Dana Vacca's Blog: Freedom Calling A Civil War Slave Escapes By Sea - Posts Tagged "slave"
FREEDOM CALLING Book: The Great Dismal Swamp People
FREEDOM CALLING - Book Highlights
THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP
During the American Civil War, many runaways took refuge in the Great Dismal Swamp that spans the border of Virginia and North Carolina. But the Dismal had been a used as a safe haven even long before 1861. Many Native Americans, African-Americans, and even Portuguese and English seamen, for various reasons, inhabited the swamp from as early as the 1600s. Some were outlaws, some fled bondage, some were born there.
The Dismal was millions of acres of thick vegetation and deep, soggy bogs. Much of it was wetland and mire, but the interior had large hummocks with higher ground that was solid and dry.
The swamp was also home to many species of poisonous rattlesnakes and cottonmouths, cougar, alligators and other dangerous animals. Most folks kept to the edges of the swamp, if they entered it at all, and even the brave ones who dared push further in ended up losing their way, sometimes for days, - and afterward would never consider venturing into it a second time!
SEE PHOTOS ON FACEBOOK PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/CivilWarHist...
Freedom Calling: A Civil War Slave Escapes By Sea
THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP
During the American Civil War, many runaways took refuge in the Great Dismal Swamp that spans the border of Virginia and North Carolina. But the Dismal had been a used as a safe haven even long before 1861. Many Native Americans, African-Americans, and even Portuguese and English seamen, for various reasons, inhabited the swamp from as early as the 1600s. Some were outlaws, some fled bondage, some were born there.
The Dismal was millions of acres of thick vegetation and deep, soggy bogs. Much of it was wetland and mire, but the interior had large hummocks with higher ground that was solid and dry.
The swamp was also home to many species of poisonous rattlesnakes and cottonmouths, cougar, alligators and other dangerous animals. Most folks kept to the edges of the swamp, if they entered it at all, and even the brave ones who dared push further in ended up losing their way, sometimes for days, - and afterward would never consider venturing into it a second time!
SEE PHOTOS ON FACEBOOK PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/CivilWarHist...
Freedom Calling: A Civil War Slave Escapes By Sea
FREEDOM CALLING Book: The Great Dismal Swamp
FREEDOM CALLING - Book Highlights
By the 1800's the inhabitants of the Great Dismal Swamp were known by many names,... Melungeons, Outliers, Maroons, Swampers... Some lived their whole lives without ever leaving the swamp.
The term Melungeon means a person of mixed race,... a combination of African-American, Native American and European descent, but freed and fugitive African-Americans, Native Americans from various tribes and white Caucasians also lived in the Dismal.
Their shelters were simple and small and rather crude but serviceable, (like the one in the photo below), and often cobbled together from logs, scavenaged board planks and bark. Usually living in small groups, their little communities, tucked in the secluded thickets of dry hummocks, were scattered within the interior of the swamp. The Outliers were almost completely self-sufficient, and lived off the land by hunting, gathering and planting. To make tools they reworked whatever iron and metal they found, traded for, or brought with them.
The swamp was a rich hunting ground with a large fresh-water lake (Lake Drummond; see photo) at the center. The water in Lake Drummond, though amber colored, is especially pure because of the tannic acids of the juniper, cypree and gum trees forests in the swamp. Kegs of the Dismal's swampwater was sold as drinking water for sailing ships since the water stayed fresh for a very long time! It was also thought to have magical qualities - that if regularly drunk would prevent illness and ensure long life!
SEE COOL PHOTOS of Dismal Swamp ON MY FACEBOOK PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/CivilWarHist...
Freedom Calling: A Civil War Slave Escapes By Sea
By the 1800's the inhabitants of the Great Dismal Swamp were known by many names,... Melungeons, Outliers, Maroons, Swampers... Some lived their whole lives without ever leaving the swamp.
