Abolitionist Study Part 4

Fredrick Douglass was aware of the inherent racism in the new Lincoln administration and probably knew that for every decision related to the slavery issue that Lincoln stood strong on, he lost some of his political support. None of the politicians knew how the Civil War would end but most would come to know enough about Lincoln's plan to redistribute the land in the south to the slaves. Politicians and the rest of the country knew that the Civil War would be a fight to the death for one of the factions involved in the war between the states, and I believe that remaining flexible, politically, was better than committing to an uncertain future.

To the south losing the Civil War would mean way more than simply losing a war, it would also mean losing a way of life that had existed for hundreds of years on this continent, and from what Lincoln could see the Confederates were intent upon winning the war to preserve their way of life. Douglass saw fighting the Civil War without the use of free colored people and slave the same as the Union fighting the war with only some of its available resources. The New York Tribune published "The Prayer of Twenty Millions" encouraging Lincoln to emancipate the slaves and in effect joining the Douglas Monthy publication in a call to bringing Africa into the Civil War.

Lincoln's response was:


My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing one slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it...



Lincoln's focus on saving the Union with little consideration given to the thought of slavery, except where the issue might promote his cause was his presidential stance to the press and public. However, Lincoln himself secretly shared many of his fellow politician's fears about arming thousands of African Americans to do battle with the southern states. President Abraham Lincoln would eventually overcome his fear that a well-trained, well-armed regiment of colored people could help take the war to the south, and overcome his anxiety that weapons issued to the slaves would end up in Confederate hands.

History would later show that colored Americans wore the uniforms of the north and the south, and fought on both sides of the Civil War. Colored businessmen in New Orleans, after being refused by Robert E. Lee to join up with regular Confederate force, would take up defensive positions to protect their businesses in the south. Northern color Americans fought to be completely apart of the Union, and slaves from the north and the south would fight for promised freedom and better treatment for their military service in a war that would create veterans on both sides.

The Abolitionist Study Part 3

Abolitionist, Thomas Garrett, a well-known operator on the clandestine system set up to assist fugitive slaves called the Underground Railroad, was saved by his community who stepped forward as the war between the states became a reality. As far as politics went, you might say that Lincoln's worst fears were realized. The nation had pulled itself apart and settled itself into two warring factions, North and South, on his watch.

With the beginning of the Civil War, Lincoln had to realize that normal politics had failed and that his first step in trying to preserve the union of states, or what was left of it, was to issue notice, to the Confederate forces, that the union planned to reclaim all of its forts, compounds, and territories, up to and including Fort Sumter, that had been taken over by the rebel forces. For Lincoln, it was a time for consorting with his generals and deploying his forces to answer all of the unknown questions necessary for a rookie commander and chief to prosecuting a war that would pit Americans against Americans.

His new presidency starting with a Constitutional crisis Lincoln public addresses turned more toward managing the war. Knowing his enemies strengths, and understanding his own militaries standing was key to prosecuting the war with the Confederates, Another consideration for Lincoln was managing the worries presented to him by those gathered around him. Could the Union end up in a war with a superpower and the Confederacy? Could the British be talked into joining the south in its battle against the Union to preserve Great Britain's southern supply of cotton? 

During that time Fredrick Douglass recognized that the words in Lincoln's speeches to the public continued to assure the south that the newly elected president did not intend to ignore enforcing fugitive slave laws. Prompting stories that reached Douglass that told of Union Generals turning away fugitive slave along with any useful intelligence they must have had.  Fredrick Douglass continued to speak to the public too, through his publication the Douglass Monthly. In his May 1861 issue, Douglass put forth the idea in print that free colored people and slaves be called up for military service, but where Douglass saw the formation of a liberating free black regiment trampling on the moral of the south, Lincoln saw adding more fuel to an already out of control fire.

