Browse Items (38 total)
Confederate Parole Pass, 1865
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…
Resolutions Adopted by a Meeting of the People of Powhatan County, 1865
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. The meeting was a futile effort to end the…
“Master Abraham Lincoln Gets a New Toy,”
Political Cartoon, 1863
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…
War of 1812 Caricatures
After the American Revolution, relations between the United States and Great Britain remained strained. In its long war with France, Britain imposed a blockade on neutral countries, including the United States, that disrupted shipping and trade.…
Anna Maria Lane, Commendation and Pension Award from William H. Cabell, 1808
Women played many roles during the American Revolution, but only a few are known to have disguised themselved as men and participated in battle. The penalties for being discovered could be severe. Women who fought in the army tried hard to keep their…
George Washington, Statue, 1788
George Washington was born in 1732 in Westmoreland County, Virginia, to a relatively prosperous family. His father died when he was eleven and so he was not sent to school in England like his older half-brothers, but studied with tutors. He trained…
James Lafayette Petition for Freedom, 1786
James Lafeyette was born enslaved about 1748. He lived on a plantation owned by William Armistead in New Kent County. Although he is sometimes identified as James Armistead, he never signed his name or self-identified as having the surname Armistead.…
An Act Freeing Enslaved People Who Served as Soldiers, 1783
By 1775, approximately half a million enslaved Americans were living in the thirteen colonies. Thousands of Black Americans participated in the American Revolution. Some joined the British while others fought with the Americans depending on who they…
A Petition on Behalf of an Enslaved Person Accused of Treason, 1781
By 1775 more than half a million Black Americans, most of them enslaved, were living in the thirteen colonies. Thousands participated in the American Revolution. They gave their loyalty to the side which offered the best path to freedom from…
Molly Pitcher at the 1778 Battle of Monmouth, Engraving (1859)
Women served in many capacities during the American Revolution. Thousands of women traveled with their husbands when they served in the Continental Army. Known as "camp followers," they marched with the supply wagons, set up camps nearby, and cooked,…