Murder in Money: The Death of Emmett Till As Catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement

Money. Rural Mississippi, 1954. A whistle. Then a murder. This, however, was not a murder over money, but rather in Money, a tiny one-shop town, whose primary inhabitants were sharecroppers, a throwback to antebellum times. That general store was owned by the Bryant family, whose owners included twenty-one year old Carolyn Bryant, a former beauty queen whose good looks were well-known around those parts.

It was that fateful day, when a fourteen year old boy from Chicago named Emmett Till came down to spend a few weeks visiting with relatives. He stayed along with several of his cousins at his great-uncle Mose "Preacher" Wright's home, in a nearby section of town exclusively populated by blacks. Unbeknownst to young Emmett, there was an unwritten "code" in rural Mississippi: it was well known in the Jim Crow South that there were certain things a black male - be it a young child, or an adult man - just did not do. The list was long, and extensive. His mother, Mamie Till Bradley, warned him before he boarded the train from Illinois that such "black codes" still existed. In fact, she feared a great deal for her son's safety, and was reticent to even allow him to Mississippi.

Nonetheless, the young Till was insistent, and as was unsurprising to those who knew him, he exuded a confidence in adolescence that made him fearless. However, street smarts in Chicago would only get a young black man so far in rural Money. Though 700 miles apart geographically, the two locales were more like a million miles apart sociologically, racially, and culturally.

There were unspoken rules Emmett would need to acquaint himself with that were prevalent throughout the South at this time, and most black men were acquiescent, if not downright submissive to the white race's presupposed dominance

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Charleston and James Island: Battlefields and Artillery Emplacements

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Dred Scott: The Implications of this SCOTUS Decision as a Causative Factor for the United States Civil War

The ramifications of the Dred Scott decision were broad and wide. Chief Justice Taney's interpretation of the Constitutionality of whether Scott should be allowed manumission not only stirred up and concretized abolitionist sentiment, but it would furthermore have broad implications on Lincoln's decision to issue a proclamation of Emancipation, as well.

Some argue that the case in and of itself was frivolous in nature; conjured up by some lawyers to gain notoriety, or wealthy abolitionists seeking to force a SCOTUS decision in 1857 that would ultimately decide the issue of slavery's legality. This was a propitiating factor in the creation of the Republican party as a direct contradiction to the Democratic party of the time; and also ultimately led to Lincoln's victory in the election of 1860. This, of course, caused seven states to secede by the time of his inauguration, setting in motion an irrevocable course towards war.

What, specifically, was it about Taney's decision that caused so much furor? For one thing, it further exacerbated the schism between North and South. Sectional tensions were inflamed as the Scott v. Sanford decision nullified the Missouri Compromise, thereby opening the doors to possible slavery in annexed territory, and for the first time since Marbury v. Madison, undoing a piece of congressional legislation. This decision also undid the concept of "Once Free Always Free," a tenet used as justification for Scott's release; and ultimately, it returned Scott to slavery. The decision also went further by denying citizenship -- and abnegating most rights -- of slaves. The decision, as it was handed down, protected the owner of chattel from seizure under the Due Process clause of the U.S. Constitution.

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The Role of African Americans in the Civil war

One would be remiss to neglect the absolute importance that African Americans played throughout the course of the Civil War, both North and South. From the war's outset, Southern Confederate leadership recognized their value as laborers, hard workers, and the unquestionable impressment into service they could leverage.

Nevertheless, Northern whites and Southern whites held widely disparate views of the role that these black men should play. For Southerners, there was no question that these black men would never be armed. "In the eyes of Southern whites, free blacks were the least trustworthy and most unessential segment of Southern society, and as the sectional controversy became more critical, whites began to restrict their limited freedom"(Glatthaar, 3). For Northern whites, the sentiment was that black men should not be used whatsoever, despite the fact that thousands of free black men were clamoring all across the Union at recruitment centers, courthouses and town halls offering up their services. To the Northern blacks, this would afford them opportunity to prove their worth, and essentially validate their freedom.

