The Journal of the Civil War Era
@jcwe.bsky.social
The JCWE—published by @uncpress.bsky.social and @richardscenter.bsky.social —is home to the most creative new work on the many issues raised by slavery, the sectional crisis, war, emancipation, and Reconstruction. https://tinyurl.com/4hnmffeu
Pinned
The new @jcwe.bsky.social board lineup is 🔥🔥
We are excited to welcome these new members to the board! And deeply thankful for the service of our past board members 🙏
In today's Muster, ongoing contributor Elliott Martin writes about Henry 'Box' Brown and Richmond's public history landscape www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2026/01/henr...
Henry 'Box Brown: Tobacco Worker, Stage Magician, Tourist Attraction - The Journal of the Civil War Era
Henry ‘Box’ Brown had a variety of identities in his life-tobacco factory worker, escaped slave, abolitionist, lecturer, and touring panoramist and entertainer on the English stage. In recent years, a...
www.journalofthecivilwarera.org
January 28, 2026 at 1:06 PM
In today's Muster, ongoing contributor Elliott Martin writes about Henry 'Box' Brown and Richmond's public history landscape www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2026/01/henr...
We are excited to welcome these new members to the board! And deeply thankful for the service of our past board members 🙏
The new @jcwe.bsky.social board lineup is 🔥🔥
January 28, 2026 at 1:04 PM
We are excited to welcome these new members to the board! And deeply thankful for the service of our past board members 🙏
In today's Muster, we are announcing a call for gradate student submissions www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2026/01/must...
Muster Call for Graduate Student Submissions - The Journal of the Civil War Era
The Society of Civil War Historians’ Graduate Student Connection Committee, together with Muster, the blog of The Journal of the Civil War Era, is calling for submissions from graduate students. Muste...
www.journalofthecivilwarera.org
January 21, 2026 at 1:58 PM
In today's Muster, we are announcing a call for gradate student submissions www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2026/01/must...
Reposted by The Journal of the Civil War Era
Civil War historians! If you published your first book in 2025 on a topic related to the Civil War (broadly construed), please consider submitting it for the Center for Civil War Research's Wiley-Silver Prize! The deadline is Friday, February 20.
olemiss.edu/civil-war-re...
olemiss.edu/civil-war-re...
Wiley-Silver Prize | Ole Miss
olemiss.edu
January 7, 2026 at 10:45 PM
Civil War historians! If you published your first book in 2025 on a topic related to the Civil War (broadly construed), please consider submitting it for the Center for Civil War Research's Wiley-Silver Prize! The deadline is Friday, February 20.
olemiss.edu/civil-war-re...
olemiss.edu/civil-war-re...
ICYMI @jcwe.bsky.social editors @katemasur.bsky.social and Gregory Downs discuss January 6 and the legacy of Civil War-era violence with @talkingpointsmemo.com talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/jan-6-a...
Jan. 6 and the Long Shadow of Civil War- and Reconstruction-Era Political Violence
Two days after the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, we...
talkingpointsmemo.com
January 7, 2026 at 6:21 PM
ICYMI @jcwe.bsky.social editors @katemasur.bsky.social and Gregory Downs discuss January 6 and the legacy of Civil War-era violence with @talkingpointsmemo.com talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/jan-6-a...
In today's Muster @robertdbland.bsky.social examines the legacy of the Reconstruction generation www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2026/01/reme...
Remembering Reconstruction’s Lost Generation - The Journal of the Civil War Era
Benjamin Franklin Randolph was part of a generation that changed the nation’s political history. Born free and raised in Ohio, he attended Oberlin College and after graduating he served as a principal...
www.journalofthecivilwarera.org
January 7, 2026 at 6:01 PM
In today's Muster @robertdbland.bsky.social examines the legacy of the Reconstruction generation www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2026/01/reme...
In today's Muster, @richcondon.bsky.social explores the recent Netflix series Death by Lightning and its portrait of James Garfield as the last "Lincoln Republican" www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/12/deat...
Death by Lightning - An Ode to Service - The Journal of the Civil War Era
In his inaugural speech on March 4, 1881, newly elected President James Garfield emphasized the importance of ongoing Reconstruction, asserting that the “elevation of the negro race from slavery to th...
www.journalofthecivilwarera.org
December 22, 2025 at 2:47 PM
In today's Muster, @richcondon.bsky.social explores the recent Netflix series Death by Lightning and its portrait of James Garfield as the last "Lincoln Republican" www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/12/deat...
