Posted Feb. 3, 2020 at LocalDVM.com
By Caroline Morse
HAGERSTOWN, Md. (WDVM)– In honor of Black History Month, Washington County residents reflect on the lives of African-American men and women during the Civil War.
Both enslaved and free, thousands of African-American men and women fought and died in the Civil War. Hood College History Professor Emilie Amt spoke about how most African-Americans lived with the fear of being abducted by the Confederate Army and therefore were some of the biggest supporters of the Union Army. Professor Amt said she believes African-Americans shaped the Civil War’s outcome and without them, our history could’ve been quite different.
“It was really an event that shaped us as a nation in terms of who we’re going to be as a society,” said Dr. Amt. “At that time, African-Americans knew that better than anyone. They knew it was about their freedom and we need to remember that when we think about the Civil War.”
More than 100 African-American men from Washington county served in the Union Army.
My wife and I are hobbyiest historians who are interested in Black History, some of our experiences are as follows:
1968 I drove thru riots in Wash DC and Baltimore on a Saturday after DrMLK’s death
Visited slave museum in Cincinnati, Ohio
Visited Frederick Douglas’s homes in Talbot County, Baltimore City and Wash DC
Visited slave quarters at Thomas Jefferson’s home and James Madison’s
Visited slave quarters of Roger Brooke Taney in Frederick
Visited slave auction area in Charleston, SC harbor
Visited slave quarters on plantation outside Charleston, SC
Traced Harriet Tubman’s life in Talbot County
Visited slave sites in Richmond & Petersburg, Va.
Visited Smithsonian Institute exhibits on slave history