functionally like a captain. commands her own patrols, her own raids. activities. she is commander of them. clearly a commander, when you get into a discussion on the group that was in chatham. making trips to chatham. often they will talk about whether they should have followed john brown. well, delany, or harriet tubman, or mary ann shadd-cary who had never done anything operationally that we know of. for them to say you should follow john brown is to say they should follow a captain. why did i say that? if you read frederick douglas, martin delany, mary ann shadd-cary. they refer to john brown as a captain. what does that mean? john brown wrote his own constitution. he viewed himself in that way as a general. captains don't lead generals. captains are tactical, not strategic. this organization already had a plan, it was to end slavery in league with the constitution,

not write a new constitution. however they found -- they found tactical value in what john brown did. and anyone subordinate to the captain, they would encourage them to follow john brown. you have to be subordinate to the caption. it's a tactical operation. you don't send strategically important folk on a tactical operation that may be a suicide mission. they do view john brown as a martyr. in many ways it was a suicide mission. but one african-american that was recruited in chatham that went with john brown, osborn perry anderson would return. he would return to chatham. originally from pennsylvania. he returns to chatham. when he returns to chatham. i would look to say he submitted this report. when you examine who published his report, it's mary ann shadd-cary. she published his report after he came back. these were champions.

they are champions in this model. mary ann shadd-cary, harriet tubbman, those who lead by example. another one of the champions in the era. i am going to call her a public relations kind of officer. a propagandaist, if you will. her name is francis ellen watkins, or francis ellen harper. born in maryland. she was actually raised in the family of her uncle, william watkins. the family was eventually forced to move from maryland because of his activities. francis ellen harper would write political essays and poems. in one of her political essays called, our greatest want. she says our greatest need is not gold or silver.

but true men and true women. we have millions of our race in the prison house of slavery. but have not yet a single moses in freedom. so she is calling on those to take a stand. if you read it a little bit further, she often compares -- when she talks about of moe cease, she's talking about somebody who has given up something too. moses could have lived in the palace, she argued. instead of that he goes to live with the captives and to deliver them out of captivity. so that's what she's talking about. we're looking for that single moe cease. she also would be a voice of events. when i read her poetry it's not just a poem. it's like a journalist writing a report of something that happened using poetic verse. she would write about margaret garner, gardner, garner, excuse me. margaret garner was a runaway. had the made it all the way to to ohio. in 1856, she is, clear she is

going to be caught with her, with her children. she decides that freedom for her children is death. francis ellen harper will write "i will save my precious children from their darkly threatened doom. i will hew their path to freedom through the portales of the tomb margaret gardner did kill one of her children. they made it to her before she killed the rest. she would rather kill them. her cry, her moan was so loud that she would rather kill them to see them returned to slavery. maria stewart would say the cries are being heard by god. and that god was going to answer. there is a tremendous day in the future. but if we want to appreciate just how, how clearly the african-american community knew the civil war was coming. the clearest forecast is in an

1858 speech in boston delivered by dr. john s rock. graduate of the american medical college in philadelphia, a physician, dentist, school teacher and first african-american lawyer admitted to the bar of the u.s. supreme court. he gave a speech in boston three years one month and eight days before open hos tilts in the civil war begins. he says, i quote, sooner or later the clashing of arms will be heard and the black man's services will me needed. 150,000 free men capable of bearing arms and not all cowards and fools. and three quarter a million of slaves with enthuse yachl caused by the dawn of glorious opportunity to being able to strike a genuine blow for freedom will be a power that they will respect. will the blacks fight? of course they will. close quote. three years before the civil war. the african-american population is clearly preparing for what they believe, believe will be a genuine opportunity to strike a blow for liberty.

when open hostilities begin, april 28, 1861, fort sumter, charles ton harbor, america's african-american hoplation, those want knowledge circles within the league of the constitution, they are overjoyed. they see this as the the fulfillment of prophecy or simply their forecast. francis ellen harper would write there is a curse upon your land. fearful signs are in the air. as if thunder bolts were forging answers to the bondsman's prayer they viewed the civil war as an answer to their prayers. they had anticipated it and prayed for it. but when the war begins, there is an attempt to keep african-americans out of the fray.

