In October 1859, abolitionist John Brown and a small group of white and Black men slipped across the border between Maryland and Virginia (now West Virginia) with a plan to occupy the federal arsenal, armory, and rifle factory at Harper's Ferry. Brown hoped to provoke an uprising by enslaved and free Black men that would lead to a war to abolish slavery.
The raiders seized the federal buildings and cut the telegraph wires. Expecting Black men in the vicinity to join him, Brown and his men waited in the armory while the townspeople surrounded the building and fired on the raiders. By daybreak on October 18, U.S. Marines under the command of Brevet Colonel Robert E. Lee stormed Brown's position in the arsenal's engine house and captured or killed most of his force. Brown was tried and convicted of treason against Virginia. He accepted the sentence and declared that he had acted in accordance with God's commandments. The state's governor, Henry A. Wise, refused pleas to treat John Brown with leniency and he was hanged on December 2, 1859.
John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry inflamed public opinion about slavery and the abolitionist movement. Many Southern slaveholders feared that other abolitionists would also incite insurrections of enslaved people and spread violence throughout the South.
Artist David Hunter Strother (1816–1888), from Martinsburg, Virginia (now part of West Virginia), created this drawing of John Brown in 1859. Strother was one of the best-known illustrators in the United States at that time, having had achieved fame as "Porte Crayon" for a series of illustrated articles on Virginia in Harper's New Monthly Magazine.
Citation: Strother, David Hunter. Portrait of John Brown. 1859. Pierre Morand Memorial, Special Collections, Library of VirginiaPreview Activity
Artistic Exploration: Study the portrait of John Brown. In other depictions of the time period he was often portrayed as an unkempt radical and even a madman. From your perspective, what does this depiction of him reveal? Look at his profile, facial expression, and environmental setting; what, if anything, can you conclude?
Post Activities
Another Perspective: Why would some abolitionists join John Brown? Why would other abolitionists choose not to join in Brown’s plan? Consider the risks and political landscape of the period.
Current Connections: Compare Brown's actions to recent protests and challenges to government systems or decisions in the U.S. Which situations have the most in common with what happened at Harper's Ferry?
Using the data from the 1860 census, this map was created in 1861. It shows the distribution of enslaved Virginians in each of the state's counties, with the darker shades showing the counties with the highest percentage of enslaved men, women, and children. In 1860, Virginia had a population of almost 500,000 enslaved people, the nation's highest. The map shows that a vast majority of Virginia's enslaved population lived east of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Many of the counties in the tobacco-growing region, such as Nottoway and Amelia, had population majorities of slaves rather than white residents. The table on the left lists the precise number of white and enslaved residents in each county.
This map was drawn by Edwin Hergesheimer and published by Henry S. Graham in Washington, D.C., in 1861. In the bottom left-hand corner is the notice that copies of the map were "Sold for the benefit of the sick and wounded of the U.S. Army." A personal inscription on the bottom right-hand corner reads: "Presented to the Honorable the Secretary of the Navy by his obedient servant W. R. Palmer," who was a captain in the Topographical Engineers of the U.S. Army.
Citation: E. Hergesheimer, Map of Virginia Showing the Distribution of its Slave Population from the Census of 1860, C. B. Graham, Lithographer (Washington, D.C.: Henry S. Graham, 1861), Library of Virginia.Preview Activity
Look at It: Look at the map. What information does it provide? Why might someone want to have this information at the time this map was produced and sold?
Post Activities
Analyze: From this map, which Virginia counties had the highest slave populations? Which had the lowest? Using your knowledge of Virginia history and geography, why might this be the case? The far western counties of Virginia broke apart to create the new state of West Virginia in 1863. Does this map suggest any reasons for that outcome?
Be the Journalist: Step into the role of journalist in 1861. Write a brief description of the map and explain its purpose to an audience who may be uninformed but interested in the information shown here. Why might this map have been sold "to benefit the sick and wounded of the U.S. Army" in 1861?
Illustrated periodicals like Harper's Weekly were popular with Americans in the middle of the 19th century. After southern states formed the Confederate States of America, residents there could not easily receive newspapers and magazines printed in the northern states. The Southern Illustrated News was founded in 1862 in Richmond and remained in print, with some interruptions, until 1865. Illustrated periodicals often included political cartoons, which were popular and provided a visual way to express opinions and concerns. They are often satirical, using humor, exaggeration, irony, and ridicule to persuade a reader to think about current events from a particular point of view.
This political cartoon lampoons Lincoln’s revolving door of United States Army generals who had faced—and been defeated by—Confederate forces in Virginia. After General Winfield Scott retired at the beginning of the Civil War, several generals had been placed at the head of the Army of the Potomac or in charge of armies attempting to secure the Shenandoah Valley. In the cartoon, the “toys” have been stripped of their army general uniforms and located on a shelf with other former generals. Lincoln is shown holding the latest general puppet, Joseph “Fighting Joe” Hooker, who commanded the Army of the Potomac from January to June 1863.
