1
A conference sponsored by the American Historical Association and the National Museum of
African American History and Culture with funding from the National Endowment for the
Humanities and HISTORY™
The Future of the African American Past
May 19-21, 2016
Washington, DC
“Between Slavery and Freedom”: Rethinking the Slaves’ War
Thavolia Glymph, Duke University
Available online at https://futureafampast.si.edu/conference-papers
© Do not cite or circulate without the author’s permission
NMAAHC/AHAConference:TheFutureoftheAfricanAmericanPast
May19-21,2016
Washington,DC
“BetweenSlaveryandFreedom”:RethinkingtheSlaves’War
ThavoliaGlymph
DukeUniversity
…blackintellectualsasordinaryfolkalikebelievedthattheirhistoricalexperience
mattered,thatitmadethemwhotheywere.
ThomasHolt
OnaBaltimorestreetcornerinFebruary1861,twoblackwomenwere
overhearddiscussingthestateoftheUnion.“WaittillthefourthofMarch,”oneof
themreportedlyannounced,“andthenwon’tIslapmymissus’face!”March4,1861,
ofcoursewasnodatesnatchedoutofthinair.ItwasthedateLincolnwastobe
inauguratedandinthateventthe“twonegresses”sawtheopeningofnewpolitical
spaceinthewaragainstslavery.IncontrasttothewarPresidentLincolnprepared
tolead,toreunitethenationasaslavecountry,theyreadiedtobeamongblack
Marylanderswho“madenodetourthroughthemiddleground”andhadno“doubt,
fromthebeginningofhostilities,wherethecentralissuelay.”1Bythetimethe
slaveholders’rebellionhadbeenputdown,theslaves’warhadsufferedmassive
defeatstobesure,buttherewerealsovictories,largeandsmallvictoriesthat
cumulativelysignaledtheremappingofthepoliticallandscapeoftheUnitedStates.
In1864,whenCilindaJohnson’snameappearedonawartimefederalroll
withthedescription,“Citizen,Colored,”itregisteredasmallbutsignificantvictory.
1
TheFourteenthAmendmentwasstillfouryearsawaybutitstillmeantsomething
thatin1864,anagentofthefederalgovernmentlistedherasacitizen.Itsignaled
justhowfarthewartoputdowntheslaveholders’rebellionhadcome,theUnion
warhadbeentransformed,andthepartpeoplelikeCilindaJohnsonwhobythe
hundredsofthousandshadledtoUnionlinesandtherebyplacedthemselvesonthe
Union’swartimeagendaandforcedamergeroftheUnionwarandtheslaves’war.2
SlaveresistanceinsupportofemancipationandtheUnionredirectedthe
courseofthewarandtheprocessofemancipationandReconstruction.Lincoln
admittedasmuchinhisfamouslettertothecitizensofSpringfield,IllinoisOhiowho
opposedtheEmancipationProclamation.Theycouldfighton“exclusivelytosave
theUnion,”headmonishedthem.Buthealsoremindedthemthathehadissuedthe
proclamationtoaidthem“insavingtheUnion.”Lincolnwasreferringspecificallyto
theroleofblacksoldiers.Theirserviceandtheirfreedomwereinextricablylinked,
heemphasized,andhewouldnottakethatback.“Thepartywhocouldelecta
PresidentonaWar&SlaveryRestorationplatform,”hewrote,“would,ofnecessity,
losethecoloredforce;andthatforcebeinglost,wouldbeaspowerlesstosavethe
Unionastodoanyotherimpossiblething.”3
Intime,Lincoln’sadministrationincreasinglyunderstoodaswellthatthe
mothers,wives,sisters,anddaughtersofblacksoldiersandlaborerswouldhaveto
beofferedthesamedeal—freedom.Unionmilitarycommanderslearnedthatitwas
easiertorecruitblacksoldiersandlaborbattalionsiftheyofferedrefugetothe
men’swivesandchildren.“Whennegrowomenandchildrenareleftbehind,”
GeneralShermanwrotewhenrequesting200blacklaborersinNovember1862,
2
“theybecomeafruitfulsourceoftrouble.”Tosolvetheproblem,heaskedthatthe
familiesoftheblackmilitarylaborersbegiventransportationtoCairo.Thewives
andchildrenofblacksoldierscontinuedtofaceharrowingcircumstancesbutthe
acknowledgementrepresentedasignificantadmission.