From the executive on down, Northern feelings varied greatly: Lincoln, at first, did not wish for the black men to join the armed forces. Prominent abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass clamored for the opportunity for black men to prove their mettle. And Union commanders such as General Butler would take it upon themselves to do things such as his issuance of General Order #3. Further complicating matters were the confiscation acts, which thus dictated that slaves could be held as contraband if they escaped Southern lines and came to the Union lines for succor. Despite all of this, the idea of arming the black man was far more progressive than either side wished to entertain during the initial phases of the Civil War.

As the war progressed, a movement began to form an all-black regiment under the encouragement of several prominent Massachusetts individuals and statesmen, such as the governor as well as Frederick Douglass, who himself volunteered two of his sons to fight in it. Chosen to lead this unit was a young Harvard graduate, Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, scion of a prominent and wealthy Massachusetts family. His selection could not have been more fortuitous. At first reticent to take on the role, Shaw felt that the "negro would be difficult to train," and was quite worried about what this would do to his career. Simultaneously, Lee and Davis of the Confederacy had issued their order that any black troops fighting for the Union army would not only be confiscated and enslaved by the South, but that their white commanders would summarily be executed. Thus this was a difficult time for all involved.

Nevertheless, Shaw (then a captain) tacitly agreed to take the assignment, and was promoted as regimental Colonel of what was designated the 54th Massachusetts Regiment. They began to muster in Readsville, Massachusetts, and the response was overwhelming; so much so that the 55th Massachusetts would be formed shortly thereafter to accommodate all of the willing conscripts. Under the tutelage of Sergeant Major Forbes - a rough and tumble Irishman - the grueling process of training began. Shaw himself remarked in a letter to his sister back in Boston that he found it remarkable how quickly the men learned and, in many instances, were superior in many facets to the white soldiers he had trained previously. This would prepare them for their first engagement, the Battle of Grimball's Landing, a spit of land on the plantation of Solomon Legare adjacent to James Island, South Carolina. An inauspicious, inhospitable and malarial region of the Lowcountry, Shaw's men would prove their mettle for the first time on July 16, 1863, as they ferried up the Stono River to disembark on Sol Legare Island. Shaw led his men, under the auspices of Union General Alfred Terry, to reconnoiter a Confederate artillery battery under the command of General Johnson Hagood. Though a short skirmish, the 54th Regt. did not turn tail and flee, as many Northern pundits predicted would happen. Rather, they proved themselves a worthy adversary and, though Union casualties were greater than the Confederate's, nevertheless forced the rebels to withdraw back towards the neighborhood of Secessionville as well as towards Battery Wagner, an as yet incomplete fort built in the sands of nearby Morris Island. This would be the prelude for a major conflict to come.

Though incomplete, Fort Wagner (as the battery was known) was considered to be one of the most formidable beachheads ever constructed in the United States Civil War. The battle was, in effect, two entirely separate engagements: the first took place prior to the Battle of Sol Legare, on July 11, 1863. The real battle for the 54th Massachusetts Regt. to cut their teeth came later on July 18, 1863 - two days after the skirmish on Mr. Legare's plantation. With Col. Shaw leading the charge up the ramparts, the 54th Mass. proved fallacious the Northern belief that blacks were inferior fighters. Quite the contrary: though the casualties were heavy, and the losses bloody, the 54th. Mass. proved itself a worthy adversary, both bold and brave. Despite this, Col. Shaw would be lost as he attempted to scale the parapet, and would disrespectfully be thrown into a mass grave on Shute's Folly (present-day Folly Beach), apparently with the bodies of his dead Massachusetts soldiers atop him, a desecration the Southerners felt was befitting any man who would command African Americans into battle. The engagement would go on until September before the South would finally capitulate; however, the North's Pyrrhic victory served as impetus for an influx of new black recruits to the Union army, and renewed the vigor of Northern whites to the Union cause. The victory would also set the stage for Union artillery to gain a foothold for the future shelling of downtown Charleston.

Black soldiers of the Union Army removing burying war dead.

