North Carolina voted to secede from the United States of America and join the Confederacy. But, a closer examination of antebellum North Carolina reveals a more complex story. For the decade leading up to the Civil War,…

"Cooke's new map of the state of North Carolina: constructed from actual surveys, private contributions & authentic public documents procured for the purpose under a special resolution of the General Assembly of the state. William D. Cooke, A.M.,…

Many whites, particularly in the Upper South, did not support secession. Here in Alamance County, in fact, most voters did not think that Abraham Lincoln’s election in 1860 was sufficient cause to secede from the Union. While statesmen from…

The Sons of Confederate Veterans--in their published literature, in the pages of this newspaper, and at the fictional "Battle of Zachary Hill" held in Snow Camp three weeks ago--have argued that the Civil War was not primarily about slavery. They…

The Civil War has been so plagued by misinterpretation that it has made the period an arduous time to study for historians. The first and most obvious way is how the causes of the Civil War have changed depending on the interpreter. For example,…

In the East, Confederates enjoyed springtime victories in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, but federal movements elsewhere in the Old Dominion gave cause for alarm. The Union General George McClellan's elaborately planned Peninsula Campaign involved…

I have taken many classes in which the Civil War has either been briefly discussed or central to a class. Inevitably, when discussing the Civil War, the issues of the northern and southern pride make their respective appearances. One of the central…

North Carolina enlisted approximately one-sixth of the men serving in the Confederate military. Nearly every adult white man served in some capacity. Nearly 110,000 volunteers and conscripts joined the military. (Only 115,000 white men were eligible…

Behold! the furious storm is rolling, Which border fiends, confederates, raise, The dogs of war, let loose, are howing, And lo! our infant cities blaze, And shall we calmly view the ruin, While lawless force with giant stride,Spreads desolation far…

For many years the Democratic Party competed for southern support with the Whig Party. By the 1856 presidential election, however, the Democrats claimed the majority of southern voters with a platform and candidate who emphasized the right of…