When the reality of "war" began to sink into Washington DC politics many of the politicians were suddenly concerned about appeasing the Confederacy, further complicating Lincoln's ability to map out a clear war plan I'm sure, and perhaps the real reason Lincoln's words, when it came to the issue of slavery, fell so flat on Fredrick Douglass' ears.

The Abolitionist Study Part 2

The months leading up to Abraham Lincoln's inauguration, in 1861, were filled with telegraph reports of states like Mississippi, Georgia, and Florida taking their leave from the Union as one by one the southern states recombined themselves into the Confederate States of America. The Confederacy had taken the step that Douglass has assumed they would not. As Lincoln entered the presidency he became commander and chief of a military slowly spreading itself apart with two factions the abolitionist and the confederates ready for war. Even though newly in office Lincoln also knew the conditions were right for civil conflict.

On the slavery issue, the middle ground seemed to be disappearing and it was time to pick a side. With the secession of the southern states, Lincoln had to have realized that he no longer had to play by southern rules with regard to the agreements made about fugitive slaves, and southern slave hunters. Separating themselves from the union meant the south would have to use its own guns and could no longer count on northern support when it came to southern slaves.

But where the Confederates were unified against the abolitionist north and the abolitionist north just as unified against the Confederacy, as commander and chief, Lincoln has to mount a defense with union forces that were in many ways a mixture of both sides. So where Frederick Douglass might have said: "forward into battle men to free the slaves." Lincoln might have said, "Forward into battle men to preserve the union."

The war was on, and I'm sure that mothers in the south, as well as mothers in the north, cautioned their sons going off to war to remember that they might have relatives, driven into the conflict between the states just as they were, fighting on the other side. Battlefields in the north and south would be soaked in blood over the next few years as American fought against each other sacrificing their limbs, their youth, their lives and I suspect in some cases even their relatives on the other side of the battlefield. Both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass knew that no matter who won the war the U.S. would be changed forever.

Just as the gloves were off for President Lincoln with the secession of the southern states, when it came to the southern demands on the north where slavery was concerned, the Confederates in many ways felt the same and as a result. Many prominent white Abolitionist suddenly found themselves in needed 24-hour protection from southerners and southern sympathizers. In the case of Thomas Garrett, the community around him including many African Americans armed themselves and protected the valuable member of their community day and night. (To be continued)

The Abolitionist Study Part 1

In my studies of the abolitionist Frederick Douglass has always stood out to me because of his interaction and contentious relationship with Abraham Lincoln. Before the civil war, both Lincoln and Douglass traveled the country speaking about the effects of slavery on the nation. Frederick Douglass, in my opinion, was more to the point and backed by white abolitionist spoke about the total abolishment of slavery. Abraham Lincoln, on the other hand, seemed to take the more political approach which forced him to walk the line between slavery, and the total abolishment of slavery a situation that endeared him to neither side of the argument. For those in favor of abolition Lincoln's words were not strong enough, and for those in favor of slavery, his words lacked the confidence of a true conviction to preserving the institution of slavery in America.

One side wanted to see slavery abolished, over with and gone. The other side not only wanted to preserve slavery but also wanted to expand slavery into new territories. Frederick Douglass himself was surprised that the south would choose secession. From what he had heard of Lincoln's speeches he had come to the conclusion that the institution of slavery would be safe with the political appeasement and seeming desire to please both sides of the slavery argument that came from Lincoln's address to the crowds. 

Being direct in the political arena meant choosing a side, and choosing a side made it clear where you stood. Neither the abolitionist nor the southern Democrats had a problem with that because they were in total opposition to each other. Douglass understood that even if Lincoln was elected president the slave killing pledges and slave hunting would continue, it was after all the law, and while Lincoln might be in favor of changing those laws once in office he would still have to support and carry out those laws until, if or when, the laws were changed. 