now, john s. rock and others, mary ann shadd-cary, would counsel people, y'all just need to be patient. maria stewart the same thing. maria stewart at this time was trying to make her way to washington. she had gone to baltimore before and would make her way to washington early in the war. but in july 1861, the house and the senate would pass resolutions that stated why the federal government was going to war. it was, quote, to maintain the supremacy of the constitution and to preserve the union and not to overthrow or interfere with the domestic institutions of the states. the words slavery. president lincoln affirmed the resolutions. so the federal objective in the war was clear. and not to end the tyranny of slavery. also it was not legal for men of african descent to join. it wasn't legal for african-american men to join the

federal army when the civil war begins in april of 1861. it had been illegal since 1792. emphasis here was it was against the law so president lincoln had no legal authority. it is going to take an act of congress. allen pederton, he observed, quote, although as yet prevented from taking up arms in defense of their rights, these colored men had banded themselves together to further the cause of freedom. well, these colored men that pinker ton referred to are these colored folk. these persons of african descent. men and women. pinkerton would refer to their organization as a national organization called the loyal league. that's what pinkerton would refer to it as. the loyal league. some members of the secret organization would refer to themselves as the legal league. they believe in leak with constitution they would end the tyranny of slavery. some members of the organization, mississippi valley, would refer to them as lincoln's loyal legal league.

or the four ls. this secret african descent organization would become the single most important source of tactical and strategic intelligence during the civil war. this secret african descent organization would provide the most prolific recruiters of african-americans for the union war effort. this secret african descent organization had as its express goal to end the tyranny of slavery in league with the constitution. and they understood that congress would need to take action. things were permitted as we see in the frederick douglas article, august 1861 when he tells his readers in his monthly that "we have very good evidence off to the fact that the administration in washington, lincoln administration, notwithstanding appearances, stands ready to enforce a policy in the rebel states that will eventually abolish slavery just as soon as the people require it. what do you mean as soon as the people require it? as soon as congress, the voice of the people is congress. as soon as the people require it.

douglas would admonish his readers to lobly congress, visit their congressman if they can to get these laws changed. president lincoln did not believe that congress would change these laws until it became a military necessity. use of african-americans early in the war. men or women. was not something that was authorized. not even, interestingly enough as laborers. the confederates, however, do use african-americans as laborers from the very beginning. three african-americans, baker, townsend, mowry, they would enter union lines on the day that virginia votes to secede from the union so now it becomes a rebel state. may 23, 1861. they arrive in union lines in fortress monroe, southernmost point of the virginia peninsula.

and they would meet with the general seeking refuge. he would give them refuge. when a confederate officer wanted property back. butler would argue these persons you claim as property are being used to wage war against the united states. i'm going to confiscate such property as contraband of war. and in august of 1861, congress would pass the first confiscation act that would apply to those being used in the confederate war effort. just anybody couldn't enter the camp. fort monroe, one cartoonist would call it the fort monroe doctrine, receiving the contraband. butler would allow women and children in. the children and the wives. of the soldiers, not soldiers, contraband, confiscated. he would allow them in. so you have really the first contraband camp of the war forming at fort monroe. butler would also be in association with abraham

galloway as he returned to work with uncle sam. the confederates use african-american lay lor -- labor extensively. and allan pinkerton said that those were the best sources of information. those engaged in hard labor for the confederacy. those individuals, those colored men, persons of african descent are best source of information. and one african-american woman is noteworthy in the information she brings early in the war to the union. her name, mary luveste, she would leave norfolk and bring information critical to the union navy to washington. she was the serservant of the confederate engineer that was taking the uss merimac and

converting it to an iron claz css virginia. and mary louveste, or trueveste would take these plans, bring them to washington and turn them over to the secretary of the navy, gideon wells. gideon wells would say she encountered no small risk bringing in information. her information was critical. the confederates were 90 days ahead of schedule on their ironclad. when she brings this, the conversion of the merrimac to an ironclad. when she brings this information in that they're 90 days ahead of schedule, this prompts the union, the department of the navy, to expedite the production of their own ironclad. and for that reason, the "u.s.s. monitor" was seaworthy almost 90 days ahead of schedule itself. and was able in early march of 1862 to make it down to the chesapeake to neutralize the c.s.s. virginia. allan pinkerton would say what

she did was critical in saving the blockade early, especially in the chesapeake. african-american informants were critical to the success of the generals early in the war. butler, general butler had benefited from them. a great deal. in maryland he benefited from the intelligence network provided by african-americans. and when he even goes down, when he is at fort monroe. burnside would take over for, for butler after butler in august of 1861 with the help of abraham galloway had capture ed hatteras inlet. from hatteras inlet, general ambrose burnside would conduct an expedition into eastern north carolina with, according to burnside, because of the good information he received from an african-american operative spy, he takes roanoke island in february of '62 with little or

no problems. his next objective is fort macon. but on his expedition to take fort macon he goes into newborn, north carolina, one of the most populous cities in south at that time. called the athens of the south. one of the most progressive. had a rather relatively large for a southern city its size, african descent population. about 13% of the population was free -- i should say free population. the african population was 50%. free population was 13% there in newburg. and when burnside gets there, he finds a very friendly population. not only of the enslaved people but the free persons and the stanley family, john caruthers stanley is very wealthy as well. he finds a very friendly population. he appoints vincent collier as the head of refugees and the poor people that are coming in. and collier would almost immediately, april 1862,

establish is school in south -- in north -- there in newburn. also in newburn was aunt charlotte. aunt charlotte made the newspapers. aunt charlotte becomes what i am going to call the prototype cook for the sanitary commissions. so in newburn, she becomes, this is early on so this would be duplicated early on. i'm going to call them the chef. and a bit of a nurse. soldiers from massachusetts, new york, new jersey, they would -- they appreciated a great deal her cooking when they were sick. and they would say it helped heal them, relieve their suffering. so she becomes the prototype cook. you would see numbers of cooks like aunt charlotte throughout the union army for the rest of the war. also a major event in newburn.

