Bullets and Bulletins: African American Activism in Civil War Era Rhode Island, February 3-April 28, 2017

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Bullets and Bulletins: African American Activism in Civil War Era Rhode Island, February 3-April 28, 2017

The documents in this online exhibition tell two important stories about activism in Rhode Island in the 1850s-1880s. One is the story of the Black Americans, from Rhode Island and throughout the Union, who came forward to serve in the 14th Rhode Island Heavy Artillery (Colored). The other is the story of these same Americans’ struggles on the home front- for equal access to education, for the right to marry someone of another race, and for the end of all discrimination “on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude.” By taking up arms and taking individual action, the African American community in Rhode Island actively shaped the fight for freedom and equality in Civil War era Rhode Island.Below you can view poignant letters from men seeking to enlist and serve in the 6th Rhode Island Regiment, one of the first proposed “colored” regiments in the Union Army. You can also view petitions and letters that activists in Rhode Island wrote to their General Assembly, fighting for equal rights.