Be Woke Presents Black History in Two Minutes (or so)
In 1861, the south’s threats of seceding the union led to the start of the Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln’s primary goal was to minimize secession talks. But, as black slaves who were forced to fight for the confederacy escaped to union territory, a shift occurred that worked in the favor of the president.
Slave owners in the south found themselves at a disadvantage during the war as their day-to-day operations were disrupted. President Lincoln capitalized on this new strain and created the Emancipation Proclamation. Even though the war wasn’t about slavery, the strategic move to formally end slavery, led the union to victory.
In this episode of Black History In Two Minutes or So hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr., with additional commentary from Kimberle Crenshaw of UCLA and Columbia Law Schools, and Vincent Brown of Harvard University, we will take a look at how nearly 200,000 black men saved the nation and changed the outcome of the Civil War.