The term Melungeon means a person of mixed race,... a combination of African-American, Native American and European descent, but freed and fugitive African-Americans, Native Americans from various tribes and white Caucasians also lived in the Dismal.
Their shelters were simple and small and rather crude but serviceable, (like the one in the photo below), and often cobbled together from logs, scavenaged board planks and bark. Usually living in small groups, their little communities, tucked in the secluded thickets of dry hummocks, were scattered within the interior of the swamp. The Outliers were almost completely self-sufficient, and lived off the land by hunting, gathering and planting. To make tools they reworked whatever iron and metal they found, traded for, or brought with them.
The swamp was a rich hunting ground with a large fresh-water lake (Lake Drummond; see photo) at the center. The water in Lake Drummond, though amber colored, is especially pure because of the tannic acids of the juniper, cypree and gum trees forests in the swamp. Kegs of the Dismal's swampwater was sold as drinking water for sailing ships since the water stayed fresh for a very long time! It was also thought to have magical qualities - that if regularly drunk would prevent illness and ensure long life!
SEE COOL PHOTOS of Dismal Swamp ON MY FACEBOOK PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/CivilWarHist...
Freedom Calling: A Civil War Slave Escapes By Sea
FREEDOM CALLING - Ralph Waldo Emerson's Writings
FREEDOM CALLING - Book Highlights
Emerson was a major influence on Celia, the main character in Freedom Calling.
Ralph Waldo Emerson - Essayist, Lecturer, Philosopher
Ralph Waldo Emerson was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1803. He graduated from Harvard in 1821. He lived in in the antebellum South for a few years. He was opposed to slavery and supported President Lincoln, but was disappointed that Lincoln's greater goal was to preserve the Union and was less concerned with putting an end to slavery.
Emerson also traveled to Europe, but for most of his life he lived in Concord, Massachusetts. He called himself a transcendentalist and wrote a plethora of wonderful essays representing the core of his thinking, which include the well-known essays, "Nature", "Self-Reliance", "The Over-Soul", "Circles", "The Poet", and "Experience." His writings never boasted fixed philosophical tenets but instead promoted ideas of personal individuality, freedom, the ability for mankind to achieve anything it could imagine. He also deeply explored the relationship between one's soul and the surrounding world.
A Few of Emerson's Quotes about BOOKS:
“If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads.”
“I cannot remember the books I've read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.”
See More (w/pics) on my Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/CivilWarHist...
Emerson was a major influence on Celia, the main character in Freedom Calling.
Ralph Waldo Emerson - Essayist, Lecturer, Philosopher
Ralph Waldo Emerson was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1803. He graduated from Harvard in 1821. He lived in in the antebellum South for a few years. He was opposed to slavery and supported President Lincoln, but was disappointed that Lincoln's greater goal was to preserve the Union and was less concerned with putting an end to slavery.
Emerson also traveled to Europe, but for most of his life he lived in Concord, Massachusetts. He called himself a transcendentalist and wrote a plethora of wonderful essays representing the core of his thinking, which include the well-known essays, "Nature", "Self-Reliance", "The Over-Soul", "Circles", "The Poet", and "Experience." His writings never boasted fixed philosophical tenets but instead promoted ideas of personal individuality, freedom, the ability for mankind to achieve anything it could imagine. He also deeply explored the relationship between one's soul and the surrounding world.
A Few of Emerson's Quotes about BOOKS:
“If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads.”
“I cannot remember the books I've read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.”
See More (w/pics) on my Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/CivilWarHist...
Ralph Waldo Emerson - Quotes
BOOK: Freedom Calling by Dana Vacca
RALPH WALDO EMERSON Quotes:
“Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it.”
“Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow.”
“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”
“Be not the slave of your own past - plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep, and swim far, so you shall come back with new self-respect, with new power, and with an advanced experience that shall explain and overlook the old.”
And I will end with his best quote:.....
“I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.”
