Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #AmericanHistory

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#OTD in 1864 Brig. Gen. Henry H. Lockwood wrote to his superiors about his concerns regarding Maryland's apprenticeship system, especially as it applied to newly emancipated children. Lockwood explained how former enslavers were exploiting the system to their own advantage. Image
#Slavery was abolished in #Maryland on November 1, 1864, when the state legislature adopted a new state constitution. The new constitution did not outlaw forced labor. Children of "unfit" parents could legally forced into apprenticeships that often times resembled slavery.
The children of newly emancipated people were overwhelmingly subject to forced apprenticeships, often times being forced to work for the people that formerly enslaved them and their parents. This development was concerning to General Lockwood.
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Allan Pinkerton was born #OTD in 1819 in Glasgow, Scotland. He headed the Union Intelligence Service during the Civil War and helped lay the foundation for the U.S. Secret Service, FBI, and CIA. He also founded the famed Pinkerton National Detective Agency, which still exists.
Pinkerton emigrated to United States 1842 and founded a cooperage in Dundee, Illinois, just outside of Chicago. He became an abolitionist and operated a safe house for fugitive enslaved people on the Underground Railroad.
Pinkerton was appointed as the first Chicago police detective in 1849 after uncovering a counterfeit scheme. He founded what would become the Pinkerton National Detective Agency in 1850. The Pinkerton Agency specialized in investigating train robberies.
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“The American resistance placed a great deal of emphasis on property rights, but marriage laws prevented most married women from enjoying property rights.” amrevmuseum.org/virtualexhibit… #July4 #IndependenceDay #womenshistory 1/
#womenshistory: “In a letter dated March 31, 1776, Abigail Adams writes to her husband, John Adams, urging him and the other members of the Continental Congress not to forget about the nation’s women when fighting for #America’s #independence.” history.com/.amp/this-day-… 2/ Image
#WomensHistory: “I desire you would Remember the Ladies.” -Letter from Abigail Adams to John Adams, 31 March #1776 masshist.org/digitaladams/a…
*
“We know better than to repeal our Masculine systems.” -Letter from John Adams to Abigail Adams, 14 April 1776 masshist.org/digitaladams/a… 3/ ImageImage
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#OTD in 1862 Newton Knight reenlisted in the Confederate Army after being on furlough. He originally enlisted in July of 1861. He deserted in October of 1862 and headed home after he received word the Confederate Army had taken his family's horses for the war effort.
There is much debate and mystery surrounding Knight, his actions during and after the war, and what motivated him. However, Knight's life provides insight into conflicting ideas of race, class, and politics in Mississippi and the South writ large during the Civil War.
Knight was a yeoman farmer in Jones County, Mississippi when the war broke out. According to historian @vikki_bynum, only 12% of the county's population was Black and most whites were subsistence farmers like Knight.
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The Battle of Palmito Ranch was fought in Texas #OTD in 1865. The Confederate victory is widely considered the last battle of the Civil War. The battle occurred over one month after Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox and two days after Jefferson Davis was captured. Image
Both sides knew the war was virtually over, but a small contingent of Confederate forces refused to surrender near Brownsville, Texas. Many of the men serving under the Union Army there were members of the United States Colored Troops.
A fragile cease fire had been agreed to between the two sides on May 11. However, Confederate Lt. Gen. Edmund Smith of the Trans-Mississippi Department refused to accept the inevitable end of the war.
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#OTD in 1864 the House passed the Wade-Davis Reconstruction bill. The House version of the bill was written by Rep. Henry Davis of Maryland. By this time Congress attempted to preemptively take control of post-war policy, creating a rift with President Lincoln.
Lincoln issued the "Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction" on December 8, 1863. It required only 10 percent of a seceding state's population to take an oath of loyalty before a new state government could be formed. These states would also be required to abolish slavery.
Radical Republicans in Congress felt Lincoln's plan was too lenient and began crafting legislation of their own to address the issue. They asserted that Confederate states were not states, but conquered territory. Lincoln maintained that those states never legally seceded.
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#OTD in 1865 President Andrew Johnson put out a reward of $100,000 dollars (Approximately $2 million in today's money) for the capture of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Davis and a small group of close advisors had fled Richmond in early April. Image
They initially fled to Danville, Virginia but had to quickly leave because the Union Army was hot on their tail. They arrived in the town of Washington, Georgia in Wilkes County of May 3rd. He held his last meeting the next day. Image
Davis reunited with his family on May 7th and they arrived in Abbeville on May 8th. During this time, it was believed by the United States Government that Davis played a role in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Image
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"When you push against a system and it is an unjust system, you must prepare yourself mentally for the isolation and resistance that comes with that. Activism and whistleblowing looks sexy on TV, but it’s hard on your mind and wellbeing." --Dr. Monica Cox greeneracresvaluenetwork.wordpress.com/2022/04/27/dai…