In addition to the respect that African American soldiers were now receiving by virtue of their fighting valiantly for the Union Army was their eagerness to learn and their ability to hungrily absorb knowledge. The various regiments of colored troops set up both formal and informal educational programs for their soldiers, and this enabled the men not only to uplift themselves, but also to produce a smarter, better warrior. The implications of education on the military indoctrination process are obvious; and the benefits were certainly evident. Heretofore the simple act of educating blacks was considered a crime; now, its benefits recognizable, it was fostered and encouraged. Individuals such as Edwin Pierce of Boston found the former slave troops to be "apt pupils, quick to grasp at the opportunity to learn"(Cornish, 369).

Young black children on the portico of the Circular Congregational Church, Charleston, 1865.

Following the cessation of conflict, black troops played an incongruous role that often appeared to be retributive towards the former rebels: as martial patrol and guards in cities such as Savannah and Charleston, and as local overseers of the Freedmen's Bureau in cities all over the South. For many of their former masters, this was seen as an especially personal affront, yet was one that the African American soldiers from the North relished. As to be expected, conflict arose at various points in the postbellum years which some have - correctly or incorrectly - attributed as a reason for the prolonged regression of civil rights that led into the Jim Crow era.

Nevertheless, the positive contributions and value the African Americans played in helping secure a Northern victory can not be downplayed. The manpower they provided; the skilled labor they brought to bear; and their mental and military acuity were immeasurable. The shear number of these men alone undoubtedly marked a tipping point for the North, especially when juxtaposed to the racist attitudes of the Southern leadership, who refused to utilize this terrific resource.

JAMES ALFRED MOLNAR
Graduate School of Arts & Science Wake Forest University

http://www.CharlestonGraveyards.com
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SECESSIONVILLE: The Siege of Charleston, 1862-3

The campaign to take the pivotal city of Charleston began with an initial assault on the Tower Battery located in Secessionville, a village of Charleston located on James Island. It is still not known with certainty to this day if the name "Secessionville" arose as a result of the outbreak of the War Between the States, or if it referred to an earlier conflict in the 1850s regarding a revolt by planters in this village who wished to "secede" from the City of Charleston over tax grievances. Regardless, Charleston - the birthplace of secession - was considered the hotbed of rebellion; leveling this city en route to its surrender would be a very symbolic act of retribution by the Federal forces and a moral victory for the Union. The proximity of the Tower Battery, later to be renamed Fort Lamar after its commander Colonel Lamar, was an essential asset to gaining unfettered sightlines for Union artillery to begin shelling the stately homes of Charleston's peninsula.

Preparations for this siege campaign began in earnest in early 1862. The newly-assigned Confederate General Robert E. Lee, outmanned and outgunned by Union naval forces, decided to "adopt a strategy of inland defense in an attempt to lure the Northerners from their powerful naval guns". However, Lee was transfixed by his desire to protect Charleston and Savannah, as well. His engineers tirelessly toiled to fortify both cities with gun emplacements, reinforced batteries and earthworks, and recruited local townsmen in both cities to provide an additional militia force for defense.

Accordingly, Confederate Major General John Pemberton began dismantling and repositioning Confederate guns from areas in close proximity over to Charleston, following Lee's mandate. Pemberton "ordered 1st District Commander Colonel Arthur M. Manigault to dismantle the Georgetown, South Carolina batteries up the coast from Charleston and ship the guns and attendant troops to the latter." The South Carolina military liaison, Brigadier General States Rights Gist, worked concurrently "to smooth relations between the army and civilian leaders" following this bold repurposing of armaments and ordnance, as everyone from South Carolina Governor Pickens to the mayor of Charleston were incensed."

MAP OF CHARLESTON, JAMES ISLAND, AND HARBOR DEFENSES

On the Federal side of the battle lines, General David Hunter was firmly in command. A "darling of the Radical Republicans, [Hunter] soon found himself in command of the Union forces that made up the Department of the South." "He and his chief subordinate, Henry Benham, were recent arrivals" to the South Carolina theater. Benham commanded 6,500 troops, comprised of units from the 8th Michigan, 3rd New Hampshire, 7th Connecticut, 28th Massachusetts, and 79th New York "Highlanders," all preparing for assault on the southern flank of the Confederate stronghold on James Island.

