People, Locations, Episodes

The Confiscation Act becomes Law

*On this date in 1862., the Confiscation Act was passed by the United States Congress.   Sometimes called the Second Confiscation Act, it was a law passed during the American Civil War. Section 13 of the act formed the legal basis for President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.  The defining characteristic of the Confiscation Act was that it called for court proceedings for […]

The United States Colored Troops (USCT) Begin Formation

*The United States Colored Troops (USCT) began formation on this date in 1862. These were regiments in the United States Army composed primarily of Black (colored) soldiers, although members of other minority groups also served within the units. They were first recruited during the American Civil War. Many USCT soldiers fought with distinction, with 16 receiving […]

The 79th Colored Infantry is Formed in Kansas

*On this date in 1862, the 1st Kansas Volunteer Colored Infantry was formed. This was the first official regiment of Blacks serving in the American Army.

Captain James M. Williams, Co. F, 5th Kansas Cavalry, was appointed for that portion of the state of Kansas. The area where Kansas Volunteer Colored Infantry was organized was north of the Kansas River. Captain Williams enlisted Captain H.C. Seaman, other 2nd Lieutenant recruiting officers and obtained supplies from departments near Leavenworth.

The First Louisiana Native Guard is Formed

*On this date, in 1862, the 1st Louisiana Native Guard was formed. They were later the 73rd Regiment Infantry U.S. Colored Troops and were among the first all-black regiments to fight in the Union Army during the American Civil War. They were based in New Orleans, Louisiana, and played a prominent role in the Siege of […]

The ‘Twenty Negro Law’ is Enacted

*The “Twenty Negro Law” was enacted on this date in 1862.  Also known as the “Twenty Slave Law” and the “Twenty Nigger Law,” it was legislation enacted by the Confederate Congress during the American Civil War. The law exempted explicitly from Confederate military service one white man for every twenty slaves owned on a Confederate […]

The Freedman’s Hospital is Founded

*On this date in 1894, the Freedmen’s Hospital School of Nursing was founded. This was a hospital for Blacks founded by Dr. Daniel Hale Williams.

Freedmen’s Hospital began during the Civil War after the start of the Freedmen’s Bureau, a social service system. Many freed slaves poured into Washington, D.C. in hopes that their needs would be supplied. Because of these circumstances, the War Department of the Federal Government decided to establish a “Freedmen’s Bureau” to create an emergency facility to care for the sick and destitute.

Freedmen’s Towns In America, an article

*On this date in 1862, Freedmen’s Towns are celebrated.  Freedmen’s Towns were Black municipalities built by former emancipated slaves during and after the American Civil War. These towns emerged in several states, most notably Texas.  The Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment brought over 4 million people out of slavery from the Confederate States of America. Many were faced with the questions of where […]

The XIX Army Corps is Formed

*On this date, in 1862, the XIX Army Corps was formed. They were a segregated regiment of the Union Army during the American Civil War.  The XIX Corps spent most of its service in Louisiana and the Gulf, though several units fought in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. It was assigned to Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks, the […]

The First ‘Watch Night Service’ in America Occurs

*On This date in 1862 the first Watch Night Services were celebrated in Back communities in America.

The Watch Night service can be traced back to gatherings also known as “Freedom’s Eve.” On that night, Black slaves and free blacks came together in churches and private homes all across the nation awaiting news that the Emancipation Proclamation actually had become law. Lincoln had used the occasion of the Union victory at Antietam to issue a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves in the rebellious states after January 1, 1863.

The American Emancipation Proclamation Becomes Law

*On this date in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation; ordering that all slaves in rebel territory be freed.

The First South Carolina Volunteer Colored Infantry is Formed

*On this date in 1863, the 1st South Carolina Volunteer Infantry Regiment (Colored) was formed. General Rufus Saxton formed This Union Army regiment during the American Civil War. It was composed of escaped slaves from South Carolina and Florida. It was one of the first black regiments in the Union Army. Department of the South staff officer James D. Fessenden was heavily involved in efforts […]

A Black Woman is Kicked Off of a Cable Car

On this date in 1863, a Black woman was forcibly removed from a horse-drawn streetcar in San Francisco.

Charlotte L. Brown, the daughter of James E. and Charlotte Brown was the victim. Her father, who ran a livery stable in San Francisco, brought suit on her behalf against the Omnibus Railroad Company. The successful suit resulted in $5,000 in damages awarded as well as the right of blacks to ride the street cars. The Charlotte Brown case was one of a few civil rights cases brought by prominent free blacks in California to protest discrimination on public transportation.

African and Native Americans at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, a story

*On this date in 1863, African and Native Americans intersected on the upper Mississippi River, witnessing the final chapters of American chattel slavery and “Indian removal” in Minnesota. On May 4, the steamboat Northerner pushed up the Mississippi River from St. Louis, bound for Fort Snelling, a military outpost north of St. Paul, Minnesota. Captained by […]

The 54th Union Massachusetts Infantry is Formed

*This date celebrates the creation of the all-Black Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Infantry in 1863.

Robert Gould Shaw, twenty-six year old member of a prominent Boston abolitionist family, organized the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Infantry in March of that year at Camp Meigs, Readville, and Massachusetts. Shaw had earlier served in the Seventh New York National Guard and the Second Massachusetts Infantry, and was appointed colonel of the Fifty-fourth in February of that year by Massachusetts’s governor John A. Andrew.

The Combahee River Raid occurs

*The Combahee River Raid occurred on this date in 1863; led by Harriet Tubman. In May of 1862 Tubman traveled to South Carolina where she joined Dr. Henry K. Durand, the Director of the freedman’s hospital at Port Royal. Soldiers as well as fugitives were dying; some of the most common illnesses were typhoid, cholera, […]