The Violent Decade: 1850-1860

Slavery to freedom
		Harrisburg on the eve of Civil War
Study Areas Enslavement Anti-Slavery Free Persons of Color Underground Railroad The Violent Decade US Colored Troops Civil War Year of Jubilee (1863) 20th Century	The Violent Decade Articles and Features Father Jones' Harrisburg Alden Partridge and the Pennsylvania Military Institute Abraham Lincoln in Harrisburg, 1861 & 1865 Research African Americans in the 1850 Census, Dauphin County Kidnappings and the Slave Trade Documents Text of Abraham Lincoln's Harrisburg Speech, February 22, 1861 Outside links Aerial View of Harrisburg, 1855 (Dickinson College House Divided Project)

	Now Available to Read Free The Year of Jubilee Vol. 1: Men of God and Vol. 2: Men of Muscle by George F. Nagle Both volumes of the Afrolumens book are now free to read on this site. The Year of Jubilee is the story of Harrisburg'g free African American community, from the era of colonialism and slavery to hard-won freedom. Volume One, Men of God, covers the turbulent beginnings of this community, from Hercules and the first slaves, the growth of slavery in central Pennsylvania, the Harrisburg area slave plantations, early runaway slaves, to the birth of a free black community. Men of God is a detailed history of Harrisburg's first black entrepreneurs, the early black churches, the first black neighborhoods, and the maturing of the social institutions that supported this vibrant community. It includes an extensive examination of state and federal laws governing slave ownership and the recovery of runaway slaves, the growth of the colonization movement, anti-colonization efforts, anti-slavery, abolitionism and radical abolitionism. It concludes with the complex relationship between Harrisburg's black and white abolitionists, and details the efforts and activities of each group as they worked separately at first, then learned to cooperate in fighting against slavery. Non-fiction, history. 607 pages, softcover. Volume Two, Men of Muscle takes the story from 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, through the explosive 1850s to the coming of Civil War to central Pennsylvania. In this volume, Harrisburg's African American community weathers kidnappings, raids, riots, plots, murders, intimidation, and the coming of war. Caught between hostile Union soldiers and deadly Confederate soldiers, they ultimately had to choose between fleeing or fighting. This is the story of that choice. Non-fiction, history. 630 pages, softcover.

About the AP \| Contact AP \| Mission Statement