Frederick Gaertner's Blog – October 2015 Archive (3)

Though there had been voices clamoring for the rights of African Americans to represent the United States in the Army since the beginning of the Civil War, the door was never really open until Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. Soon, the United States Army began to organize African Americans into regimental units known as the United States Colored Troops (USCT).

Even before the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, the first regiment to become a…

During the 1860 presidential election, the divisions between the North and the South became fully exposed. Abraham Lincoln, the Republican candidate, won with a plurality of popular votes and a majority of electoral votes. However, he did not appear on the ballots of ten southern states, thus his election necessarily split the nation along sectional lines. http://bit.ly/1RDQVq5

The Underground Railroad was neither underground nor a railroad, but a system of loosely connected safe havens where those escaping the brutal conditions of slavery were sheltered, fed, clothed, nursed, concealed, disguised, and instructed during their journey to freedom. http://bit.ly/1MTLth1