See the ASALH Conference on C-Span-3!
Tune into C-SPAN-3, American History TV to see the Saturday,
October 8th luncheon panel on African American Burial Grounds.
Air dates are as follows:
November 24th-3pm & 11pm EST
November 25th-7am EST
November 27th-1am & 2pm EST
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ABOUT THE CONVENTION THEME
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In 1861, as the United States stood at the brink of Civil War, people of African descent, both enslaved and free persons, waited
with a watchful eye. They understood that a war between the North and the South might bring about jubilee-the destruction
of slavery and universal freedom. When the Confederacy fired upon Fort Sumter and war ensued, President Abraham Lincoln
maintained that the paramount cause was to preserve the Union, not end slavery. Frederick Douglass, the most prominent
black leader, opined that regardless of intentions, the war would bring an end to slavery, America’s “peculiar institution.”
Over the course of the war, the four million people of African descent in the United States freedom. From the cotton and
tobacco fields of the South to the small towns and big cities of the North, nearly 200,000 joined the Grand Army of the
Republic and took up arms to destroy record of service speaks for itself, and Americans have never fully realized how their
efforts saved the Union.
In honor of the efforts of people of African descent to destroy slavery and inaugurate universal freedom in the United States,
the Association for the Study of African American Life and History has selected “African Americans and the Civil War” as the
2011 National Black History Theme. We urge all Americans to study and reflect on the value of their contributions to the nation.
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More information about African Americans and the Civil War
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Click here to read about the Friday Night Reception
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