How did the Civil War impact African Americans in Arkansas and the U.S.?
Subject(s): African Americans, Arkansas History, and US History
Time Period(s): (1850-1877) Civil War and Reconstruction
Grade level(s): 6-8 and 9-12
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Supporting question(s):
What contributions did African Americans make to the war effort in Arkansas and the U.S.?
How did life change for African Americans who were enslaved at the start of the war?
Source Set
- Resolutions passed by the Convention of the People of Arkansas
- “The Constitution Again Disregarded,” Memphis Daily Appeal, September 29, 1862.
- Report of William P. Mellen, 1864
- 57th United States Colored Infantry
- Report by Chaplain Asa Randall
- 24th Regt. U.S. Colored Troops. Let Soldiers in War, Be Citizens in Peace
- Mustered out colored volunteers at Little Rock, Arkansas
- Interview with Adeline Blakeley
Description
Resolutions defending slavery passed by the first meeting of the secession convention on March 20, 1861, weeks before the Civil War started.
Description
Memphis Daily Appeal article about President Lincoln’s preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, announcing that the slaves in territories under rebellion against the U.S. will be free January 1, 1863.
Description
Report relative to leasing abandoned plantations and affairs of the freed people in first special agency
Description
57th United States Colored Infantry pose together in Little Rock during the Civil War, 1865
Description
Report by Chaplain Asa Randall on classes held for members of the 54th United States Colored Troops, ca. 1865
Description
Drawing of the regimental flag and motto of the 24th Infantry Regiment, United States Colored Troops, ca. 1865
Description
Illustration showing African American soldiers mustering out in Little Rock, Arkansas from Harper’s Weekly, May 19, 1866.
Description
Interview with Adeline Blakeley, Fayetteville, AR, Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project, 1936
Additional resource(s):
PBS Africans in America: The Civil War
Encyclopedia of Arkansas: Black Union Troops
Primary Source Set: African Americans and the Civil War – State Historical Society of Iowa
Arkansas History of Celebrating Emancipation by Dr. Kelly Houston Jones
Arkansas Frameworks(s):
8th grade U.S. History
H.4.8.7 Analyze political, social, and economic effects of the Civil War on America including destruction of property and infrastructure, a weakened economy, a stronger federal government, and loss of life and livelihoods.
7-8 Arkansas History
H.1.ARH.4 Analyze the historical significance of and reasons for Arkansas’s involvement in the Civil War, including events, battles, and people (including the Sultana Disaster) in various regions of Arkansas
African American History
H.4.AAH.4 Identify the contributions and changing roles of African Americans during the Civil War as soldiers, spies, and regiments, and the impact of the Emancipation Proclamation.