The generals depicted are:
Winfield Scott, who was Commanding General of the United States Army until resigning in November 1861.
Brigadier General Irvin McDowell, who commanded the Army of Northeastern Virginia when it was defeated at the First Battle of Manassas (Bull Run) in 1861.
Major General John C. Fremont, who commanded the Mountain Department and was unable to defeat Confederate General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign in 1862.
Major General Nathaniel Banks, who was also unable to defeat Confederate General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign in 1862.
Major General John Pope, who commanded the Army of Virginia at the time of its defeat at the Second Battle of Manassas (Bull Run) in 1862.
Major General George B. McClellan, who commanded the Army of the Potomac during the failed Peninsula Campaign to capture Richmond in 1862.
Major General Ambrose Burnside, who succeeded McClellan as commander of the Army of the Potomac but was relieved of command after his costly defeat at the Battle of Fredericksburg in December 1862.
Major General Joseph Hooker, who took command of the Army of the Potomac in 1863, but was defeated at the Battle of Chancellorsville two months after this cartoon appeared and resigned his post.
Citation: “Master Abraham Lincoln Gets a New Toy,” Southern Illustrated News, 28 May 1863, Richmond, Va.: Ayres & Wade, 1862-1865. Special Collections, Library of Virginia.
Preview Activity
Take a Look: Look at the political cartoon, what do you notice about the image? What does it tell you about the subject of the image?
Post Activities
Analyze: Explain the imagery and title of the cartoon as a tool of criticism. How might this depiction have influenced readers of the paper?
Social Media Spin: Create a social media post in which you create a meme or political cartoon based on the same events for a modern audience.
Another perspective: Write a response to the political cartoon in which Lincoln’s struggle to retain generals is seen in a sympathetic light. Be sure to present your information in a way which would persuade others to support Lincoln.
Hiring out enslaved men, women, and children was a common business arrangement among Virginians during slavery. This practice, which occurred in rural and urban areas, enabled owners of slaves to profit from their labor when they could not employ all of their enslaved workers at their own homes, farms, or businesses. Men and boys were often hired out to work on farms, in tobacco factories, and on railroads, while women and girls were often hired out for household labor like cooking, laundry, or childcare. Industries such as the Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond and the salt mines in the Kanawha Valley (now in West Virginia) employed skilled and unskilled enslaved people to augment their workforce.
Each year, thousands of men, women, and children were hired out with contracts that set the terms and price of their labor. Slave owners charged higher prices for skilled laborers. The employers of the individual being hired out were to provide food, housing, and clothing, and were to maintain the health of the enslaved person, although that did not prevent harsh treatment or poor care. Hiring out was so prevalent that pre-printed forms were developed to simplify the process. In this contract, Susan Monroe and James M. Colson agreed to hire a man named Adolphus for $800 from his owner, Miss S. J. Walthall. They agreed to pay her the sum of $400 on July 1, 1865 and on January 1, 1866, and promised not to take Adolphus outside of the state. The agreement was effectively nullified in April 1865 after the end of the Civil War. It is not known what happened to Adolphus after he gained his freedom.
Citation: "$800. Petersburg, Va., January 2, 1865: We promise to pay to Miss S.J. Walthall…," 1865, Broadside Collection, Special Collections, Library of Virginia.
Preview Activity
Scan It: Scan the document. What do you think is the purpose of this document? Why?
Post Activities
Analyze: Take a close look at this contract. Who is Adolphus? Who is hiring him out? What are the parties involved obliged to do? Why do you think the clause that he was "not to be carried out of the State of Virginia" was included?
Think About It: What do you think might have happened to Adolphus after he was freed? Do you think he continued to work for Monroe and Colson as a free man? Why or why not? What else could he have done instead?
On April 9, 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House. The surrender effectively ended the American Civil War in Virginia, although fighting continued in other parts of the Confederacy for several months. On April 10, 1865, Grant and Lee met again. At this meeting Grant agreed that Lee’s troops would receive parole passes or slips proving that they were paroled prisoners and were allowed to travel home. Grant also agreed to provide rations for the Confederate troops and to allow soldiers who had provided their own horses to keep them. Paroled soldiers returning home through United States controlled territory were allowed free travel on U.S. government railroads and ships. Some of the parole slips for high ranking Confederate officers were signed by U. S. Army officers, but slips for most Confederate soldiers, like this one, were signed by their commanding officers.