Reposted by The Journal of the Civil War Era
Congrats to postdoc scholar Dr. Joshua Strayhorn on a great manuscript workshop on “Freedom’s Promise: Black Mobility, Migration, and Freedom Dreams in Eastern North Carolina, 1862-1898!” And many thanks to the invited scholars, Dr. Tera Hunter & Dr. Dylan Penningroth, for their valuable feedback.
December 18, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Congrats to postdoc scholar Dr. Joshua Strayhorn on a great manuscript workshop on “Freedom’s Promise: Black Mobility, Migration, and Freedom Dreams in Eastern North Carolina, 1862-1898!” And many thanks to the invited scholars, Dr. Tera Hunter & Dr. Dylan Penningroth, for their valuable feedback.
In today's Muster, Cassandra Jane Werking explores irregular warfare along the Canadian border and how this conflict challenges our current hemispheric story of the American Civil War www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/12/cana...
Canada Caught in the Cross Fire: How U.S. Major General John Adams Dix Confronted Confederate Violence on the International Border - The Journal of the Civil War Era
Hundreds of miles from the cacophony of hissing Minié balls, rumbling artillery fire, and thumping drums that defined the acoustic environment of battlefields in established theaters of war, Major Gen...
www.journalofthecivilwarera.org
December 12, 2025 at 1:18 PM
In today's Muster, Cassandra Jane Werking explores irregular warfare along the Canadian border and how this conflict challenges our current hemispheric story of the American Civil War www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/12/cana...
Congratulations to former Muster editor @hngreen.bsky.social for being included on this illustrious list!
Brian Kwoba's HUBERT HARRISON is listed as a Best Black History Book of 2025 by AAIHS 👏
www.aaihs.org/the-best-bla...
www.aaihs.org/the-best-bla...
The Best Black History Books of 2025 - AAIHS
We are pleased to release this year’s AAIHS list of the best books published in 2025! Check out this extraordinary list of great books from 2025 that offer varied historical perspectives on the Black ...
www.aaihs.org
December 8, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Congratulations to former Muster editor @hngreen.bsky.social for being included on this illustrious list!
Reposted by The Journal of the Civil War Era
For more on this historical context, see this amicus brief from @marthasjones.bsky.social and @katemasur.bsky.social
www.brennancenter.org/media/14006/...
www.brennancenter.org/media/14006/...
bad actors like wurman are why i think it is important to place the birthright clause in the full context of section 1 and section 1 in the context of both dred scott and the two decades of antislavery and abolitionist agitation and political thinking that proceeded it
The evidence is the text. All you have to do is read the Constitution.
December 7, 2025 at 7:41 PM
For more on this historical context, see this amicus brief from @marthasjones.bsky.social and @katemasur.bsky.social
www.brennancenter.org/media/14006/...
www.brennancenter.org/media/14006/...
In today's Muster, Kate Masur and Gregory Downs preview the December issue of the journal www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/12/prev...
Previewing the December 2025 JCWE - The Journal of the Civil War Era
With this issue of the journal, we complete six years as coeditors and feel inspired by the work of so many of our professional colleagues who keep scholarly journals functioning and humbled by Bill B...
www.journalofthecivilwarera.org
December 8, 2025 at 3:38 PM
In today's Muster, Kate Masur and Gregory Downs preview the December issue of the journal www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/12/prev...
Reposted by The Journal of the Civil War Era
Richards Center CFA for the Mark & Ann Persun Visiting Scholars Program for tenured faculty in history at the rank of Associate Professor. For the 2026-27 academic year, the fellowship is open to scholars of the Civil War Era, broadly conceived, who study military or political history.
December 4, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Richards Center CFA for the Mark & Ann Persun Visiting Scholars Program for tenured faculty in history at the rank of Associate Professor. For the 2026-27 academic year, the fellowship is open to scholars of the Civil War Era, broadly conceived, who study military or political history.
In today's Muster, Amanda Laury Kleintop explores the hidden history of compensated emancipation in Maryland www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/12/comp...