So to Douglass, it was simple Lincoln is at heart a politician and while some things might change with the election of Abraham Lincoln, the major issue that drove  Frederick Douglass, the complete and total abolition of slavery, would basically stay the same. Frederick Douglass did not see Abraham Lincoln as an ally to the abolitionist, not a very reliable one anyway, in Frederick Douglass' mind only the total emancipation of the African Americans as the only path to a lasting peace.

In December of that year (1860) word reached Washington that Charleston, South Carolina had formally terminated its relationship with the Union of states.  Not since the ratification of the Constitution seventy-two years earlier had this country faced such a crisis; and things went from bad to worse, there was no internet back then but telegraph offices all over this nation coming apart at the seams constantly turn out news of states leaving the Union, I believe the secession of southern states from the union changed Lincoln's calculus. (To be continued)

Self Emancipation

Of all the abolitionists I have read about Harriet Tubman seemed to be the boldest when it came to her own personal brand of abolition. Unlike the other abolitionist, she seemed to embody the qualities of both the aggressive abolitionist like John Brown and the more passive abolitionist like her friends William Still and Susan B. Anthony. Harriet took it upon herself to free her people one at a time and all by herself. She frequently traveled to places where there was a price on her head to shepherd individuals and small groups of slaves to freedom, eventually leading her own parents to freedom.

Aided by funds from William Still and others involved with the underground railroad Harriet seldom telegraphed her intentions. Most of the time her supporters and the people she trusted would only learn of one of Harriet's expeditions once she had returned; alerted by a request for shoes or other supplies for those Harriet had guided to freedom.  Early in her life, a blow to the head with a heavy metal weight by an angry overseer had left Harriet with frequent headaches and sudden bouts of illness.  Illness prevented Harriet Tubman from accompanying John Brown on his failed raid of the armory at Harper's Ferry, one coincidence that certainly saved her life.

Anyone who knew Harriet Tubman would tell you there was nothing wrong with her courage. For someone who often gave the appearance of being asleep on her feet, she possessed mental and physical qualities that in my opinion were amazing. During the Civil War, she would lead union soldiers up the Combahee River and free more than seven-hundred slaves. At the end of the Civil War, she would suffer a beating from a railroad conductor and several other men before being thrown into a baggage car after the attack, she survived. The military would refuse to pay Harriet for her service as agreed; selling produce from her garden Harriet would still survive. Harriet Tubman deserves her place in Juneteenth history for her heroics. Unlike many of the other slaves who had convinced themselves that freedom was something they would have only in the next life, Harriet worked hard for them to enjoy some freedom in the life they had.

And while none of the above mentioned would live long enough to enjoy the freedoms that American African people have today the memory of their struggles is still celebrated with the Juneteenth Day Celebration. News of Harriet Tubman spread far and wide, she was invited to England by Queen Victoria to celebrate the Queen's birthday; even after her death from pneumonia in 1913 Harriet's humanitarian contributions, the freeing of her people, with or without an emancipation proclamation, continued to be honored up to and including the U.S. Post Office issuing a Harriet Tubman Stamp in 1995. The stamp shows Harriet Tubman piloting a group of slaves to freedom. The end of slavery and the beginning of the Juneteenth Day Celebration ended the need for Harriet and her abolitionist friends to continue maintaining the secret system of hideouts, hidden trails, and secret transportation also known as the underground railroad.

Harriet Tubman's last husband Nelson Davis was in the military, when he passes away in 1888, she finally received some money from the government in the form of I guess what could be called survivors benefits. In her later years, Harriet Tubman was paid twenty dollars a month. With or without that money I get the feeling this woman would have continued to survive.

Slavery Confusion

First of all, if you were a slave there was no confusion---someone else controlled your life, livelihood, and welfare, the confusion I am referring to was the confusion that came from the fact that in the U.S. not all African American people were slaves, and not all white people were slave owners. If you were an African American (someone actually fresh off the boat) or an American African (someone born in America from someone off the boat) there were some cases where you could purchase your own freedom or the freedom of a family member and live as a free person.