A portable printing press was set up at Appomattox and almost 30,000 parole passes were printed. This parole pass was given to Confederate Captain James M. Garnett (1840–1916). Dated April 10, 1865, it was signed at Appomattox Court House by Confederate Major General Bryan Grimes and countersigned by the U.S. Army's assistant provost marshal Brigadier General George H. Sharpe. James Garnett grew up in Loudoun County, attended the University of Virginia, served as an artillery captain with the Army of Northern Virginia during the Civil War, and later served as president of St. John's College, in Annapolis, Maryland.
Citation: Parole for James M. Garnett, April 10, 1865, James Mercer Garnett Papers, 1861–1865, Accession 20947, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.
Preview Activity
Look at It: Look at the document. What phrases or words stand out to you? What does the date on the document indicate about the period of history in which it was written?
Post Activities
Up for Debate: Take a position on the issue of paroling Confederate officers after the surrender. What arguments would you make to support your position?
Analyze: The surrender at Appomattox Court House served as a model for other agreements concerning the status of former Confederate soldiers. Why do you think part of the surrender agreement included offering parole for those who fought for the Army of Northern Virginia?
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 exception of impeachment cases. Generally, pardons do not imply that the individual is innocent of committing the crime for which they were convicted.
One of the most controversial uses of the presidential pardon occurred when President Andrew Johnson issued sweeping pardons to thousands of former Confederate officials and soldiers after the American Civil War officially ended on April 9, 1865. The final surrender of all Confederate troops occurred on June 2, 1865. President Johnson issued a proclamation on May 29, 1865, extending amnesty to most former Confederate officials and soldiers. Despite the term "amnesty," the move was somewhat punitive on Johnson's part. He wanted to allow most Confederate soldiers to receive amnesty while punishing those who played more important and visible roles in the Confederacy. If a soldier qualified for a pardon, he had to swear a loyalty oath to the United States and free any slaves that he owned. The president included fourteen exception categories to the general pardon. They included soldiers who had attended the United States military and naval academies, former Confederate governors and other officials, high ranking officers, and participants in the rebellion who had property valued at more than $20,000. These individuals could still seek amnesty, but had to file a petition with the President.
Pennsylvania native Edmund M. Bradford was a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point (1837) who served in the U.S. Army for twelve years following graduation. He married the daughter of a former Virginia governor and settled in Norfolk, where he operated a nearby farm worked by his enslaved laborers. During the Civil War Bradford served as a captain in the Sixth Regiment Virginia Infantry and then as a major of the Virginia Volunteers before later serving in the Confederate Quartermasters Department until the end of the war.
In this document, Edmund Bradford petitioned the president for a pardon on September 3, 1865. As a graduate of West Point who fought for the Confederacy, he did not qualify for the general presidential amnesty. Virginia governor Francis H. Pierpoint (later changed to Pierpont) endorsed the letter and recommended that Bradford receive a pardon. It is unclear from the records available if the president granted Bradford’s pardon request.
Citation: Letter from Edmund Bradford to President Andrew Johnson, September 2, 1865, Tazewell Family Papers, Accession 24194, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.
Preview Activity
Scan It: Scan the document and identify three or four phrases which indicate why Edmund Bradford requested a presidential pardon.
Post Activities
Be the Journalist: You are a reporter covering the story of Edmund Bradford. Write three questions that you would use in an interview with a representative of President Johnson’s administration about the decision to issue presidential pardons.
Current Connections: Presidential pardons have been controversial throughout the history of the United States. Why might they be controversial in the 21st century? If possible, provide an example of a recent controversial presidential pardon.
Social Media Spin: Put yourself in Bradford's shoes. Create a tweet in which you plead your case to the president. Include reasons for why you should receive a pardon.
Prior to the Civil War, enslaved men and women were not legally allowed to marry. However, during slavery many men and women did consider themselves to be married despite the lack of legal protection and recognition, which meant that husbands and wives could be sold away from each other. After the establishment of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Land (generally known as the Freedmen's Bureau) in 1865 to supervise and manage all matters related to refugees, freedmen, and lands abandoned or seized during the Civil War, the Commissioner ordered county court clerks in Virginia to record the marriages for formerly enslaved couples. In February 1866, Virginia's General Assembly legalized existing marriages between formerly enslaved men and women, in part to prevent their formerly enslaved children from becoming wards of the state. The law authorized men to identify their wives and legalize their marriages and to identify and legitimize their children, but did not provide the ability for women to identify their husbands.
This cohabitation register, or as it is properly titled, "Register of Colored Persons of Roanoke County, State of Virginia, cohabiting together as Husband and Wife on 27th February 1866," was the legal vehicle by which formerly enslaved people legitimized both their marriages and their children. As a result, the surviving spouses and children could inherit property from their deceased spouse or parent in the event that they did not leave a will. This is the first page of the Cohabitation Register for Roanoke County and shows a variety of personal information about the men and women listed here. These records are often the first time that a former slave appeared officially in the public record, and they provide invaluable family information for African American genealogists.
