Description
Book SynopsisSome were slaves who endured their last years of servitude before escaping from their masters; some were soldiers who fought for the freedom of their brethren and for equal rights; some were reporters who covered the defeat of their oppressors. Here, for the first time, are collected the testimonies of African Americans who witnessed the Civil War. They include the great abolitionist Frederick Douglass on the meaning of the war; Martin R. Delany on his meeting with Lincoln to gain permission to raise an army of African Americans; Susie King Taylor on her life as a laundress and nurse to a Union regiment in the deep South; Elizabeth Keckley, Mary Todd Lincoln's seamstress, on Abraham Lincoln's journey to Richmond after its fall; Elijah P. Marrs on rising from slave to Union sergeant while fighting for his freedom in Kentucky; letters from black soldiers to black newspapers; and much more.
Trade Review"The editors have done an exceptional job... highly recommended to school and public collections..." -- Kliatt.
"Yet another outstanding anthology from Lawrence Hill Books in its Library of Black America series...." -- Dallas Morning News.
"Gives voice to soldiers, slaves, journalists, and abolitionists, providing the under-explored perspective of Blacks who lived through the Civil War..." -- The Crisis.
"An excellent compilation..." -- Booklist.
"Great find of the month..." -- Detroit Free Press.
Table of ContentsPreface; Introduction: Ride the High Country or "They Went Thataway"; Cowboy Codes: Straight & Pure & All Boy; When We were Young: Nostalgia & the Cowboy Hero; Arms & the Man: The Friendly Gun; Give Me My Boots & Saddles: Camp Cowboy; Tall in the Saddle: Romance on the Range; White Hats & White Heroes: Who Is That Other Guy?; Virgin Land: Landscape, Nature, & Masculinity; Corporate Cowboys & the Shaping of a Nation; Postscript - The Frontiersman (1938); List of Films Mentioned; References; Index.
