People of the Civil War
Below are 15 different people that lived through the most tumultous time of U.S. history, the Civil War. Get to know the people and prepare to select your top four choices for the Living the Civil War Project.
Angelina Grimke (1805-1879) was an American abolitionist, writer, and advocate of women's rights. Grimke was born into a wealthy, slave-owning family from South Carolina, but she ran away to the North to become an abolitionist.
Jefferson Davis (1808- 1889) was an American soldier and war veteran. He was the first and only president of the Confederate States, from 1862 until the war ended. Davis is commonly blamed for Confederates losing the Civil War. When the South was in a wreck, David fled, but was later captured and arrested for treason.
Solomon Northup (1808-1863) was born in July 1808 in Minerva, New York. Solomon Northup grew up a free man, working as a farmer and violinist while having a family. He was lured south and kidnapped in 1841 and enslaved for more than a decade, enduring horribly violent conditions. Northup was freed in 1853 with help from colleagues and friends. His experiences are the subject of the book he famously wrote called 12 Years a Slave.
Stonewall Jackson (1824-1863) was a Confederate commander during the Civil War. He first started his military career in the Mexican American War. He got his nickname from his notorious reputation as a military leader that held his ground like a “stone wall.” Stonewall Jackson was one of the most successful commanders in the Civil War, most known for his success in the battles of Bull Run and Manassas.
John Calhoun (1782-1850) was an American politician. He was Vice President under Andrew Jackson’s presidential term. However, Calhoun resigned and because he disagreed with Jackson’s beliefs on tariffs. He was the first vice president to resign. Calhoun was a strong believer in nationalism, free trade, and protective tariffs.
Sarah Edmonds (1841-1898) was born Sarah Edmondson in Canada. Her father wanted to have a son, so he resented Edmonson and treated her terribly. She escaped from her fathers torture, fled to the United States, and changed her name to Edmonds. In order to avoid being discovered by her father, she disguised herself as a man named Franklin Thompson when she immigrated to the United States. She served as a nurse, courier, and a spy during the Civil War.
Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885) was a politician and Union commander. Grant was the 18th president of the United States. Grant’s victories can be seen through the battles of Fort Henry and Vicksburg in which Grant strategically moved his army across these territories, which led to the Union’s triumph in the Civil War.
Frederick Douglass (1818 -1895) was born into slavery. At the age of 20, he escaped to the North in order to become an abolitionist. Douglass became a writer, and founded “The North Star” an abolitionist newspaper. Douglas’ novel Narrative of The Life of Frederick Douglas, outlined his life as slave and is one of the most famous books on slavery in world history.
Harriet Tubman (1822-1913) was an abolitionist born into slavery, but in 1849, she escaped to the North. After escaping, Tubman returned various times to help hundreds of other slaves to escape using the Underground Railroad.
Loerata Janeta Velazquez (1842-1897) was a Cuban woman whom married a Texan man when she was 14. Velazquez wanted to join the army along with her husband, but he refused to let her. So, she disguised herself as a man named Harry T. Budford. As Budford, she served in many Civil War battles such as the Battle of Bull Run and Balls Bluff. She spent majority of her life disguising herself as a man and woman while being a spy and soldier.
Belle Boyd (1844-1900) was a notorious Confederate spy. Her father owned a hotel in Front Royal where most Union soldiers stayed. Boyd spent most of her time in her fathers hotel eavesdropping through peepholes. She passed information overheard about the Union to Stonewall Jackson. She was caught and imprisoned several times for her spy tactics. After released, she moved to England.
Robert E. Lee (1807-1870) was an American soldier. Lee was the general of the Confederate army. His victory as a general can be seen through the Seven Days Battle and the Battle of Second Manassas. In 1865, he surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at the Appomattox Court House, which concluded the Civil War.
William Lloyd Garrison (1805-1879) was an American abolitionist. Garrison was a strong believer in freeing the slaves. In 1831, he published The Liberator, an anti slavery newspaper. He had weekly issues of the newspaper until 1865, when slavery was abolished. In 1833, Garrison founded the American Anti-Slavery Society, an organization that promoted immediate emancipation.
Christian Fleetwood (1840 - 1914) was one of twenty-five African Americans to receive a Medal of Honor in the U.S. Civil War. He was a free black man from Baltimore, Maryland who chose to enlist in the U.S. military and famously fought at the Battle of Chaffin's Farm. In addition to being a war hero, Fleetwood was a publisher of an African American newspaper, one of the first to exist in the South after the war.
Clara Barton (1821-1912) was a nurse for the Union soldiers. She started off working on the front lines. She was apart of the Ladies’ Society, which was an organization that sent clothing and food to soldiers. Barton worked as a nurse for many battles such as the Second Bull Run and the battle of Fredericksburg. After the war, she founded the American Red Cross.
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) was the 16th President of the United States. Lincoln grew up in the midwest, and began his political career in Illinois. As president, Lincoln commanded the Union against the Confederacy and made many important decisions related to slavery like the Emancipation Proclamation.