In some northern parts of the country, a free colored person could actually live free, protected mostly by the community they were surrounded by. In some places in the South, even a freed person still had to pick a master in order to reside in a county as free. Another form of freedom for colored people was something called a Deed of Manumission. That meant that in cases where a white slave owner had children by a slave woman and did not want his offspring to live their adult lives a slave a deed of manumission was issued; the document would indicate that after a certain age, the slave owner's child or children were to be freed.

This created a problem for the slave owners and merchants and in many cases gave license to slave chasers to add to their income by stealing free African Americans from the north and selling them into slavery in the south as shown in the motion picture 12 Years a Slave. I also believe that this situation created a problem for the slave owners and merchants because if it could be proven that they had acted unlawfully and acquired an African American with free papers or a deed of manumission they would be forced to give them up and suffer the financial loss created by the shady deal.

So there could be mothers that were slaves who had children that were free, a husband that was free with a wife and children still a slave; and since, at that time, slaves were not considered citizens of the U.S. that same thinking applied to a freed slave. What all this amounted to was freedom without any of the rights of citizenship for the American African.  While not all American Africans were slaves they were, for the most part, all treated that way. Juneteenth celebrates all of the enslaved souls that were finally one day (in June) able to join the ranks of free people.

And while at the end of slavery in the U.S. African American, and American African families were in many cases still separated from each other by hundreds of years of forced separation and insensitivity. Suddenly the slaves were free with no land and property of their own. Many of those who were finally able to make their own way in the world would learn that even some of the abolitionists who worked so hard to help them gain their freedom still didn't relish the thought of those same ex-slaves living next door to them. Being free from slavery didn't mean being free from the racial stigma of slavery; at that point, I suppose the bright spot was the confusion about slavery was all gone; because at least here in this country (after the passage of the 13th Amendment) there was no more slavery.

Martin Luther King Day

In many ways, the ending of the institution of slavery in this country, that is celebrated with the Juneteenth Day Celebration was replaced by the institution of racism. After the Civil War southern legislators who were welcomed back into Washington DC to once more participate in governing the union of states, north, and south. Almost immediately southern lawmakers began designing laws that would legally separate the races in the south. Based on the notion of separate-but-equal, lawmakers came up with a long list of laws that would segregate all of the public places in the south and make it illegal for a white person to sell a property to a black person, illegal for blacks and whites to be married, and more.



Many of those laws would stay in place until the 1960's when they were challenges by Civil Rights Heroes like Rosa Parks, Martain Luther King Jr., and so many others whose activist actions would cast a public spotlight on the struggle of American Black people in the south, and show the rest of the nation and the world that separate, did not mean equal, when it came to the way segregation laws restricted some American people. Desegregation of schools and other public institutions would follow.



Martin Luther King Jr. is the iconic leader of the Civil Rights movement, a Baptist minister by trade Dr. King led civil rights marches, demonstrations and worked with religious organizations, and entertainers to promote civil rights causes. One of my favorite Dr. King moments came when he spoke to Nichelle Nichols, the actress who played Lt. Uhura in the Original Star Trek Scifi television program. During a chance meeting, Nichelle let Dr. King know that she was seriously thinking about leaving the television series.

Like me,  Dr. King was a Star Trek fan so, I will forever be grateful that he was able to convince Nichelle Nichols to stay with the Original Star Trek cast at the time by sharing with her what he had learned during his travels and from his own personal experiences. Dr. King told her that because of the positive role model and inspiration, her character was too young girls interested in space science, and space travel she should reconsider her decision. According to Nichelle, she did decide to stay with the show because of that meeting.



Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s other accomplishments up to and including his I Have a Dream Speech are perhaps way better remembered than his off-chance meeting with a member of the Star Trek original series cast but it was one of the little bits about his life's history that stuck with me. His commitment to the community, and building strong communities through the encouragement of dedicated active participation in the community is something that has also stuck with me through the years.