we are going to compare this to what happened in virginia. fishermen are organized by abraham galloway. and they put the union army on boats in april of 1862. and in the early morning of april 23rd, 1862, those boats are union soldiers would go right back fort macon with small arms fire. the next morning, the citizens of buford, north carolina, wake up and the union is occupied. no gunfire whatsoever. that's how successful this intelligence was. and by the end of 1862, you have contraband camps. camps for runaways in this circle. and washington, plymouth. in newburn. at buford and roanoke island.

to compare burnside's experience to that of general george mcclellan. in the spring of 1862 while burnside is experiencing this great success in intelligence, he's clearly winning the intelligence war. mcclellan, has the largest army. at least in the western hemisphere. takes them from washington to the virginia peninsula where the fortress is. i want to tell you. mcclellan is not friendly to runaways. contrabands. he won't talk those being used by the confederate war effort. he will return them. the league -- the african-americans do not like mcclellan. and they do not provide him good information. mcclellan would march his army to within ten miles of the rebel capital by the first of june 1862 down in south carolina. susie king taylor, a teenager who had learned to read and write in the secret schools of savannah had run away and was at hilton head. she said in the camp it was a gloomy time. when mcclellan was close to

richmond it was a gloomy time. they did not want mcclellan to succeed. it was a gloomy time. in richmond, pinkerton would name john scobell, one of the operative of the legal league. also pinkerton would have his own operatives. they would get arrested. hatty lawton and timmy webster. john scobell does not get arrested. pinkerton now is heavily dependent on the league operatives to give him information on what lee's forces are like. and we also know that at that time, there was an intelligence organization, if you will, or a cell there, ran by european american woman by the name of elizabeth vanlou that could have been providing mcclellan information. but they did not. and she had african-american women like mary elizabeth bouser who some believed was even inside the confederate white house. but this information does not get to mcclellan.

when mcclellan gets within -- by june 1, 1862, within ten miles of the capital, general lee com confederate forces in defense of richmond. lee was able to deceive mcclellan into believing his arm which was four times its actual size. lee was able to deceive mcclellan into thinking wooden cannons often referred to as quaker guns were real cannons. lee desxeefd outmaneuvered mcclellan because lee won the intelligence war and mcclellan lost it. why weren't these african-americans providing this valuable information to mcclellan, the pro-slavery general? why weren't they? because his success was considered gloomy times to them. when word gets to washington in july 1862 that mcclellan's army is in full retreat congress passed the militia act of 1862

giving congress the authority to use persons of not descent. on president lincoln's desk to signature in 1862. another important piece of legislation was on president lincoln's december thak day. it is referred to as the second confiscation act. in section 6 of the second confiscation act congress gave president lincoln the authority to seize all properties of persons and states in rebellion. in section 9 of the second confiscation act congress declared forever free all persons held as slaves by supporters of the rebellion. when president lincoln signed both these pieces of legislation into law on the 17th of july 1862 every person that was in -- every contraband that was in these camps in virginia, south carolina, north carolina, louisiana, and kansas were free. they were freed by the act of congress. no quloerng do you ha no longer do you have

contraband. they are free pernss. that's blaw. they are free persons. lincoln would meet with his cabinet on july 2nd 1862, explained to his cabinet he's going to issue the emancipation proclamation zantly. william seward, he himself had helped some individuals escape along the underground railroad advised president lincoln not to issue the proclamation at that time for very clear political reasons. he tells the president that after these great disasters of the war after these humiliating defeats if you issue that proclamation "it will be viewed in the mind of the people as the last measure of an exhausted government, a cry for help. the government stretching out its hands unto ethiopia instead of ethiopia stretching out her hands unto the government." ethiopia was commonly used to refer to persons of not descent. general seward asked him to wait for a -- president lincoln called the prokplace a war measure took this wise advice. lincoln would claim his victory on the bloodiest day in american