SEE MORE (w/ photos) on my Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/CivilWarHist...
Freedom Calling: A Civil War Slave Escapes By Sea
RALPH WALDO EMERSON Quotes:
“Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it.”
“Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow.”
“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”
“Be not the slave of your own past - plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep, and swim far, so you shall come back with new self-respect, with new power, and with an advanced experience that shall explain and overlook the old.”
And I will end with his best quote:.....
“I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.”
SEE MORE (w/ photos) on my Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/CivilWarHist...
Freedom Calling: A Civil War Slave Escapes By Sea
IT WORKS! Check out FREEDOM CALLING's VIDEO TRAILER!
Check out the new VIDEO TRAILER for FREEDOM CALLING!
Let me know what you think!
LINK: https://www.facebook.com/CivilWarHist...
LINK:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LDrC...
(Let me know if you have a problem viewing trailer.)
Freedom Calling: A Civil War Slave Escapes By Sea
Let me know what you think!
LINK: https://www.facebook.com/CivilWarHist...
LINK:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LDrC...
(Let me know if you have a problem viewing trailer.)
Freedom Calling: A Civil War Slave Escapes By Sea
Freedom Calling - Celia goes to a Civil War Contraband Camp
Book: Freedom Calling - Book Highlights
Civil War Contraband Camps
Many slaves left plantations, some were freed others just fled. They headed north toward Union lines.
Bounty hunters sought out these African-Americans to bring them back to masters or to sell them to right back into slavery.
The Union decided to set up contraband camps not long after the war began. In these camps, African-Americans could be protected and live more safely, although often beyond the boundaries of the camps bounty hunters lurked ready to abduct stragglers!
One such camp was Springdale, formerly called Arlington. It was located on the confiscated estate of General Robert E. Lee. Huge numbers of African-Americans flocked to Springdale, and housing them all was difficult. Some groups were lived in the available buildings, but most had to make due with tents and lean-to's as the numbers of residents increased quickly. Springdale was just one of many such camps that were spread all across the border states, and all soon became overcrowded.
Many of the northern states set up Freedmen's societies. They shipped clothing, shoes, and food to the camp to help the newly freed slaves, as most of them arrived with only the clothing they wore on their backs. Volunteers also set up schools at the camps and held classes to teach children and adults how to read and write. They were very eager to learn! Celia volunteered as a teacher at Springdale.
GO to my FACEBOOK Book Page to see pics of a Virginia camp: https://www.facebook.com/CivilWarHist...
Freedom Calling: A Civil War Slave Escapes By Sea
Civil War Contraband Camps
Many slaves left plantations, some were freed others just fled. They headed north toward Union lines.
Bounty hunters sought out these African-Americans to bring them back to masters or to sell them to right back into slavery.
The Union decided to set up contraband camps not long after the war began. In these camps, African-Americans could be protected and live more safely, although often beyond the boundaries of the camps bounty hunters lurked ready to abduct stragglers!
One such camp was Springdale, formerly called Arlington. It was located on the confiscated estate of General Robert E. Lee. Huge numbers of African-Americans flocked to Springdale, and housing them all was difficult. Some groups were lived in the available buildings, but most had to make due with tents and lean-to's as the numbers of residents increased quickly. Springdale was just one of many such camps that were spread all across the border states, and all soon became overcrowded.
Many of the northern states set up Freedmen's societies. They shipped clothing, shoes, and food to the camp to help the newly freed slaves, as most of them arrived with only the clothing they wore on their backs. Volunteers also set up schools at the camps and held classes to teach children and adults how to read and write. They were very eager to learn! Celia volunteered as a teacher at Springdale.
GO to my FACEBOOK Book Page to see pics of a Virginia camp: https://www.facebook.com/CivilWarHist...
Freedom Calling: A Civil War Slave Escapes By Sea
Freedom Calling - African-American Soldiers in the Civil War
FREEDOM CALLING - Book Highlights
African-American Soldiers in the Civil War
After May 1863 many of the freed men were allowed to enlist in the Union Army and a great many of them served in the army's management of the camps.