Confederate troops were busily making preparations to remove the bulk of emplacements on Cole Island and Battery Island, a group of barrier islands to the Southern and Eastern portions of James Island. "Clement Stevens took a week to dismantle the 17 guns on Coles and the two pieces on Battery Island. With the guns' transfer from Stono Inlet... three companies of artillerymen took up posts in the new works near Elliot's Cut." While all of this was taking place, four artillery pieces were loaded onto the Confederate transport vessel Planter, and were to be delivered to Fort Ripley in the center of Charleston Harbor. An industrious and clever African-American aboard the vessel and who served as the pilot, Robert Smalls, led "a crew of five black men" aboard ship. This would be a crucial point for what occurred next. Despite "general orders forbidding a ship's captain and crew from spending the night ashore, those in charge of the transport did exactly that, leaving Smalls and his comrades aboard by themselves." Not surprisingly, the cunning Smalls leveraged this opportunity to unhatch his scheme to make off with the transport vessel, its four guns and 200 lbs. of ammunition in its cargo holds.

Smalls led the transport out of its berth in the port's Southern Wharf at 3 a.m., below the watchful eye of Confederate guards ashore. "Smalls' plan had worked perfectly... suddenly, Smalls and his crew were free." The commandeered ship surrendered itself to the Union naval blockade, and the ship was subsequently dispatched to "Port Royal to report directly to Flag Officer Du Pont himself"(Brennan 26). Smalls later "revealed that Coles Island and its batteries, the long-standing protectors of Stono Inlet and Charleston's flank, had been abandoned." Thus with this crucial information the key to Charleston's backdoor was virtually handed to the Federals.

Later that May, Gen. States Rights Gist - the overall commander of James Island - "pulled most of Colonel Stevens' 24th South Carolina off Coles Island and relocated them nearer Secessionville." By May 20th, the Union Navy began a constant reconnaissance of James Island, including sending probes up the Stono River. Having ascertained closely-guarded personnel and ordnance deployment information from Robert Smalls, what should have been a clear-cut attack plan by Federal forces under Henry Benham became contentious. A confluence of miscommunication and posturing, including several disagreements with Admiral Du Pont, exacerbated this. "In an obvious effort to squelch Benham, [Du Pont] directed his correspondence to Major General Hunter and spared no one in his sharp denunciation of Benham's ways and means." This was but the first misstep that derailed plans for a quick and easy defeat of the "cradle of secession."

Moving in to lay siege on Charleston by flanking it from the Southeast via James Island would have not only served to likely shorten the war, but additionally the takeover of Charleston Harbor would have abnegated any chances of Confederate blockade runners re-supplying the secessionists with very needed materiel, supplies and ordnance from Europe. As it would stand, this did not turn out to be the case. General Beauregard had "stated that James Island was the key to Charleston, and the Union forces realized this." As preparations were being made for the Union assault on James Island, faulty intelligence led them to believe that the Confederacy had an overstrength group in excess of 12,000 soldiers available for the Island's defense. This was patently untrue. "Realizing that the main attack [by the Federals] might be directed against the breastwork at Secessionville, General Pemberton C.S.A. instructed Brig. Gen. W.D. Smith to hold at 'any cost' the woods west of Secessionville."

THE BATTLE OF SECESSIONVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA

At 3 A.M., June 16th, the Union forces made their attack on the Tower Battery at Secessionville, situated on a peninsula barely 125 yards wide. Surrounded by marsh on three sides, this was difficult terrain and depending upon the tidal marsh, very difficult to traverse without a readily-accessible causeway. Leading the charge for the Union forces were the elite Eighth Michigan and the Seventy-ninth New York Highlanders. On their first infantry charge, Confederate Colonel Lamar fired grape shot from a Columbiad directly into the center of the Union column, decimating the center of the leading charge of the Eighth Michigan, who were the regimental front. "Confederate troops rushed to the aid" of Col. Lamar, led by the "Pee Dee Battaltion... [and the] Charleston Battalion, led by Lt. Col. P.C. Gaillard." As Union forces advanced on them, hand-to-hand and bayonet fighting occurred heavily.

