Civil War Treasures from the New-York Historical Society
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Go directly to the collection, Civil War Treasures, in American Memory, or view a Summary of Resources related to the collection.
Civil War Treasures is drawn from archival collections housed at the New-York Historical Society. The materials in this collection include Civil War enlistment and recruitment posters, etchings and sketches, envelopes embossed with decorations related to events or portraits of prominent personalities, photographs, and stereographs. The collection also contains a copy of the Prison Times, a newspaper produced by Confederate prisoners of war at a federal prison camp in Delaware; several of Walt Whitman’s letters written from hospital visits to wounded servicemen; a series of letters from Sarah Blunt, a nurse in hospitals at Point Lookout, Maryland, and Harper's Ferry, West Virginia; and manuscripts relating to the work of William Oland Bourne, a New York social reformer, editor, and author. Background on the types of materials included can be found at Archival Collections from which the Civil War Treasures Are Drawn.
The Special Presentation: Before, During, and After the Civil War provides a brief overview of the events of the Civil War, illustrated with graphics from the Civil War Treasures collection. This presentation could be used to introduce students to the collection.
The digitized images and documents in the collection provide access to mid-19th century archival manuscripts and popular graphics that contain a wealth of information on the political and social history of this pivotal era in American history. However, some of the materials in this collection contain language or negative stereotypes that may be offensive to some readers. Students should be prepared for encounters with such historic materials before they begin working with the collection.
African Americans in the Civil War
From the beginning of the war, slaves began an exodus from the South, seeking refuge at Union army positions. General Benjamin Butler at Fortress Monroe in Virginia refused to return run-away slaves to a Confederate colonel who, under a flag of truce, demanded their return, citing the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Butler argued that, since Virginia considered itself out of the Union, the Fugitive Slave Act did not require him to return escaped slaves. Butler considered the slaves who had escaped as “contraband of war” and put them to work digging trenches and generally providing support for the army.
A number of abolitionists, including Frederick Douglass and Horace Greeley, urged the government to permit African Americans to enlist in the armed services. The majority of whites in the North, however, were reluctant to support such enlistments. With the following language, the Emancipation Proclamation opened the way for blacks to serve in the military:
…And I further declare and make known, that such persons of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service….
Many in the Union continued to oppose the establishment of combat regiments comprising African Americans. Others, however, sought to take advantage of the availability of black men to serve in the military by buying “substitutes” to fill their places.
Examine the documents listed below. What does your analysis suggest about the attitudes of many Northern whites? How would you summarize the contributions of African Americans to the Union cause?