Overthepastfourdecades,scholarshavedemolishedthelong-standing
historiographythatportrayedslaveryasabenevolentinstitutionandsidelinedthe
contributionsslavesmadetoUnionvictoryandthedestructionofslavery.4Noone
todaywouldwriteasRobertS.Cotterill,afoundingmemberoftheSouthern
HistoricalAssociation,didin1937whenheofferedthattheslave’s“workinghours
werelongbutnotstrenuous“and“fromthepsychologicalside,sincehehadnever
knownfreedom,helookeduponslaverynotasadegradationbutasaroutine.”That
thenotionthatslaverywas“amercy,”asJohnC.Calhounputit,continuestohaveits
adherentsisadifferentproblem..
Yet,despitethelargebodyofrevisionistscholarshipthathascounteredsuch
viewsandexploredinfineandevenprofaneandgrittydetailthenatureandprocess
ofthemakingoffreedom,thequestionofwhatformerslavesactuallygotoncethe
longbattleforfreedomwaswon—whatfreedommeant—hasreturnedasahotly
contestedquestion.Ithasledsomehistorianstoconcludethatthe
historiographicalturninthescholarship,beginninglargelyinthe1970s,that
emphasizedblackagencyandculturalresistancewenttoofar.5Notonly,they
suggest,didblackslaveculturedomoretosupporttheinstitutionofslaverythan
helpblackpeoplesurvivebutblackpeopleemergedfromtheCivilWarsodamaged
3
thattheycouldhardlystandonthegroundoffreedom(iftheylivedtoseeit).6I
thinkweneedtotakeastepback.
Certainly,theslowandoftentepidresponseofLincoln’sadministrationto
thehumanitariancrisissurroundingblackrefugeesandwartimeslaveresistance
generally,representedhugeobstaclesinslaves’bidforfreedomandcontributed,
wittinglyandunwittingly,totheviolenceandprotractednatureofemancipation.7
Yet,thefederalgovernment’sdecisiontoembraceemancipation,tepidlyornot,
markedamajorbreachinthenation’scommitmenttoslavery.Nolessimportantly,
apointoverlookedorsimplytakenforgranted,thevastmajorityofformerslaves
didlivetoseefreedom.And,thewarsblackpeoplewagedbeforeandduringthe
CivilWargroundedblackradicalpoliticsthatinformedthepostwarstruggles.8On
thispoint,ThomasHoltarguescompelling,“ifthemasterconfrontedtheslavefrom
thesafetyofamobilizedwhitepoliticalcommunity...theslavesstaredbackfrom
theslavequartersthatwerealsomobilized,howeverbrutalizedandravagedbythe
slavetradeandarbitraryrule.9
AfricanAmericanssufferedgreatlyanddiedinunprecedentednumbers
between1862and1865andduringReconstruction.Thatfact,however,isnotallof
thestory.Enslavedpeopleknewsomethingaboutresistanceandrevolutionandits
cost.Theyexpectedtohavetofightfortheirfreedom.Theyexpectedthatthe
brutalitythataccompaniedthemakingofslaverywouldaccompanyitsundoing.
Theyknewmanywouldsufferanddiebeforeanyofthemexperiencedfreedom,that
theirfamilies,despitetheirbestefforts,wouldagainbetornapart.Astheyfled
alonetoUnionLines,infamilyunits,orascommunitiestoUnionlinesorresisted
4
fromwithinConfederatelines,theyknewtheywerein“forhardertimes,”oneUnion
officerwrote.
The150thanniversaryoftheCivilWarhasnowpassedandscholarlyand
publicattentionhasturnedtoReconstruction.Thequestionofwhatfreedom
meant—orhowfreedpeoplenavigatedthein-betweenspaceofslaveryand
freedom—linksbothcommemorationsandremainsunfinishedbusiness.CivilWar
refugeecampsareoneplacewherewemighttakethetemperatureofthisquestion.
Thewartimehistoryofenslavedwomenasfugitivesandwartimerefugees,their
livesinrefugeecamps,andexperienceofre-enslavementandpunitivefederal
policiesarecriticaltounderstandingthein-betweenspacesofslaveryandfreedom
andpostwarresistanceandactivism.
CivilWarrefugeecampwerespacesoftrauma,containment,discipline,and
surveillance.Theyweresiteswherenotionsofracialpurityandpollutiongained
newtraction.Here,wemightextendbackwardStevenHahn’scriticalintervention
aboutthewaysinwhich“languagesof‘civilizationism’andofraceandracial
prospectresonatedwithoneanotherandthencontributedtothelogicand
choreographyofbothreservationsandsegregation.”10Importantantecedentsto
thetrans-MississippiWest“provingground”aretobefoundinCivilWarrefugee
camps.SomeofthemenwhowouldplayleadingrolesinthewaragainstNative
AmericansintheWestandtheirencampmentreceivedtheirbasictrainingduring
theCivilWaras“overseers”andmanagersofCivilWarrefugeecampswhereideas
aboutracialcontainment,contamination,andcolonizationcirculatedfreely.