Black leaders like Frederick Douglass encouraged African-American men to become soldiers as it would ensure their eventual US citizenship. The US government formed the Bureau of Colored Troops to organize the increasing numbers of black volunteer soldiers.
Approximately one hundred and ninety thousand black men volunteered during the course of the Civil War, and more than eighty of them became commissioned officers. Besides being soldiers many served as army carpenters, cooks, guards and chaplains. Black women also volunteered. Women were not allowed to join the army or navy, but could serve as nurses, scouts and spies.
Because of racial prejudice, even among Union soldiers, black men were not used as often in combat. But the soldiers who saw combat fought bravely and tenaciously. Sixteen had been awarded to the Medal of Honor for valor, like this soldier pictured. He is Andrew Jackson Smith, recipient of the MEDAL OF HONOR.
See Pics on my FACEBOOK BOOK PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/CivilWarHist...
BUY BOOK NOW at Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Freedom-Callin...
Also available as Kindle Book
Freedom Calling: A Civil War Slave Escapes By Sea
African-American Soldiers in the Civil War
After May 1863 many of the freed men were allowed to enlist in the Union Army and a great many of them served in the army's management of the camps.
Black leaders like Frederick Douglass encouraged African-American men to become soldiers as it would ensure their eventual US citizenship. The US government formed the Bureau of Colored Troops to organize the increasing numbers of black volunteer soldiers.
Approximately one hundred and ninety thousand black men volunteered during the course of the Civil War, and more than eighty of them became commissioned officers. Besides being soldiers many served as army carpenters, cooks, guards and chaplains. Black women also volunteered. Women were not allowed to join the army or navy, but could serve as nurses, scouts and spies.
Because of racial prejudice, even among Union soldiers, black men were not used as often in combat. But the soldiers who saw combat fought bravely and tenaciously. Sixteen had been awarded to the Medal of Honor for valor, like this soldier pictured. He is Andrew Jackson Smith, recipient of the MEDAL OF HONOR.
See Pics on my FACEBOOK BOOK PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/CivilWarHist...
BUY BOOK NOW at Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Freedom-Callin...
Also available as Kindle Book
Freedom Calling: A Civil War Slave Escapes By Sea
Freedom Calling - Dismal Swamp Legends - BIG JAKE
FREEDOM CALLING - Book Highlights
Character - "Big Jake"
The Great Dismal Swamp on the Virginia - North Carolina border has been surrounded with legend and myth as long as anyone can remember, and the stories run the gamut from the divine to the demonic. It had once been thought to be the miraculous and elusive Fountain of Youth, as its water was very pure and thought to have healing properties. It also was thought to be the dwelling place of cannibal witches and red-eyed demons, and that hidden somewhere in its murky, wet expanse, was a portal to hell.
The earliest known legend was handed down from the Native American Nottoway and Meherrin tribes and describes how the swamp was created. The legend tells about a Great Phoenix, the firebird. Its eyes like hot coals and its fiery wings big enough to blot out the sun. It flew low to the earth and its wings set fire to the land. Where the great bird nested, a hole was burned into the ground. That deep bowl became Lake Drummond, at the center of the swamp. The area cooled, and the scorched depression that remained around the lake became the Great Dismal Swamp.
There is another tale of the Dismal originating from the early antebellum era preceding the Civil War. It is the legend of Big Jake, giant of a man who stood seven foot-two and weighed over three hundred and fifty pounds. No one knew where Big Jake came from. It is supposed that he was born in the swamp to an escaped slave who had sought refuge there. Jake worked for the logging company and lived in the swamp. He had no last name and could not read or write, but he had a heart that was bigger than he was. He most always had a smile on his face.