history. september 17th 1862. it's called the battle of antietam. it's the bloodiest day not the bloodiest battle of american history. 12 hours, 22,000 casualties. well over half of those casualty were union soejds, lincoln soldiers but the reblsz under robert e. lee withdrew from the battlefield. five days later july 22nd -- excuse me, september. did i say july before? september 22nd, 1862, bloodiest day in american history, five days after the battle. president lincoln would issue the preliminary emancipation proclamation warning the states in rebellion if they did not lay down their arms and return to the union in the next 100 days he was going to declare free their slaves. the rebels do not believe lincoln and the union army can make this good this threat because they're they believe they're winning the war. viewed as a larger campaign where they captured harper's ferry. stonewall jackson captured harper's ferry. they're not about to return to the union. on january 1, 1863 president

lincoln issues the final emancipation proclamation as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion. want you to pay close attention to the president's language within the proclamation. he does not pretend this is a moral or humanitarian document. it is a practical war measure. a fit and necessary war measure for accomplishing the paramount objective of the war which is to preservative union and in this fit and necessary war measure president lincoln declared forever free all persons held as slaves in the ten states that were at war with the united states for their independence. in the five slave holding states that accepted abraham lincoln as president the emancipation proclamation did not apply because congress did not give the authority to president lincoln to seize property and declare free slaves in states that were loyal to the union, only in states in rebellion. in states that had to be brought back to the union by military conquest but the army needs help. in the emancipation prokplace is where president lincoln issues his public order to his field commanders to receive men of not descent into all armed services of the united states. notice that's men of the united

states. it's men of african descent. the emancipation proclamation did not simply free the slaves. it made it legal for this disenfranchised slave population to help free themselves if they help save the union. accomplish the paramount objective of the war. and that's exactly what these soldiers did. and african-american women would be a part of that group of soldiers. some as cooks like aunt charlotte. in fact, i believe that in some regiments we need to do a little bit more research because we have cooks in some regiments like the 49th united states colored troops where the cook's name is martha freeman. now, i never met a man named martha. but there's a martha freeman as the cook in the 49th. african-american women are serving as nurses. now, all nurses during the civil war are contract nurses. working mostly with the sanitary commission. they're contract nurses and hundreds of african-american women serve in these roles with

the army and with the navy. however, five african-american women are legally enlisted in the navy as nurses. and they serve aboard a hospital ship in the mississippi called the red rover. anna stokes, one of those five women, even receives a pension later in life. so we have very good documentation of her service in the navy, legally enlisted as a nurse. a teenage nurse down in south carolina is susie king taylor. she's a teenager. she goes into the headquarters there at hilton head, the camp there at hilton head, and becomes part of the first south carolina infantry of african descent, later renamed the 8th -- excuse me, the 33rd united states colored troops. she would become a nurse for the regiment and a teacher. she also had learned to read and write. and she was teaching the soldiers how to read and write. she would marry one of the soldiers, sergeant kean, in the regiment in 1862.

she would also say that while in the regiment "i learned to handle a musket very well while in the regiment and could shoot straight and often hit the target." susie king taylor also writes a memoir, so we can hear her voice in her memoirs. another one of the school teachers down in south carolina is a diarist, a woman of -- i'm going to say from a wealthy family in philadelphia. james forten was at that meeting. that's her father. and charlotte forten or charlotte for then grimke would go down to south carolina and teach in a school that looked very much like this. this is a photograph of one of the schools in the sea islands where she taught. in her diary she'd talk about the various people she would meet and she would meet one as daphne, an african woman who was over 100 years old. had 50 grandchildren, 65 great, great, great grandchildren and three great, great, great grandchildren. and she would ask her how do you

feel now that they're forever free? charlotte forten asked her. and she'd just smile and say, "yes, missy, i feel good." two girls that she writes about who were 10 and 15 years old who when their so-called owner took them inland, they decided they wanted to go back. and so they went back to port royal on their own, spent two days in the swamps without eating anything. 10 and 15-year-old girls seeking freedom. she talked about meeting with harriet tubman who had set up headquarters down there by that time in 1862, late 1862. she would talk about the soldiers and them coming back from the raids and their success and some of the personalities of some of these soldiers and she'd talk about how eager her students were to learn. the second confiscation act of 1862 opened the floodgates up to many of the contraband camps even to the district of columbia. camps in the district of

columbia were established after july 17th, 1862 when the contrabands were really no longer contrabandses. so when i call it contraband camp i'm misspeaking. it should be properly said a freedman's camp or village. in 1862, what we now call georgia avenue was the 7th street turnpike. literally thousands of runaways were coming down the road. it was like a huge parade coming into washington city and when they got to washington city they had to have a place to house them. you've got all these refugees in the summer of '62 arriving in washington. so what do they do? they move the military out of the barracks at a place called camp barker here in the northern part of the city where garrison elementary school is today. vermont and "s" street. they would move it in. this is an outline of the camp. this not just any camp. this camp is in the nation's capital.