Passover 1862: Exodus & Emancipation in Washington

 In April 1862, Washington's small wartime Jewish community observed Passover, the annual commemoration of the Israelites' liberation from Egyptian bondage.  The eight-day festival began with the first night's seder on April 14th in which Jews continued the age-old tradition of recalling the story of Exodus.  However, this Passover 1862 was different from all other Passovers in that a contemporary version of the story of Exodus was unfolding in Washington.  

By April 1862, thousands of slaves, euphemistically referred to as "Contrabands,"  had already fled Virginia and Maryland for the relative safety of camps in and around Washington.  Although these contemporary refugees did not flee with matzoh or cross the Red Sea, they did hope that a contemporary "Father Abraham" or Moses-like figure would help free them.  Abolitionists had been pressing President Abraham Lincoln  to remove the stain of slavery from the nation's capital.  On April 16th-- the second day of Passover-- President Lincoln signed the District of Columbia Emancipation Act, which ended slavery in Washington.  It went into effect a full eight and half months before Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation freeing enslaved African Americans in rebellious states.
 

A Civil War era photograph of Washington's City Hall where that former slaveowners in Washington applied to a special commission for compensation for their emancipated slaves.  Nearly $1 million in compensation was paid out by the Federal Government.  (Library of Congress).

The legislation  provided for compensation to former owners who were loyal to the Union of up to $300 for each slave.  Over the next nine months, an appointed Board of Commissioners approved 930 petitions from former owners for compensation for the freedom of 2,989 former slaves.  Several Washington Jews owned slaves in the District. 

 Dr. Charles Liebermann, a Russian-born physician living in the District had owned slaves since at least 1849.  In June 1862, Liebermann submitted a petition requesting $225 in compensation for his claim to Daniel Jones.    Dr. Liebermann included a copy of the July 1849 legal paperwork associated with his purchase of the then 13-year old Daniel Jones for $200.

Charles H. Liebermann's Petition (NARA)

 On April 17th, the Washington National Republican,  published an item on the "The Hebrew Passover," detailing how and why Jews observe Passover.  Directly below this article, the avowedly anti-slavery paper ran an editorial applauding President Lincoln's signing of the District Emancipation Bill, noting that "if freedom is a blessing, it ought to be bestowed on the greatest number possible by this bill."

100 miles to the south, the Richmond Dispatch, diligently  avoiding any references to the south's "peculiar institution,"  vividly described Passover observances in the Confederate capital:

"The celebration of the Jewish Passover which begun last week and which has been scrupulously observed by our Hebrew fellow-citizens, closes on tomorrow. As usual there are services daily in the two synagogues. It is a custom with the ancient people of God during the continuance of the Passover to eat unleavened bread, lamb, celery, and parsley, and almond mush. According to prescribed rule, each dish is typical of incidents connected with the tribulations endured by the children of Israel in their attempts to escape from the bondage in which they were held by their Egyptian persecutors."

Just as the story of Exodus is recalled during Passover, for 150 years Washington's African American community has celebrated Emancipation Day on April 16th to recall their ancestor's freedom after several hundred years in bondage.  

Harper's Weekly depiction of the large celebration of the anniversary of the Abolition of Slavery in the District of Columbia that occurred in April 1866.  Generations of Washington African-Americans would continue to celebrate Emanciaption Day, which made Washington's slaves the "first freed."  (Library of Congress)

 Sources:

Apelbaum, Laura Cohen and Clair Uziel, eds, Jewish Life in Mr. Lincoln's City.   Washington, D.C.:  Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington, 2009.
The Richmond Dispatch, April 21, 1862.
Washington National Republican, April 17, 1862.
Washington, D.C., Slave Owner Petitions, 1862-1863 Record for Charles H Leiberman.

The Washington Canal: Cesspool in the Midst of the Nation's Capital

 In the 1860s, a cesspool of filth literally lay at the foot of Congress.  The Washington City Canal, once envisioned as a key artery linking the capital with the West via the Potomac and C&O Canal, was little more than an open sewer.  This fetid body of water, which had never lived up to its economic promise,  was both a visual blight on the city and a serious public health nuisance.  One War Department report called the canal "that pestiferous ditch of water." 

An early plan for Washington depicting the Washington City Canal that linked the Potomac River, Tiber Creek and the C&O Canal to the Eastern Branch (Anacostia River).  Part of the canal ran along what is today Constitution Avenue just north of the National Mall with branches then proceeding south of the Capitol leading into the Anacostia River.  In 1831, the City of Washington purchased the canal from its private owners.  By the start of the Civil War, the canal was offensive to the senses of both sight and smell. 

