LibGuides: African American History: The American Civil War

The American Civil War, 1861-1865

Featured Resources

The American Civil War, 1861-1865

"Southern blacks, largely illiterate and unfamiliar with the activities of northern abolitionists, observed the outbreak of war more cautiously. However, once they understood that the war could hasten their freedom, most grasped every opportunity to aid the Union army. Their reactions to the war's outbreak destroyed the myth of the happy slave. "

-From African Americans and the Civil War, by Gabriel Burns Stepto, cited below

Unidentified African American Civil War Veteran
(click on image to enlarge, cited below)

Featured Online Collections & Exhibits

Use the links below to access the following online collections.

Library of Congress: Civil War Image - Depictions of African Americans in the War Effort
This Primary Source Set from the Classroom Materials collection at the Library of Congress houses an array of photos, images, and other primary source items.
Library of Congress: Abraham Lincoln Papers
"The papers of Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), lawyer, representative from Illinois, and sixteenth president of the United States, contain approximately 40,550 documents dating from 1774 to 1948, although most of the collection spans from the 1850s through Lincoln’s presidency (1861-1865). "
African Americans in Civil War Medicine from the National Institutes of Health
This online exhibit "Binding Wounds, Pushing Boundaries: African Americans in Civil War Medicine looks at the men and women who served as surgeons and nurses and how their work as medical providers challenged the prescribed notions of race and gender."
The Civil War: Black American Contributions to Union Intelligence
AN article from "Studies in Intelligence", Winter 1998-1999
National Archives: Black Soldiers in the Civil War
An article from the publication "Social Education" - on the National Archive website.
Library of Congress: Photographs of African Americans During the Civil War
A collection of images, in a digital collection from the Library of Congress
13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Abolition of Slavery (1865)
From the America's Historical Documents collection at the National Archives
Black Men in Navy Blue During the Civil War
A 3 part article from the National Archives' publication Prologue
Library of Congress: The African American Odyssey - A Quest for Full Citizenship
This Library of Congress collection features "more than 240 items, including books, government documents, manuscripts, maps, musical scores, and plays in the largest black history exhibit ever presented by the Library."
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Includes the following sections: Slavery—The Peculiar Institution | Free Blacks in the Antebellum Period | Abolition, Anti-Slavery Movements, and the Rise of the Sectional Controversy | The Civil War | Reconstruction and Its Aftermath | The Booker T. Washington Era | World War I and Postwar Society | The Depression, The New Deal, and World War II | The Civil Rights Era
Library of Congress: Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861-1877
A part of the larger "U.S. History Primary Source Timeline" collection, this presentation links to short articles and primary resources.
Library of Congress: Time Line of the Civil War
A timeline of the Civil War, each by year and major event - includes primary source documents and images - from the Library of Congress
American Civil War - Google Arts & Culture
A collection of images from Google Arts & Culture

The American Civil War, 1861-1865

Featured Videos

The Civil War: A Film by Ken Burns Streaming on Films on Demand - Includes all 9 episodes
Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861-1877 Available online in Films on Demand
The Civil War and Reconstruction with David Blight A series of lectures, posted on the Yale Courses page on Youtube, can also be viewed within the "Session" section, along with additional materials, from this Open Yale Courses website
Crash Course: Black Americans in the Civil War Number 18 in the "Black American History" series
Crash Course: The Rise of Cotton A 2021 video from Black American History
The Heroic First Black Regiment of the Civil War A 2022 video from History
The History of the Black Soldier A short video from Black History In Two Minutes (Or So)
How Black Union Soldiers Went from Slavery to Forever Free A short video from the Smithsonian Channel
How Southern Socialites Rewrote Civil War History "The United Daughters of the Confederacy altered the South's memory of the Civil War." - A video from Vox
Reconstruction: America After the Civil War—Episode 1 "Experience the aftermath of the Civil War—a bewildering, exhilarating, and terrifying time. African-Americans who had played a crucial role in the war now grappled with the terms and implications of Reconstruction and their hard-won freedom." Streaming on Films on Demand
Ted Talks: One of our best secrets: African American victories in the Civil War A 2018 talk by Hari Jones at TEDxGreensboro
Voices of the Civil War Episode 1: "The Original Sin" Part 1 Episode one of a services about the Civil War from the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History (CHWMAAH) channel on YouTube
What They Didn't Teach You About the Civil War A 2020 video from The Gravel Institute

The American Civil War, 1861-1865

Featured Podcasts

Civil War “Contraband”
An episode of Dig: A History Podcast
Slavery and the Civil War - Teaching Hard History (podcast)
Episode 1, season 1 of the podcast, Teaching Hard History - made as a part of Teaching Tolerance, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center
The Civil War and Reconstruction with David Blight
A series of lectures, posted on the Yale Courses page on Youtube, can also be viewed within the "Session" section, along with additional materials, from this Open Yale Courses website
Seizing Freedom (podcast)
"The story of the end of the Civil War you've probably been taught is that the slaves were freed by Northern white men (and maybe a handful of famous Underground Railroad conductors). What's missing? The story of how Black Americans risked their lives to fight for their own visions of what freedom could be—struggling for their dignity in the face of horrific violence. Seizing Freedom tells the stories of these unsung American heroes."
15 Minute History: Causes of the U.S. Civil War (part 1)
Episode 21 from the University of Texas podcast "15 Minute History"
15 Minute History: Causes of the U.S. Civil War (part 2)
Episode 22 from the University of Texas podcast "15 Minute History"

Source Citations:

African Americans and the Civil War. (2003). In G. B. Stepto (Ed.), The African-American Years: Chronologies of American History and Experience (pp. 169-189). Charles Scribner's Sons. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3409100016/GVRL?u=aubu98092&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=edfaae99

"Unidentified African American Civil War veteran in Grand Army of the Republic uniform with two children" by Goodman And Springer, Free to Use and Reuse: Veterans is in the Public Domain

Holman Library

African American History

The American Civil War, 1861-1865

Featured Resources

The American Civil War, 1861-1865

Featured Online Collections & Exhibits

The American Civil War, 1861-1865

Featured Articles

Background Articles

Popular Source Articles

The American Civil War, 1861-1865

Featured Videos

The American Civil War, 1861-1865

Featured Podcasts