Compensated Emancipation in Maryland during the Civil War - The Journal of the Civil War Era
Historians have long marked President Abraham Lincoln’s January 1, 1863, Emancipation Proclamation as the harbinger of immediate, uncompensated emancipation in both the Confederacy and the Border Stat...
www.journalofthecivilwarera.org
December 4, 2025 at 12:38 PM
In today's Muster, Amanda Laury Kleintop explores the hidden history of compensated emancipation in Maryland www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/12/comp...
In today's Muster, JCWE Book Review Editor Megan Bever chats with J Matt Ward about his book Garden of Ruins (LSU Press, 2024) www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/11/jcwe...
JCWE Conversation with J Matt Ward - The Journal of the Civil War Era
In today’s Muster, J Matt Ward, Assistant Professor of History at Quincy University, chats with JCWE Book Review Editor Megan Bever about his book, Garden of Ruins (LSU Press, 2024).
www.journalofthecivilwarera.org
November 17, 2025 at 2:07 PM
In today's Muster, JCWE Book Review Editor Megan Bever chats with J Matt Ward about his book Garden of Ruins (LSU Press, 2024) www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/11/jcwe...
In today's Muster, Clark North examines Stephen Douglas' role in shaping debates over citizenship and voting rights in antebellum Illinois www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/11/step...
Stephen Douglas’ Fictitious Case: Immigrant Voting in Antebellum Illinois - The Journal of the Civil War Era
Both sides agreed on the facts. Both sides, the Whigs and the Democrats, agreed that on August 6, 1838, Jeremiah Kyle went to the window of a polling booth in Galena, Illinois. Both sides agreed that...
www.journalofthecivilwarera.org
November 12, 2025 at 5:24 PM
In today's Muster, Clark North examines Stephen Douglas' role in shaping debates over citizenship and voting rights in antebellum Illinois www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/11/step...
In today's Muster, contributor Kris Plunkett examines the rise of the New Lost Cause in Post-Civil Rights era alternative history stories www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/10/alte...
Alternative Fictions: The New Lost Cause in the Post-Civil Rights Era - The Journal of the Civil War Era
“What if the South Won the Civil War?” Answers to this question reflect shifts in collective memory as authors use artistic license to reframe the real-world past.[1] Mackinlay Kantor’s answer in 1960...
www.journalofthecivilwarera.org
October 31, 2025 at 12:20 PM
In today's Muster, contributor Kris Plunkett examines the rise of the New Lost Cause in Post-Civil Rights era alternative history stories www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/10/alte...
In today's Muster, we introduce four new contributors to the site. Welcome Cassy Werking, Will Horne, Elliott, and Kris Plunkett to the Muster team! www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/10/intr...
Introducing New Muster Contributors - The Journal of the Civil War Era
In today’s Muster, we are excited to introduce four new contributors to our site. We are excited to welcome Cassy Werking, Will Horne, Elliott Martin, and Kris Plunkett to our team. They will contribu...
www.journalofthecivilwarera.org
October 23, 2025 at 4:08 PM
In today's Muster, we introduce four new contributors to the site. Welcome Cassy Werking, Will Horne, Elliott, and Kris Plunkett to the Muster team! www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/10/intr...
The history of the Civil War era is inextricably linked to indigenous history and Muster will always strive to be an outlet to highlight the ongoing conversations and important debates that reveal a deeper understanding of this nation's indigenous past
October 13, 2025 at 4:59 PM
The history of the Civil War era is inextricably linked to indigenous history and Muster will always strive to be an outlet to highlight the ongoing conversations and important debates that reveal a deeper understanding of this nation's indigenous past
Finally, Lindsey R. Peterson discussed her 2025 JCWE article on settler colonialism, western Unionism, and Indian boarding schools with Muster this past summer. Her groundbreaking article won the 2023 Anthony E. Kaye Memorial Essay award. www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/04/lind...
Lindsey Peterson Interview on "'Home Builders': Free Labor Households and Settler Colonialism in Western Union Civil War Commemorations" - The Journal of the Civil War Era
In today’s Muster, associate editor Robert D. Bland speaks with Lindsey R. Peterson about her March 2025 JCWE article “‘Home-Builders’: Free Labor Households and Settler Colonialism in Western Union C...
www.journalofthecivilwarera.org
October 13, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Finally, Lindsey R. Peterson discussed her 2025 JCWE article on settler colonialism, western Unionism, and Indian boarding schools with Muster this past summer. Her groundbreaking article won the 2023 Anthony E. Kaye Memorial Essay award. www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/04/lind...
