The 1845 autobiography, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, provides an elaborate examination of the hardships of slavery. Frederick Douglass' firsthand recounting of the whippings, beatings, and hangings he observed as a slave in the nineteenth century vividly illustrate the poor trea...

Thomas Jefferson once said, "Maintaining slavery was like holding a wolf by its ears. You didn't like it, but you didn't dare let it go." (Civil War) Slavery was apart of this nation's birth. It would be the deciding factor in the separation from North and South. The separa...

What do you think of when you hear the name Abraham Lincoln? You're probably picturing a tall man with a beard and that tall silk hat. That's "Honest Abe," and he was the President that freed the enslaved people. The President went from a cabin to the white house. Those are all significant achie...

African Americans & stereotyping Nowadays lots of races are stereotyped, but African Americans are one of the most frequent racial groups stereotyped against. Negative stereotypes of African Americans have been around ever since slavery. The stereotypes served a strong purpose. The stereotypes ju...

The Civil War was arguably the darkest moment in the history of America. For the first time brother fought brother and The Union had to fight to stay whole. Southern states believed in their right to own slaves and though Lincoln formally addressed that he would not interfere with that right, the s...

Should History be paid for? Slavery and discrimination of human beings is a terrible, inhumane practice and is something that should never be done, and should never have been done. The United States of America was one of the biggest practitioners of this injustice in the past and this is someth...

Framing Truth In a black and white photograph, nine men are featured standing outside "Pine Cottage," their living quarters. After a quick overview of the photograph, a few things become clear, these men enjoy themselves and each other's company. One man stands casually, gripping hi...

Why America Fought the Civil War Many call it the War Between the States, and while it is known more commonly as the Civil War, there was nothing civil about it. It tore a nation apart, and forever changed the course of the United States. It wrecked countless homes, and only slightly fewer lives ...

The Dred Scott case was one, which had a major impact on bringing the nation nearer to war (Mullane 132-133). Dred Scott was a slave owned by army surgeon Dr. John Emerson, and accompanied him when he left his Missouri home to spend several years in Illinois and the Louisiana Purchase Territory (n...

The American Civil War, from 1861-1865, marked one of the most permanent changes in American history; transforming the country economically, politically and socially, leading to the virtual reconstruction of a burgeoning nation. Whilst the war increased northern prosperity, the South's entire socie...

Mark Twain and Joel Chandler Harris take a non-stereotypical attitude toward the Civil War in The Private History of a Campaign that Failed and A Story of the War. The traditional view of the Civil War is that the Southerners were very spirited about beating the Yankees and keeping their slaves whi...