This website is adapted from research conducted in fulfillment of departmental honors with a Bachelor of Arts degree through the Ohio University History Department. If you have any questions or feedback related to this website, please fill out the form on the Contact Page.

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This website focuses on Black residents in Athens county during the Civil War and Reconstruction eras, here encompassing the years 1840-1885. It will examine various aspects of Black experience in the county. It will examine Black settlements around the county, the education available to them, their role in the workforce, and their participation in local and national politics. Additionally, it will look at changes shaped by the Civil War and Reconstruction, from Underground Railroad experiences and Civil War enlistment to various forms of discrimination they faced within the community.

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Understanding the experience in Athens, it is beneficial to compare with the experiences of other Black communities at the time. As such, I will establish the broader context impacting Athens, such as the Black Laws that restricted freedoms in Ohio. I will also compare experiences in Athens with trends at the state and national level. This will demonstrate which aspects of Athens’ experience was part of a larger change across the period and which were unique.

          

Given the prominent role of racism and slavery in this era, the use of language must be addressed. When quoting a primary source, the original language will be used without censorship; the use of offensive, dehumanizing language is a part of how nineteenth century writers engaged with the idea of race, and acknowledging that is fundamental to understanding the struggles of Black community members. For racial terminology, I follow the American Psychological Association’s guidelines for racial terminology; I will use “Black” as the descriptive word for this racial group.[1] There is some debate between historians about the language surrounding slavery.[2] This website will use enslaved person rather than slave, slaveholder rather than master, and freedom seeker rather than fugitive or runaway. This language seeks to put the humanity of the person over their status, which is crucial to understanding the actions and changes within a community of Black Americans in this era.

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To use this website as a reference, please cite the website using the following:

 

Christy, Miranda. A Wartime Enterprise: Black Experience in Athens County, 1840-1885. menmachineandthecarbine.org. https://cwathens.wixsite.com/wartimeenterprise. 

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