Five Certificates Attesting to the Service of African American Sailors during the Civil War
Collection
Identifier: MSS-4149
Scope and Contents
These affidavits in this collection confirm the service of African American sailors during the Civil War. In them, white citizens of Massachusetts in good standing, swore under oath that the black person named in the document served aboard the U.S. ship listed in the capacity stated.
Three of the documents were issued on the same day, February 22, 1869, and two of these three relate to one sailor; that he served as an ordinary seaman aboard two different ships: the U.S. Potomac and the U. S. New London.
Three of the documents were issued on the same day, February 22, 1869, and two of these three relate to one sailor; that he served as an ordinary seaman aboard two different ships: the U.S. Potomac and the U. S. New London.
Dates
- 1866-1869
Biographical / Historical
African Americans swelled the ranks of the U. S. Navy during the Civil War. Rather than segregate the black sailors in special units, the Navy posted them side by side with the rest. Indeed, the prewar familiarity of black sailors on Navy ships had existed since the American Revolution. African Americans fought in every naval campaign during the Civil War, from the blockading squadrons of the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico to the tributaries of the South.
Extent
0.01 Linear Feet
Language of Materials
English
Overview
The affidavits in this collection confirm the service of African American sailors during the Civil War
Provenance
purchased from Ten Pound Island Book Company, 2015
General
To provide faster access to our materials, this finding aid was published without formal and final review. Email us at archives@ua.edu if you find mistakes or have suggestions to make this finding aid more useful for your research.
Processed by
Martha Bace, 2015
Source
- Ten Pound Island Book Company (Bookseller, Organization)
- Title
- Guide to the Five Certificates Attesting to the Service of African American Sailors during the Civil War
- Status
- Completed
- Date
- August 2015
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the The University of Alabama Libraries Special Collections Repository