Tag Archives: Portsmouth

8 August 1863: “In Portsmouth the doings of the Council are most unique and extraordinary, putting down all currency but Greenbacks, as they are called.”

Item Description: This diary entry illustrates the social and political conditions in Portsmouth, Virginia.  It also describes the city’s unusual use of the relatively new greenbacks for currency, instead of Confederate notes. IMAGE Item Citation: From folder 2 of the Overton … Continue reading

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1 January 1863: “Today is the period fixed for Mr. Lincoln’s unwise and unconstitutional emancipation proclamation…Thousands of the Poor deluded Negroes have left their homes…”

Item Description: Rev. Overton Bernard depicts the impact of the Emancipation Proclamation on the enslaved African Americans. Item citation: From folder 2 of the Overton and Jesse Bernard Diaries #62-z,  Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Item transcription: … Continue reading

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