Abby Eller on “The Destruction of Slavery During the Civil War”

At the outbreak of the Civil War, as Southern white men went off to fight, everyone knew they could count on the labor and loyalty of their slaves back home. Or could they?

Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation has been criticized for only freeing the slaves in the rebel states but not in the loyal slave states. It is said that it did not really free any slaves at all. Or did it?

Would it surprise you to know that tens of thousands of slaves were already emancipated before the Emancipation Proclamation?

Come join us to hear the fascinating story of the demise of slavery during the Civil War, and how decisive this was to the war’s outcome.