The Army of the Potomac Sets Off for the Peninsula, March 1862

In mid-March 1862, the Alexandria waterfront was the scene of  a whirlwind of activity.  General McClellan's beloved Army of the Potomac was embarking on transports en route to Fort Monroe, a Union toehold on the southern tip of the Virginia Peninsula..  In a three week period, nearly 121,500 men, 14,500 animals, 1200 wagons and ambulances and 44 artillery batteries were dispatched to Fort Monroe.  This logistical feat-- the U.S. Army's largest ever deployment at the time-- was the opening move of the Peninsula Campaign, McClellan's ill-fated effort to strike Richmond via the lower Chesapeake.

A lithograph depicting Alexandria' busy waterfront during the Civil War. (Library of Congress)

Symbolic Import of the National Monuments in Washington

In March 1862, the Washington National Republican  espoused the virtue of the Union cause by noting that none of the significant monuments in the national capital pointed to the South.  I have previously blogged on each side's efforts to link their cause to the founders of the Republic and heroes of previous generations.  The National Republican sought to use the directions that monuments in Washington faced as a metaphor for the country's future.  Of course, in this case the National Republican's  editors conveniently failed to point out the irony that all four national heroes then memorialized in Washington had been southern slave owners.  We may not be as concerned today about directions on a compass, but what statues and monuments in today's Washington face south?

Howe

A photograph of the North Side of the White House, including the statue of Thomas Jefferson on the front lawn, taken during the Civil War.

From the Washington National Republican, March 17, 1862:
 
Symbolic Import of the National Monuments in Washington
As illustrated by past and passing events; and doubtless will be still further illustrated in the future.

1.  Washington's Equestrian statue (situated in the Circle, western Pennsylvania Avenue, facing the East) indicates liberty, strength, stability and invincibility, which, under G-d, are our nation's bulwarks.

2.  Jefferson's statue (in front of the President's Mansion, facing the North, he was the framer of the Constitution), denotes that the strength and defense of the Constitution come from the North.

3.  Jackson's equestrian statue (in Lafayette square, on the North front of the White House, facing the West,) indicates that our nation's progress and expansion will be Westward, until the Pacific ocean be her boundary.

4.  Washington monument (on the Island, unfinished,) proclaims a great country, though incomplete in its strength, majesty, and grandeur; will, nevertheless, go on to perfection, and be as enduring as the granite from which the monument is constructed.

5.  It is remarkable that there is no monument pointing toward the South, as though intended to teach us that the permanent future of that region is not yet initiated, and, of course cannot be symbolized."

Washington's Brithday, February 22, 1862

This weekend, as we are bombarded by television and newspapers ads of Washington and Honest Abe touting presidential savings on cars and dishwashers, I want to reflect on how Washington's birthday was observed 150 years ago in the midst of the Civil War. As I noted in a previous post, both Northern and Southern leaders sought to link their respective causes with the legacy of George Washington.  These efforts can best be seen in the February 22, 1862 observances of Washington's birthday observances in the Union and Confederate capitals. 

The 1st US Colored Troops at Roosevelt Island

Theodore Roosevelt Island,  a small island located in the Potomac River between Rosslyn, VA and the Georgetown waterfront, is maintained by the National Park Service in honor of our nation's 26th president. However, during the Civil War, the 80 acre island, then known as Mason's Island or Analostan Island, served as a training camp for the 1st United States Colored Troops (1st USCT), an infantry regiment of African American soldiers recruited in the District of Colombia in 1863.  The island was occupied by Union troops at the outset of the war and used for various purposes.

Photograph of the 1st U.S. Colored Troops in camp circa 1863.  The regiment's white officers can be seen in the foreground.  (Library of Congress)

The Methodist Church Hospital in Alexandria, VA

As the number of Union wounded and ill mounted, Alexandria's public building, churches, and even private homes were pressed into service as military hospitals.  At least twenty of Alexandria's largest buildings were transformed into hospitals during the war.  In January  1861, the U.S. Government took possession of Alexandria's Methodist Episcopal South church on Washington Street for use as a hospital. Like most other Alexandria churches, the Southern Methodist congregation was considered to be "secesh," so Union authorities had no qualms about seizing it. 

Photo of the Methodist Church on South Washington Street in Alexandria when it was being used as a U.S. Military Hospital, circa 1862.  The cornerstone was laid on September 12, 1840 and the building was completed in 1852.