Generations of Captivity

The Civil War functioned at the great catalyst in mobilizing enough people to overturn slavery. As the Union Army moved further South, the disruption of the slave-based economies and societies in those regions presented another new set of conditions for slaves in which they could seize opportunities to negotiate better working and living conditions and, in increasing numbers, escape to Union lines and aid the war effort against their former masters.

The war was a multifaceted effort between soldiers, behind-the-scenes laborers, and assertive abolitionists, particularly from black communities. Berlin notes that “Black northerners signed on quickly” with the slaves’ struggle (247). Many free black Southerners balked at first, fearing that alliances with slaves would result in exile or enslavement (some even joined the Confederacy), but “wartime events linked their own elevation and the slaves’ freedom” (247). Once the Union defeated the Confederacy, different groups of free people of color approached the post-emancipation freedom struggle with different goals and strategies once more.

As the Union army spread throughout enemy territory in 1862, “the trickle of fugitives turned into a flood” (253) as slaves left plantations and joined up with Union troops. Having escaped their bondage, certain paths became possible: relocation to contraband camps where they could worship freely, work for wages, and, in effect, start to realize claims to independence; squat and work on abandoned plantations that fearful owners had fled; or enter into military service.