Lincoln’slong-heldbeliefthatthebestsolutiontotheproblemoffreeblackpeople
5
inawhiterepublicwascolonizationwasechoedontheCivilWarbattlefield.Agents
offreedmen’saidsocietiesandUnioncommandersusedthelanguageof
colonizationinaddressingtheproblemofblackfreedom.11Manyrefugeecamps
wereindeedcalledcolonies.12
Blackwomeninrefugeecampsfoughtmightilyagainsttheseideasand
workedtoensurethatmorepeoplemadeittofreedomthandied.Thesewouldbe
tragiclossestobesureandtheyhadlong-termeconomic,political,social,and
psychologicalconsequences.TherewouldberefugeeslikeMargaretFergusonwho
arrivedatafreedmen’shospitalemaciatedwithagangrenedlegandfootandan
exposedandpartiallydestroyedtibiawhodiedafterhavingherlegamputated.
TherewouldbewomenlikeMisouriLewiswhocouldnotseebeyondthecampsand
chosetoabortthebabiestheycarried.Thesewereharddecisionsthatmakesense
onlyinthecontextofthehardroadtofreedom.Theyarenotthekindofdecisions
revisionisthistoricalscholarshiptypicallycelebrates.Somehistoriansaskustosee
Ferguson’slostlegassymbolicofadamagedandlostpeople,asproofoftheneedto
temperourjudgmentthatfreedomwasliberating.But,Ithink,weoughttoproceed
withgreatcaution.Howdoweweightheselossesagainstthesuccessofblack
womenlikeEmelineAndersonwhomadeitpossibleforblackwomenrefugeesto
survivethecampsandreconstitutefamiliesandcommunities?Wheredoweplace
womenlikeAnnaAshbywho,bornaslaveinKentucky,whohadby1870had
survivedalaborcampandjoinedtheexodustoLeavenworth,Kansaswithher
husbandandchildren.
6
Insum,thelossesandviolenceblackpeoplesufferedduringthewar
mattered.Italsomatteredthattheycameontheheelsofacenturies-longbusiness
modelintheUnitedStatesthathadfosteredandcelebratedthe“unfathering,
unmothering,misnaming”ofenslavedpeople.13Emancipationdidnotendthiskind
ofviolencebutitdidmandatethatthenationdefinefreedomanew.Likeallwars,
theCivilWargeneratedmiseryanddeathanddidnotleaveuntouched
noncombatantswithoutarmsorthekindofbattlefieldplanshonedthroughthe
professionalstudyofmilitarytacticsandthehistoryofwarfare.Makingfreedom
wasundeniablydifficultanddeadlyworkbutweriskdoingafundamental
disservicetothedifferencefreedommadewhenwemakeahardturninadirection
thatsuggestsitaccomplishedtoolittletomuchmatter.
Therehadbeenotherwarsoverslavery,otherplaceswhereslavery’s
destructionwasachievedthroughforceofarms,otherplaceswheretheprocessof
emancipationwasprolongedandbitterlycontested,otherplaceswherewar
generatedrefugeesandatrocities,andwhereslaveholderswereforcedtotheir
knees,andmoreintheyearstocome.TheAmericanCivilWarwasnotexceptional
intheseregardsbutthehistoryoftheslaves’warwithintheCivilWarremainstobe
fullytoldandintegratedintothehistoriography.When,forexample,weplacethe
AmericanCivilWarnotonlywithinaglobal,comparative,andtransnationalcontext,
butwithinthelonghistoryofrefugeesandrefugeecamps,thehistoryofthemaking
offreedomintheUnitedStatesinevitablybecomesmorelegible.Theeffortto
remakedemocracyinAmericaduringReconstructionsufferedhugedefeatsbutthe
worldtheslaveholdersmadedidceasetobebecause“ordinarypeople…did
7
extraordinarythingsunderthemostdifficultcircumstancesand,intheprocess,
transformedthemselvesandtheworldinwhichtheylived.”14Undernoother
circumstancescouldweimaginethe“hungryanddisfranchisedConfederates”who
went“downintotheland[ofEgypt]forcornfortheirwivesandlittleones.”
EnslavedintheborderstateofMissourithoughonly60milesfromthe
UnionstrongholdatSt.Louis,LouisaAlexanderwasoutsidethefreedomborders
drawntheEmancipationProclamation.Herfreedom,shewroteherhusband,
wouldonlycome“atthepointoftheBayonet,”aresolutionshewelcomed.AsIra
Berlinremindsus,“Thedemiseofslaverywasnotsomuchaproclamationasa
movement;notsomuchanoccasionasacomplexhistorywithmultipleplayersand
narratives.”15Wearestillmissingmuchofthatcomplexhistory.
