Visual imagery played a major role in the anti-slavery movement. From the iconic image of a kneeling slave asking “Am I Not a Man and a Brother?” to images of family separations through sale at auction, images were an important weapon in the arsenal of abolitionist activity. This seminar looks at some of the imagery … Continued
Did slavery cause the Civil War? Or was it a conflict over states’ rights? Or was it the inevitable clash between an industrial society and an agrarian society? Or was it a struggle between two imperialistic powers over territorial expansion? Or was it really about slavery after all? Find out how recent scholarship answers these … Continued
From the beginning of the Civil War, blacks served the Union army as laborers, teamsters, cooks, laundresses, hospital attendants, and personal servants but not as soldiers. When the War broke out, they volunteered to fight. Yet whites, knowing that blacks saw participation in the War as a step toward racial equality, flatly rejected their help … Continued
When we speak of the American melting pot, we tend to think of nineteenth-century cities where many ethnicities blended to form hybrid cultures. But was there an earlier melting pot, rural and agricultural rather than urban and industrial? The slave plantation brought together not only the blacks of the quarters and the whites of the … Continued
The first “20. and odd” Africans to arrive in British North America are generally believed to have landed in the Chesapeake in 1619 aboard a Dutch man of war. Though this watershed marks the beginning of the African slave trade to the lands that would eventually become the United States, its importance to the broader … Continued
In the 1850s, as the nation inched toward civil war, opponents of slavery claimed Thomas Jefferson as an ally, citing his ringing proclamations of inalienable rights. At the same time, proponents of slavery said he was on their side, quoting his views on Negro inferiority and pointing to his failure to free his slaves. Both … Continued
The story seems familiar. A North American colonial empire, firmly established since the 1500s, is, by the 1700s, funneling great wealth to the mother country in Europe. The colonies are ethnically, ecologically, and geographically diverse. Slavery, an important part of the colonial economy, is widespread; yet some of the African-descendant population live as free people. … Continued
Works of art are rich primary documents that can enhance student understanding of American culture. This two-part seminar explores three American paintings to see what they can tell students about slavery, immigration, and the plight of the American farmer. In this second session, the seminar demonstrates how historical information can inform our understanding and interpretation … Continued
Works of art are rich primary documents that can enhance student understanding of American culture. This two-part seminar, a collaboration between the North Carolina Museum of Art and the National Humanities Center, explores three American paintings — Christian Friedrich Mayr’s “”Kitchen Ball at White Sulphur Springs, Virginia”” (1838); Charles Felix Blauvelt’s “”A German Immigrant Inquiring … Continued
No matter when or where it was done, from colonial New England to antebellum Georgia, slave labor was hard, often dangerous work. Yet the tasks slaves performed and the amount of control they exercised over them varied greatly. Slaves built boats, crafted chairs, cooked meals, forged iron, steered ships, and plowed fields. Some worked in … Continued