The Reckoning: Facing the Legacy of Slavery in America

During the Civil War, neutral Canada became a haven for both exiled Copperheads and Confederate soldiers who had escaped from Union prisons. It then became a base of operations for a planned attack on several Northern cities by a combined force of Copperheads and Confederates.

The Copperhead movement was a coalition of several groups with varied histories and political goals, the seeds of which went back to the early years of the nation. But the election of Republican Abraham Lincoln in 1860 activated their worst fears and inspired them to come together to fight against a common foe.

A six-part podcast series that tells a forgotten story from the American Civil War. A group of Northerners, angry at President Lincoln, conspired with Confederates to plan an armed insurrection intended to topple the governments of several midwestern states and free tens of thousands of Confederate prisoners from Union prisons, hoping they would force an end to the Civil War with the Confederacy intact and slavery still legal. It would have worked, except for a Union spy who was embedded in their midst.

There are clear lines that connect the legacy of slavery to many of our present day issues, including the racial inequities of COVID-19 infection and deaths, wealth inequality, and ongoing police brutality. A true and deep understanding of our history allows us to navigate the present moment and stop running away from the past. Features interviews with Sadiqa Reynolds, Dr. Ricky Jones, Dr. Kidada Williams, Dr. Anita Fernander, and Dr. William Darity.

In 1848, Henrietta Wood was delighted to be granted her freedom when her enslaver moved to Ohio, a free state. But five years later, she was kidnapped, taken across the river to Kentucky, and sold back into slavery for another 13 years. In 1878, she successfully sued her kidnapper and received the largest known sum ever granted by a U.S. court in restitution for slavery.

Kentuckians fought on both sides of the Civil War but came together at war’s end to oppose a common foe—newly emancipated African Americans yearning for education, dignity, and a decent living. In the process, the state pioneered restrictive racial laws that became models for the rest of the South.

Due to prohibitions against enslaved people learning to read and write, there are only a few written records left behind by formerly enslaved Kentuckians. But thankfully, over 100 people were interviewed during the 1930s about their experiences while enslaved. These narratives, combined with letters and diaries kept by white enslavers, help us better understand the true nature of slavery in Kentucky.

The history of slavery is often taught as a bitter chapter of America’s past that has been rectified. But in Kentucky that history has been rarely acknowledged, and is poorly documented. This has made it particularly difficult for African American families to learn anything about their enslaved ancestors. We’ll meet one Black family just beginning to learn about their family’s connections to a plantation in Louisville.