Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #OnThisDayInHistory

Most recents (7)

#OTD in 1861 Confederate Vice President Alexander Stevens delivered what became known as the Cornerstone Speech. Stevens stated plainly that the sole purpose of the Confederacy was to create a slave republic and that any threat the institution of slavery justified secession. Image
He professed, "Our new government['s]...foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests upon the great truth, that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery—subordination to the superior race—is his natural and normal condition."

#thecivilwardoc #thecivilwar #civilwar
Stevens continued, "This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth."

Confederates fired on Ft. Sumter approximately three weeks later.

#OnThisDay #onthisdayinhistory #todayinhistory
Read 5 tweets
Harriet Beecher Stowe's influential book Uncle Tom's Cabin was published #OTD in 1852. Stowe's anti-slavery novel was a huge success and pushed many Americans to reassess their attitudes toward slavery. Only the Bible sold more copies than Uncle Tom's Cabin during the 19 century.
Although Uncle Tom's Cabin had a profound effect on the anti-slavery movement, it did have flaws. For instance, Stowe developed the characters around negative Black stereotypes that eventually became standard talking points for proslavery supporters and white supremacists.
Read 4 tweets
#OTD in 1871 the US Senate passed a resolution creating the Select Committee to Investigate Alleged Outrages in the Southern States. The select committee investigated white supremacist violence in North Carolina and was pivotal to the passing of the Second Enforcement act.
The select committee was made up of five Republicans and two Democrats and held hearings in Washington D.C. to investigate Klan violence in North Carolina during the Kirk-Holden War.
The two Democrats concluded that the racial violence in NC was carried out by Northern "carpetbaggers" while the five Republicans rightfully determined that the Klan “sought to carry out its purpose by murders, whippings, intimidations, and violence, against its opponents.”
Read 9 tweets
#OTD in 1864 Brig. Gen. Henry H. Lockwood wrote to his superiors about his concerns regarding Maryland's apprenticeship system, especially as it applied to newly emancipated children. Lockwood explained how former enslavers were exploiting the system to their own advantage. Image
#Slavery was abolished in #Maryland on November 1, 1864, when the state legislature adopted a new state constitution. The new constitution did not outlaw forced labor. Children of "unfit" parents could legally forced into apprenticeships that often times resembled slavery.
The children of newly emancipated people were overwhelmingly subject to forced apprenticeships, often times being forced to work for the people that formerly enslaved them and their parents. This development was concerning to General Lockwood.
Read 7 tweets
Edmond Pettus was born #OTD in 1821 in Limestone County, Alabama. He served as an officer in the Confederate Army and as a US senator after the War. He was also active in the Ku Klux Klan, serving as its Grand Dragon in Alabama. He is the namesake of the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
Born into an enslaving family, Pettus built a successful law career before enlisting in the Confederate Army when war broke out. While most of his home region of northern Alabama did not support secession, Pettus did. He was a pro-slavery ideologue steered by white supremacy.
During the War he rose to the rank of Brig. General and was captured as a POW three times. He was pardoned by Andrew Johnson on October 30, 1865. Pettus returned to Selma after the War and resumed his law practice.
Read 13 tweets
The Battle of Palmito Ranch was fought in Texas #OTD in 1865. The Confederate victory is widely considered the last battle of the Civil War. The battle occurred over one month after Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox and two days after Jefferson Davis was captured. Image
Both sides knew the war was virtually over, but a small contingent of Confederate forces refused to surrender near Brownsville, Texas. Many of the men serving under the Union Army there were members of the United States Colored Troops.
A fragile cease fire had been agreed to between the two sides on May 11. However, Confederate Lt. Gen. Edmund Smith of the Trans-Mississippi Department refused to accept the inevitable end of the war.
Read 6 tweets
#CeJourLa #OnThisDayInHistory

Le 11 avril 146 naissait, à Leptis Magna, Septime Sévère dont le @MSR_Tlse conserve pas moins de 4 portraits !

En voici déjà un !
Plus d’infos 👇
villachiragan.saintraymond.toulouse.fr/partie-02-gale…

Un petit #thread concocté par @Mysanthropos1
Leptis Magna, dans l'actuelle #Libye, était une fondation punique et portait le nom de Lpqay.
📷 Luca Galuzzi / @WikiCommons
Avec les guerres civiles et la lutte entre #Pompée et #César, Rome annexe le rivage méridional de la Méditerranée.
Read 15 tweets

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