1BarbaraJeanneFields,SlaveryandFreedomontheMiddleGround:Maryland
DuringtheNineteenthCentury(NewHaven,1985),92.
2W.E.B.DuBois,BlackReconstructioninAmerica(NewYork,1935);EricFoner,
Reconstruction:America’sUnfinishedRevolution,1863-1877(NewYork,1988),see
especially1-11;Fields,SlaveryontheMiddleGround;StephanieMcCurry,
ConfederateReckoning:PowerandPoliticsintheCivilWarSouth(Cambridge,Mass.,
2010).
3A.LincolntoHon.CharlesD.Robinson,August17,1864,CollectedWorksof
AbrahamLincoln,vol.7,p.501.
4See,forexample,U.B.Phillips,AmericanNegroSlavery(NewYork,1918);R.S.
Cotterill,TheOldSouth:TheGeographic,Economic,Social,Political,andCultural
Expansion,Institutions,andNationalismintheAnte-BellumSouth(Glendale,CA.,
1937);WalterL.Fleming,CivilEarandReconstructioninAlabama(NewYork,1905);
WilliamDunning,ClaudeG.Bowers,TheTragicEra(Cambridge,Mass.,1929);E
MertonCoulter,TheSouthDuringReconstruction,1865-1877(BatonRouge,1947);
JamesG.Randall,TheCivilWarandReconstruction(NewYork,1937);H.E.Sterkx,
PartnersinRebellion:AlabamaWomenintheCivilWar(Rutherford,NJ,1970).
5Thehistoriographicalturnisassociated,forexample,withtheworkofJohn
Blassingame,SterlingStuckey,GeorgeRawick,andLawrenceLevine.W.E.B.Du
Bois,ofcourse,haddecadesbeforeestablishedthecentralityofblackresistancein
8
theCivilWartoemancipationandthecourseofthelargerstruggleforUnion.Du
Bois,BlackReconstruction(NewYork,1935).
6See,forexample,EdwardE.Baptist,TheHalfHasNeverBeenTold:Slaveryandthe
MakingofAmericanCapitalism(NewYork,2014),xviii.Onthepunishingimpactof
themakingoffreedom,seeforexample,JimDowns,SickfromFreedom:AfricanAmericanIllnessandSufferingduringtheCivilWarandReconstruction(NewYork,
2012)andSusanEvaO’Donovan,BecomingFreeintheCottonSouth(Cambridge,
MA,2007andmorerecently,CaroleEmberton,“UnwritingtheFreedomNarrative:
AReviewEssay,”JournalofSouthernHistory83(May2016):377-94.
7See,forexample,JamesOakes,FreedomNational:TheDestructionofSlaveryinthe
UnitedStates,1861-1865(NewYork,2013),393-429.
8See,forexample,ElsaBarkleyBrown,“NegotiatingandTransformingthePublic
Sphere:AfricanAmericanLifeintheTransitionfromSlaverytoFreedom,Public
Culture7(Fall1994):1994(107-46);HannahRosen,TerrorintheHeartofFreedom:
Citizenship,SexualViolence,andtheMeaningofRaceinthePostemancipation
South(ChapelHill,2009andKidadaE.Williams,TheyLeftGreatMarksonMe:
AfricanAmericanTestimoniesofRacialViolencefromEmancipationtoWorldWarI
(NewYork,2012).
9ThomasC.Holt,ChildrenofFire:AHistoryofAfricanAmericans(NewYork,2010),
146.
10StevenHahn,“SlaveEmancipation,IndianPeople,andtheProjectsofaNew
AmericanNation-State,”JournaloftheCivilWarEra3(September2013),324.
11See,forexample,ShermantoThomasEwing,Memphis,Aug.10,1862inBrooksD.
SimpsonandJeanV.Berlin,eds.Sherman’sCivilWar:SelectedCorrespondenceof
WilliamT.Sherman,1860-1865(ChapelHill,1999),263-64.
12TheRostHomeColonywasonesuchcamp.
13WalterJohnson,RiverofDarkDreams:SlaveryandEmpireintheCottonKingdom
(Cambridge,MA,2013),194.
14StevenHahn,ANationUnderOurFeet:BlackPoliticalStrugglesintheRuralSouth
fromSlaverytotheGreatMigration(Cambridge,Mass.,2003),1.Seealsopp.13215.SeealsoFrederickCooper,ThomasC.Holt,andRebeccaJ.Scott,Beyond
Slavery:ExplorationsofRace,Labor,andCitizenshipinPostemancipationSocieties
(ChapelHill,2000)andFoner,Reconstruction,602-12.
15IraBerlin,TheLongEmancipation:TheDemiseofSlaveryintheUnitedStates
(Cambridge,Mass.,2015),8-9.
9