Citation: Roanoke County (Va.) Register of Colored Persons Cohabiting Together as Husband and Wife, 27th February 1866, p. 1, Cohabitation Registers Digital Collection, Library of Virginia.
See other Cohabitation Registers online.
Preview Activity
Scan It: Scan the document. What information is provided on the document? Why might such a document have been necessary?
Post Activities
Analyze: What kinds of demographic information can be found in this document? How might it be helpful to someone trying to trace his or her family history?
Another Perspective: The information contained in the registers provides information to families seeking their genealogy and ancestral history. Why might it be difficult for the descendants of enslaved people to find such information in public records? Consider what recordkeeping was like for enslaved people prior to the Civil War and how that may impact a genealogical search.
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 exception of impeachment cases. Generally, pardons do not imply that the individual is innocent of committing the crime for which they were convicted.
One of the most controversial uses of the presidential pardon occurred when President Andrew Johnson issued sweeping pardons to thousands of former Confederate officials and soldiers after the American Civil War officially ended on April 9, 1865. The final surrender of all Confederate troops occurred on June 2, 1865. President Johnson issued a proclamation on May 29, 1865, extending amnesty to most former Confederate officials and soldiers. Despite the term "amnesty," the move was somewhat punitive on Johnson's part. He wanted to allow most Confederate soldiers to receive amnesty while punishing those who played more important and visible roles in the Confederacy. If a soldier qualified for a pardon, he had to swear a loyalty oath to the United States and free any slaves that he owned. The president included fourteen exception categories to the general pardon. They included soldiers who had attended the United States military and naval academies, former Confederate governors and other officials, high ranking officers, and participants in the rebellion who had property valued at more than $20,000. These individuals could still seek amnesty, but had to file a petition with the President.
John C. Shelton was Stafford County farmer who had owned enslaved laborers at the time of the 1860 census. He was not included in the general amnesty as a result of the thirteenth clause excluding those "persons who have voluntarily participated in said rebellion and the estimated value of whose taxable property is over $20,000." He filed a petition on April 13, 1866, stating that he did not bear arms or hold office in service to the Confederacy. President Johnson issued a pardon to James Shelton on July 5, 1866. The pardon is signed by both President Johnson and Secretary of State William H. Seward.
Citation: Presidential pardon for John Shelton, July 5, 1866, Accession 24593, Shelton Family Papers, Library of Virginia.
Preview Activity
Scan It: Scan the document for any words or phrases which indicate the purpose of the document.
Post Activities
Think About It: List three things you know about presidential pardons. Why are they often considered to be controversial when they are used to pardon large groups of individuals?
State Your Case: You are an attorney representing a former Confederate soldier who would like to make a petition for a presidential pardon. What would you include in the petition? Why?
With the end of the Civil War came the end of slavery in the American South. When the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified on December 9, 1865, slavery was officially outlawed. Racial hostilities towards formerly enslaved men and women continued, and many white southerners opposed extending full rights of citizenship to African Americans. The Fourteenth Amendment making African Americans full citizens was ratified in 1868 and the Fifteenth Amendment granting African American men the right to vote was ratified in 1870.
Black men in Virginia were able to vote for the first time in 1867 as a result of a law passed by Congress that year. Known as the First Reconstruction Act, the law required the former Confederate states to hold conventions to write new state constitutions. African American men were eligible to vote and to be elected to those conventions. On October 22, 1867, more than 90,000 Black men out of the 105,832 who had registered to vote in Virginia went to the polls to elect delegates to the convention in the election that was overseen by United States military officers. Of the 105 men elected to the convention, twenty-four were African Americans. The constitution was ratified in July 1869 and its democratic reforms included the right to vote for Black men.
In this engraving, artist Alfred Rudolph Waud depicted "The First Vote" of African Americans in Virginia. In the image, a white man is seen conducting the election while the new voters drop their ballots in the glass bowls. The engraving was published in the November 16, 1867, issue of Harper's Weekly magazine to commemorate that historic moment.
Citation: "The First Vote" drawn by A.R. Waud. Harper's Weekly, vol. 11, no. 568 (November 16, 1867), Special Collections, Library of Virginia.
History: VS.1, VS.7, USI.1, USI.9, VUS.1, VUS.7, GOVT.3,GOVT.4, GOVT.5
Art: 4.1, 5.1
Preview Activity
Look at It: Look closely at the lithograph depicting "The First Vote." What can you conclude about the three featured voters and why? Be specific in your answers.
Post Activities
Food For Thought: Given the tensions between the United States government and the former Confederate states at this time, why might the former Confederate states have been required to write new state constitutions?
Artistic Expression: Design a commemorative pin or button that could have been handed out to African Americans as they cast their first ballots. How would it differ from today's "I Voted" sticker and why?
Current Connections: What important political changes from today do you think are worthy of a Harper's Weekly cover? Why? Explain your answer.