In 2024, Paul Barba offered an deeply insightful investigation of the Office of Indian Affairs in Kansas during the height of the sectional crisis
www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2024/07/acts...
www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2024/07/acts...
“Acts of Lawless Violence”: The Office of Indian Affairs, and the Coming of the Civil War in Kansas - The Journal of the Civil War Era
On November 26, 1855, Indian Agent John Montgomery hand delivered a notice to the wife of George W. Gray, warning the squatters that they were now “required to abandon your ‘claim’ or ‘location’ on th...
www.journalofthecivilwarera.org
October 13, 2025 at 4:51 PM
In 2024, Paul Barba offered an deeply insightful investigation of the Office of Indian Affairs in Kansas during the height of the sectional crisis
www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2024/07/acts...
www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2024/07/acts...
Next is Max Flormen's 2021 post on Indigenous Power and Slavery in the American Southwest www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2021/03/insu...
Insurrections, Indigenous Power, & The Empire for Slavery in the Southwest - The Journal of the Civil War Era
The realities of Indigenous power, marronage, and Mexico’s emancipation policies haunted Anglo-American visions of a white supremacist imperial order in the trans-Mississippi West. On May 25, 1836 Con...
www.journalofthecivilwarera.org
October 13, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Next is Max Flormen's 2021 post on Indigenous Power and Slavery in the American Southwest www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2021/03/insu...
In honor of Indigenous People's Day, we would like to highlight some Muster posts that have examined Native American history during the Civil War era.
First, Michelle Anderson's 2019 essay on the honoring Indigenous Civil War veterans www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2019/11/hono...
First, Michelle Anderson's 2019 essay on the honoring Indigenous Civil War veterans www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2019/11/hono...
Honoring and Remembering Indigenous Civil War Veterans in Public Spaces - The Journal of the Civil War Era
A groundbreaking ceremony for the National Native American Veterans Memorial was held on September 21, 2019—the fifteen-year anniversary of the opening of the National Museum of the American Indian (N...
www.journalofthecivilwarera.org
October 13, 2025 at 4:48 PM
In honor of Indigenous People's Day, we would like to highlight some Muster posts that have examined Native American history during the Civil War era.
First, Michelle Anderson's 2019 essay on the honoring Indigenous Civil War veterans www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2019/11/hono...
First, Michelle Anderson's 2019 essay on the honoring Indigenous Civil War veterans www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2019/11/hono...
In today's Muster, we announce that Dr. J. Jacob Calhoun has been selected as the recipient of the Anthony E. Kaye Essay Award for 2025. Congratulations Dr. Calhoun! www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/09/anno...
Announcing the 2025 Anthony E. Kaye Memorial Essay Award - The Journal of the Civil War Era
The Journal of the Civil War Era is pleased to announce that Dr. J. Jacob Calhoun has been selected as the recipient of the Anthony E. Kaye Memorial Essay Award for 2025. His winning essay is titled, ...
www.journalofthecivilwarera.org
September 24, 2025 at 3:48 PM
In today's Muster, we announce that Dr. J. Jacob Calhoun has been selected as the recipient of the Anthony E. Kaye Essay Award for 2025. Congratulations Dr. Calhoun! www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/09/anno...
In today's Muster, JCWE Associate Editor Robert Bland has a conversation with Caleb Gayle, author of Black Moses: A Sage of Ambition and the Fight for a Black State (Penguin, 2025). www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/09/conv...
Conversation with Caleb Gayle - The Journal of the Civil War Era
In today’s Muster, JCWE Associate Editor Robert Bland has a conversation with Caleb Gayle, Associate Professor of Journalism and Africana Studies at Northeastern University. Gayle is the author of Bla...
www.journalofthecivilwarera.org
September 19, 2025 at 2:24 PM
In today's Muster, JCWE Associate Editor Robert Bland has a conversation with Caleb Gayle, author of Black Moses: A Sage of Ambition and the Fight for a Black State (Penguin, 2025). www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2025/09/conv...