![\"FtMonroe1\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dansdigitaldive.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/FtMonroe1.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1\")
First, I’d like to apologize for not writing in a long time.<\/p>\nFirst, I’d like to apologize for not writing in a long time.<\/p>\n
America is a wonderful country, a melting pot of various cultures found ’round the world. One of the pretty cool things that we do, as a nation, is\u00a0to\u00a0celebrate this vast mixing of cultures, assimilating into one homogeneous mass without losing our individual\u00a0cultural roots. \u00a0Heritage months<\/a>\u00a0are meant\u00a0to celebrate the different cultures in our great land. \u00a0February has been deemed the month to celebrate Black History and celebrate the contributions to America by our black citizens. \u00a0As part of this recognition, I think it appropriate to highlight Fortress Monroe’s contribution.<\/p>\n The first recorded Africans coming to Virginia was at [Old] Point Comfort (Current site of Fort Monroe), in 1619. \u00a0The White Lion<\/em>, a privateer based out of the Netherlands, traded “20 and odd<\/a>” Africans for food. \u00a0Two of these Africans bore a son, name William who was the first child of African ancestry known to have been born in Virginia (1624).<\/p>\n Going slightly off topic for a minute to cover some historical ground:\u00a0Prior to Fort Monroe…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n On Friday, May 23, 1861,\u00a0three slaves escaped to Fort Monroe<\/a>. \u00a0The commander of the fort refused to return the runaway slaves. \u00a0After all, Virginia had seceded from the Union, the slaves were “contraband of war.” \u00a0The runaway slaves explained to Butler that they were being sent to build Confederate defenses, and didn’t want to be parted from their families. \u00a0Butler allowed them to stay, his reasoning was that the slaves would be used to aid the enemy by building defenses. \u00a0By keeping them at the Fort, he kept them from the Confederates. \u00a0By Monday morning, there were 47 former slaves at “Freedom’s Fort.” \u00a0By early June – 500. And so on, and so on…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I mean to take Virginia at her word, I am under no constitutional obligations to a foreign country, which Virginia now claims to be.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n News travels fast and Butler’s decision had ramifications beyond Tidewater. \u00a0Slaves were seeking the Union lines just about anywhere there were Union lines: Northern Virginia, Florida, along the Mississippi River. \u00a0Former slaves took residence among the burnt\u00a0ruins of Hampton establishing a Contraband Camp called the Grand Contraband Camp, or locally as Slabtown. \u00a0Camps were established in Mississippi, Tennessee, and other states as the Union army progressed. \u00a0Five camps<\/a> were established around Washington D.C., in Arlington and Fairfax, VA. \u00a0One interesting tidbit about the Northern Virginia camps; they were built on land which had previously belonged to Confederate sympathizers who had relocated. \u00a0As\u00a0Ron Baumgarten<\/a> noted;\u00a0“Here were lands that once belonged to those who held people in bondage now being used to help … to transform society in a way and to integrate these former slaves into American society and prepare them for freedom and economic self sufficiency. So, that in and of itself is really revolutionary in essence because where there was slavery there was slavery no more. And, as a matter of fact, where there was slavery, the seeds of social and political and economic change were already being planted.”<\/p>\n While Butler may have been sub-par to poor\u00a0field general. \u00a0His prowess as a lawyer and keen observation skills made him the man of the moment. \u00a0His\u00a0actions set the stage for Congress to approve\u00a0the Confiscation Act a few months later, allowing for the confiscation of slaves used for military purposes against the United States. His actions helped reframe the civil war from a focus of maintaining the Union and States rights to that of emancipation of a people; see note below.<\/p>\n Fort Monroe<\/a> was a beacon of light, and today should serve as a reminder to all that each person, no matter their color or cultural background; has value.<\/p>\n Note<\/span>: When the Civil War first kicked off, Congress, at the start of a\u00a0special session convened on July 4, 1861, declared \u00a0the\u00a0\u201cObject of the War,\u201d pronounced in the joint resolution was \u201cto maintain the supremacy of the Constitution and to preserve the Union and not to overthrow or interfere with the institutions of the states…” \u00a0That “institution” was slavery. \u00a0After Butler’s decision to retain the slaves as contraband of war, Congress could no longer delay, and was forced into action. \u00a0That action, and the pressure put on by the abolitionists, such as Frederick Douglass [Intro<\/a>, timeline<\/a>, F.D on 13th Amendment<\/a>, Library of Congress<\/a>], and many others<\/a> who worked for the removal of that….”institution.”<\/p>\n Read more about Butler and Fort Monroe in this article, entitled “Slavery, Freedom and Fort Monroe<\/a>.”<\/p>\n One last note regarding Butler. \u00a0Of the 18\u00a0African-American soldiers who received the Medal of Honor during the Civil War, Butler recommended fifteen. \u00a0There were a total of 25 African-American Medal of Honor<\/a> awardees during the Civil War.<\/p>\n I refer you to “The Road to Emancipation<\/a>,” a very good read.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\n
\u00a0– Maj. General Benjamin Franklin Butler<\/h6>\n
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