|
|
Article: Contraband, Slaves as
- Article from:
- Dictionary of American History
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
CONTRABAND, SLAVES AS
CONTRABAND, SLAVES AS,
the Union policy during the Civil War that, prior to the implementation of the Emancipation Proclamation, applied to slaves of disloyal Southerners who came under the jurisdiction of Northern military authorities. Major General Benjamin Butler initiated this policy in May 1861, after three Virginia slaves escaped from labor on Confederate fortifications and arrived within his command at Fortress Monroe. By designating them "contrabands of war," Butler finessed the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act. His action justified employing them and the many slaves who subsequently came within his lines as labor and, later, while he was in command of the ...