Concurrently, the "Third New Hampshire and some of the troops of the Third Rhode Island of the First Division had marched down the other peninsula, which is separated only by a small creek from the peninsula on which the battery was located." Meanwhile, the "situation on the parapet was precarious." A battalion of Louisianan troops crossed a footbridge and began to fend off the Third New Hampshire who were firing upon the rear of the Confederate artillerymen inside the earthworks. "A two-gun battery of 24-pounders was placed in front of E.M. Clark's house, later known as Battery Reed, for the purpose of enfilading an enemy attack on the breastwork at Secessionville a mile away." The U.S. Navy gunboats positioned on the Stono River were then called upon to provide more covering fire for the Union troops who were being repulsed after their first two assaults on the battery. "The gunboats Ellen and E.B. Hale, both light-draft boats," were called upon to shell from their position over a mile away. Unfortunately, without accurate spotting and the large distance between the boats and the Secessionville peninsula, the shells were said to strike "as often around Federals as Rebels".

Once the Union retreat was called, 685 men were counted as casualties from the striking force of 6,600. Because the Union forces were "not committed simultaneously, [the battle] evolved into three waves of troops," leaving brief lulls between the volleys of attack.

JAMES ISLAND DEFENSES

After sailing, rowing, and wading up the Stono River, these troops were encamped on the western shores of James Island, South Carolina, awaiting their orders to attack the "Tower Battery," as Fort Lamar was then known. This large Confederate defense site, replete with a 110-foot lookout tower, numerous artillery pieces and an enfilade position -- coupled with marsh to the North, and marsh, mud and a river to the South -- provided a very difficult fort to defeat. Moreover, with the arrival of high tide this defensive position was almost peninsular in its geography; thus the Union soldiers would have tremendous difficulty in flanking it from any direction. The Federal surveyors and engineers also did themselves a great disservice; by not properly surveiling the surrounding marshland of James Island, US forces from the 3rd New Hampshire who may have possibly altered the outcome of this decisive battle became mired in more than head-deep pluff mud and marsh grass as they tried to come to the aid of their Federal comrades-in-arms from Michigan who were being decimated by the Confederate artillery.

JAMES ALFRED MOLNAR
Graduate School of Arts & Science Wake Forest University

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Reconstruction and the Post-Bellum South

Cunning connivance is the thought that comes to mind when uttering the phrase "conjure tales." The word "conjure" itself is rich with meaning; it conveys the idea of a deliberate falsehood when someone conjures up a tall tale. Yet within the context of "Conjure Tales," it likely takes on the meaning, "of or practicing folk magic; a conjure woman." The oft-repeated phrase spoken by Julius, to "cunjuh wuk" likely seems to reference the latter of the two definitions, but takes on a myriad of meanings -- possibly even a double entendre - as Julius refers to the work of conjurers such as Tenie or Primus, all the while conjuring up tall tales himself! These clever yet untrue tales, which are met with great delight by his employers, most often relay a message that is supposed to not only entertain, but serve as a warning (i.e., not to knock down the schoolhouse, or not to purchase the vineyard). It is usually learned quickly thereafter that there was another reason for these tales: Julius had other designs.

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Smallpox Variola in Colonial America

Where would the United States of America be today were it not for variola? The first military commander in chief and future first president of this incipient nation nearly lost his life - or at least came close - to the pestilential smallpox strain. Yet it was this early illness experienced by a young George Washington that helped formulate and fashion his overall military strategy as he led the various groups of volunteer militia in their fight for independence from the British. Were it not for some of these experiences, Washington may have chosen a different route and inexorably changed the course of North American history.

From the point of first contact with the Amerindians, it became quite obvious that natural immunity to variola - which was common in Europe as it spread frequently across that continent - was missing from the natives' biological and immunological makeup. This was due as well to their somewhat isolated environments. Moreover, it was recorded that variola "became more virulent in the three centuries leading up to 1800," making it even more likely that morbidity and mortality rates would be high for the Indians.

As entire Indian communities succumbed to Variola in the early epidemics, mortality stemmed not just from the pestilence itself but also from famine and thirst as the raging contagion left no one well enough to care for the ill. Furthermore, Native American healing customs may also have exacerbated the effects of variola.

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