Browse Items (24 total)

With the end of the Civil War came the end of slavery in the American South. The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified on December 9, 1865, officially outlawed slavery. Racial hostilities towards formerly enslaved men and…

Prior to the Civil War, enslaved men and women were not legally allowed to marry. However, many enslaved couples considered themselves married, despite the lack of legal protection and recognition. Often, families were split apart by enslavers who…

On February 3, 1865, Confederate Vice President Alexander H. Stephens and two other commissioners met with United States President Abraham Lincoln on the steamship River Queen near Fort Monroe in Hampton to discuss a potential treaty to end the Civil…

From the beginning of the Civil War, the Confederate government attempted to requisition needed goods and services from private citizens. In March 1863, the Confederate Congress passed an Impressment Act that allowed them to requisition crops,…

Emancipation at the end of the Civil War did not bestow citizenship or legal protections on formerly enslaved men and women. Concerned that the newly freed African Americans would not be treated equally in courts of law, Congress passed a Civil…

The power of the president to pardon those who commit offenses against the United States is enumerated in the Article Two of the U. S. Constitution. A presidential pardon is an executive order granting clemency for a conviction of a crime, with the…

During the secession crisis of 1860–1861, attitudes about leaving the United States varied widely throughout Virginia. While the majority of white men supported the secession referendum that was approved in a vote on May 23, 1861, many white…

The American Civil War was fought between 1861 and 1865. The war began after eleven southern states, including Virginia, seceded from the United States in the months after Abraham Lincoln was elected president in November 1860. After four years of…

Virginia was a critical battleground during the Civil War. Not only was Richmond the seat of the Confederate government, but the Commonwealth was also the site of some of the war’s major battles. Tens of thousands of Virginians fought in the Civil…

Black Americans understood the meaning of citizenship and the possibilities afforded by the prospect of emancipation long before the end of the Civil War. Among their demands for equality was the right to participate in the political process as…