Slavery during the American Civil War

Sgt. William Harvey Carney, born a slave in Norfolk, Virginia, was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1900 for his actions at the Battle of Fort Wagner in 1863 (The Black Phalanx, 1888)
"MEN OF COLOR To Arms! To Arms!" recruitment broadside written by Frederick Douglass (NMAAHC-2012 133 001)

Slavery played the central role during the American Civil War. The primary catalyst for secession was slavery, especially Southern political leaders' resistance to attempts by Northern antislavery political forces to block the expansion of slavery into the western territories. Slave life went through great changes, as the South saw Union Armies take control of broad areas of land. During and before the war, enslaved people played an active role in their own emancipation, and thousands of enslaved people escaped from bondage during the war.


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