Sharp Bargainers

Several years ago, I started composing an essay titled “They Were Sharp Bargainers: John Eaton, Jr.’s 63rd United States Colored Troops.” I have not completed the article about the Civil War Superintendent of Freedmen and his black guard regiment because I have not felt satisfied that I had enough evidence … Continue Reading Sharp Bargainers

Deconstructing Rhetorics of Slavery I

I…think writers in general and maybe historians in particular must ask themselves what the implications are of the narratives they/we write. Do they, in their rhetorics, affirm already under-examined perspectives on peoples? Are those rhetorics proof of what historian Ira Berlin wrote…? In other words, do the rhetorics, the languages, of history transfix?

Revisiting Carolina Slave Names

I tend to think that a month name might not have indicated the actual month of birth. Rather, the month could stand for something like “first,” winter, cold, Janus, etc. I think there are all sorts of possibilities and what was most important was what the word symbolized.

BON: First Entry–Fort Heiman, Ky.

From the beginning of the Civil War, the Kentucky slaves were active participants in the drama. From the moment northern troops entered Kentucky, the objective of the slaves was to secure more self-determinism for themselves and their families.