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1/5 How many lies can you pack into one article? First, Ty says that we argue that Lee was a "benevolent slave master." No, we argue he wasn't a slave master at all! Lee owned no slaves at the time of the war. Hence he wasn't good or bad: he simply owned no slaves. #FactsMatter
2/5 @IndyRecorder actually published an article blaming Lee for the death of U.S. soldiers. But Lee wouldn't have killed a single U.S. soldier that did not invade VA first. So why isn't Lincoln responsible? What law did Lee break? What law did VA break? The article doesn't say!
3/5 Was Lee a reluctant to join the Confederacy? Well, yes! Is it a myth? Nope. We just look at his own words. Strangely @IndyRecorder doesn't quote Lee at all! Mind if I do? Pre-war quotes, of course! No "mythology here."
#twitterstorians #USHistory
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#OTD in 1865 Charleston, South Carolina Mayor Charles Macbeth surrendered the city to Lieutenant Colonel A.G. Bennett of the 21st United States Colored Troops. The city had been under siege since the summer of 1863 and its harbor contained Ft. Sumter, where the war began.
Confederate General Beauregard ordered the evacuation three days earlier, nearly four years after he commanded the initial assault of Ft. Sumter in April, 1861. By the afternoon a company of the 54th Mass. (USCT) was helping to extinguish the flames set by the retreating rebels.
Many of the first Union soldiers to enter Charleston were from the USCT and they left a wake of liberation for Black Charlestonians who were legally enslaved the day prior. Days later the 55th Mass. (USCT) walked the streets of downtown singing "John Brown's Body."
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#OTD in 1884 the Chicago Tribune reported on Senate hearings regarding the Danville Massacre in Virginia. The massacre took place on November 3, 1883. The Chicago Tribune’s reporting highlights the tension between white Democrats, Black Republicans and voting at the time. Image
The Danville Massacre (also referred to as the Danville Race Riot) was a violent white backlash to bi-racial democracy in Virginia during the Readjuster movement. The Readjuster Party supported legislation to help alleviate the state's debt incurred during the Civil War.
Danville had thriving majority Black population by the 1880s. Many whites in the area described Black political power as "Negro rule." The Tribune's report quoted a white witness who stated that the Readjusters imposed "the worst rule any people were ever cursed with."
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February 1st marks the beginning of #BlackHistoryMonth and we will be dedicating much of our #OTD posts to Black history throughout the 19th century, particularly during the Civil War Era. You can read about the origins of Black History Month here: asalh.org/about-us/origi…
With that said, #OnThisDay in 1865, Dr. John Rock became the first African American admitted to the bar of the United States Supreme Court. This occurred the same day President Lincoln signed the 13th Amendment. #History #HistoryMatters #USHistory #AmericanHistory
John Rock lived an extraordinary life. He was a teacher, a prolific abolitionist writer and speaker, a dentist, medical doctor, and lawyer. Rock was born a free man in New Jersey in 1825 and became a teacher at age 19 while studying medicine. #Abolitionist #Teacher
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#OTD in 1865 the Thirteenth Amendment passed the House of Representatives, sending it to the states for ratification. The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in the United States “…except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted."
The amendment ended race-based chattel slavery in America, but did not rid the nation of forced labor, which exists through America’s prison system today. #13thAmendment #Constitution #slavery #HistoryMatters #CivilWar #USCivilWar #AmericanCivilWar #PoliticalHistory #knowhistory
Congress abolished slavery in Washington D.C. in 1862. The Emancipation Proclamation outlawed slavery in rebelling states Jan. 1, 1863 and former rebel states were forced to ban slavery in new state constitutions. Republicans in Congress still wanted a Constitutional Amendment.
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#OTD in 1861 a fugitive enslaved person named Sara Lucy Bagby became the last person to be returned to their owner under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. It is unclear when Bagby was born but she was sold in January of 1852 in Richmond to John Goshorn for $600 dollars.
Bagby (More commonly known as Lucy), escaped to Ohio via the Underground Railroad in 1860 and settled in Cleveland. For a short time, she worked as a domestic servant for Republican congressman Albert G. Riddle and as a jeweler
She was arrested on January 19, 1861 and was returned to Goshorn on the 24th. However, After the Emancipation Proclamation in early 1863, Bagby made her way to Pittsburgh, married a man named George Johnson, and relocated with him to Cleveland. Bagby died on July 14th, 1906.
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#OTD in 1848 gold was found at Sutter’s Mill, California. This spurred the California Gold Rush, as northern Free-Soilers and pro-slavery Southerners both flocked to the new territory acquired through the Mexican-American War. #OnThisDay #OnThisDate #TodayInHistory #GoldRush
The battle over California’s fate as a free or slave state ignited intense debate in Congress, deepening the divide between the free North and the slave South. #California #Slavery #CaliforniaHistory
The prospect of a free California threatened to upset the even balance between free and slave states, something that southern slaveholders were unwilling to accept without certain concessions. The issue was temporarily resolved through the Compromise of 1850.
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Issue #36: The Genesis of “Ledger Money” and the Modern Financial System

