Chronological History of the American Civil War

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Constitution, passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864, by the House on January 31, 1865, and ratified on December 6, 1865, abolished slavery as a legal institution. The amendment states: Section 1: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. Section 2: Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.” But what are the meaning of these words? “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude...” The meaning: The amendment abolished slavery and it also abolished bond service and peonage* which were forms of compulsory service based on a servant’s indebtedness to a master. *The word ‘peonage’ means a system by which debtors are bound in servitude to their creditors until their debts are paid. Such people were referred to as peons. “...except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted…” The meaning: Forced labor as a punishment upon conviction of a crime is a form of involuntary servitude allowed by the 13th Amendment under its “punishment-for-crime” exception. Other exceptions allowed by the 13th Amendment under its “punishment-for-crime” exception include serving on a jury and compulsory military service (the draft). “...shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction…” The meaning: Slavery, or forced labor, may not exist in the United States or any place that belongs to the

USA. “...Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.” The meaning: Congress will have the power to make laws to enforce this amendment.

Highest Ranking African American During the Civil War A few facts you might not know about the Great American Civil War. Martin Robison Delany (pictured) was born a free black man on May 6, 1812, in Charles Town, Virginia, now within West

Virginia. The youngest of five children, Delany was the son of a freed slave mother and grandson of a Mandingo prince, according to family reports. The family moved to Pennsylvania, so he could continue his education. He was also one of the first three blacks admitted to Harvard Medical School. He trained as an assistant and a physician, he treated patients during the cholera epidemics of 1833 and 1854 in Pittsburgh, when many doctors and residents fled the city. He worked alongside Frederick Douglass to publish the North Star. He was active in recruiting blacks for the United States Colored Troops. In January 1865, he proposes to President Lincoln a corps of black men led by black officers could

better serve to win over Southern blacks. Lincoln was impressed by Delany and described him as “a most extraordinary and intelligent man.” On February 8, 1865, Delany was commissioned as a major, becoming the first black line field officer in the U.S. Army and achieving the highest rank an African American would reach during the Civil War. African-Americans and the Confederate Army A few facts you might not know about the Great American Civil War. African Americans fought for the Confederate States of America. Black Confederates is a term often used to describe both enslaved and free African Americans who filled several different positions in support of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War (1861–1865). Most often this assistance was coerced rather than offered voluntarily. Those changes were also accompanied by widespread debate indicating that a significant minority of white Southerners opposed any change to the institution of slavery, even if that change might help bring about a Confederate victory. President Jefferson Davis signed into law on March 13, 1865 a bill calling for the involuntary enlistment of 200,000 black men. The War Department, however, acted quickly upon the new legislation, and General Orders No. 14 authorized the enlistment of