maroonmacro.substack.com/p/issue-36-the…

#LedgerMoney, #FinancialSystems, #DevelopmentTimeline
Modern culture blames parents for forces beyond their control | Aeon Essays

aeon.co/essays/modern-…

#culture, #essay, #AdultChildren, #ParentalEstrangement, #blame, #psychology, #responsibility
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I couldn’t imagine a greater holiday gift than this letter from the @NCRMuseum I recieved this #Christmas about items from @radfordu’s Feburary 29, 2016 @Blklivesmatter protest of Donald Trump being added to their permanent collection!
The protests against Donald Trump eventually became the largest in United States history. Donald Trump, who came into political existance by falsely claiming that the first black president wasn’t legitimate or a natural-born citizen, is the first president to be impeached twice..
and is most known for his contemporary bigotry, lies and mishandling of COVID-19 pandemic, refusal to concede re-election defeat, and violent insurrection of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
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#MemorialDay2021 Let's talk about the origins of Decoration Day. In Race and Reunion, historian David Blight highlights the first Memorial Day. Founded by Black Americans, Decoration Day was held May 1, 1865 at a racetrack/ war prison where freedmen reburied Union soldiers. Image
They then held a ceremony to honor the 257 fallen soldiers (on this site in South Carolina) called "Martyrs of the Race Course." In the days prior, Black men built an enclosure around the burial ground & created a cemetery of neat rows to honor the US.
On the Morning of May 1, thousands of Black school children from the freedman schools marched along with roses for the fallen while singing "John Brown's Body."
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The History of White People in America | Official Trailer via @YouTube
#ADOs #LineageMatters #ReparationNOW #HistoryofWhitePeopleinAmerica#AmericanHistory

How America Invented Race | The History of White People in America via @YouTube
“The American Slave Coast: A History of the Slave-Breeding Industry” Book Talk w/ Co-Authors Ned & Constance Sublette, via @YouTube
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Daily Bookmarks to GAVNet 12/03/2020 greeneracresvaluenetwork.wordpress.com/2020/12/03/dai…
This is how microorganisms can produce renewable energy for us

sciencex.com/news/2020-12-m…

#microbes #RenewableEnergy
This Japanese Shop Is 1,020 Years Old. It Knows a Bit About Surviving Crises.

nytimes.com/2020/12/02/bus…

#japan #business #sustainability
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Daily Bookmarks to GAVNet 11/30/2020 greeneracresvaluenetwork.wordpress.com/2020/11/30/dai…
California Exodus: An online industry seizes COVID-19 to sell the Red State Dream

calmatters.org/economy/2020/0…

#california #RealEstate #emigration #COVID19
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It’s Day 17 of the MOCA 40 Stories campaign where we celebrate MOCA's 40th Anniversary by sharing 40 stories over 40 days on social media.

Each story reveals a facet of the untold history of MOCA, using iconic archival images from the Museum’s Collections. (1/6)
In the ’60s and ’70s, Chinese movie theaters were prevalent in Manhattan’s Chinatown, usually serving as places for members of the community to gather and reclaim a sense of home by watching films in their mother tongue. (2/6)
But with the rise of technology and the ability to watch films and television at home, the theaters saw a sharp decline in the late ’80s and early ’90s. In 1993, Sun Sing Theater, located on East Broadway, shuttered and remained unoccupied for a time. (3/6)
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