Jake loved three things, Jesus, cutting timber, and making wood carvings of all the creatures that dwelt in the swamp. He was a very gifted artist and his carvings were exquisite! He would spend hours whittling scrap cedar and cypress into bear, raccoons, deer, cougar and other native wildlife. He captured every nuance and detail,… including the spirit of each animal. He gave his creations to friends and neighbors. After he died, woodsmen who went into the swamp to cut timber would sometimes find a little wooden statue at the base of a tree, - placed where they would certain to see it. To this day, it is said that campers and hikers continue to find similar wooden carvings on the paths around the outer rim of the swamp.
The legend of “Big Jake” was an inspiration in the development of one of the characters in Freedom Calling.
SEE PICS on FACEBOOK BOOK PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/CivilWarHist...
BUY BOOK NOW at AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...
Freedom Calling: A Civil War Slave Escapes By Sea
Character - "Big Jake"
The Great Dismal Swamp on the Virginia - North Carolina border has been surrounded with legend and myth as long as anyone can remember, and the stories run the gamut from the divine to the demonic. It had once been thought to be the miraculous and elusive Fountain of Youth, as its water was very pure and thought to have healing properties. It also was thought to be the dwelling place of cannibal witches and red-eyed demons, and that hidden somewhere in its murky, wet expanse, was a portal to hell.
The earliest known legend was handed down from the Native American Nottoway and Meherrin tribes and describes how the swamp was created. The legend tells about a Great Phoenix, the firebird. Its eyes like hot coals and its fiery wings big enough to blot out the sun. It flew low to the earth and its wings set fire to the land. Where the great bird nested, a hole was burned into the ground. That deep bowl became Lake Drummond, at the center of the swamp. The area cooled, and the scorched depression that remained around the lake became the Great Dismal Swamp.
There is another tale of the Dismal originating from the early antebellum era preceding the Civil War. It is the legend of Big Jake, giant of a man who stood seven foot-two and weighed over three hundred and fifty pounds. No one knew where Big Jake came from. It is supposed that he was born in the swamp to an escaped slave who had sought refuge there. Jake worked for the logging company and lived in the swamp. He had no last name and could not read or write, but he had a heart that was bigger than he was. He most always had a smile on his face.
Jake loved three things, Jesus, cutting timber, and making wood carvings of all the creatures that dwelt in the swamp. He was a very gifted artist and his carvings were exquisite! He would spend hours whittling scrap cedar and cypress into bear, raccoons, deer, cougar and other native wildlife. He captured every nuance and detail,… including the spirit of each animal. He gave his creations to friends and neighbors. After he died, woodsmen who went into the swamp to cut timber would sometimes find a little wooden statue at the base of a tree, - placed where they would certain to see it. To this day, it is said that campers and hikers continue to find similar wooden carvings on the paths around the outer rim of the swamp.
The legend of “Big Jake” was an inspiration in the development of one of the characters in Freedom Calling.
SEE PICS on FACEBOOK BOOK PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/CivilWarHist...
BUY BOOK NOW at AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...
Freedom Calling: A Civil War Slave Escapes By Sea
Freedom Calling - Celia's Journey - Virginia
A good part of the this saga takes place in the state of Virginia, circa 1864. Virginia offers a wide array of landscape and topography. It is a very beautiful state! This clear, flowing river and beautiful cascading waterfall is just one example!
Celia traveling through Virginia, c1864, Civil War raging. Avoiding soldiers & gunfire, she seeks solace in the wilderness & hides for a day in a small cave beside this waterfall.
Celia's journey changes her, and she slowly transforms from the child-like girl into a young woman as she searches for truth, - her own truth.
BOOK LINK at AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/Freedom-Callin...
See PICS & MORE: https://www.facebook.com/CivilWarHist...
Freedom Calling: A Civil War Slave Escapes By Sea
Celia traveling through Virginia, c1864, Civil War raging. Avoiding soldiers & gunfire, she seeks solace in the wilderness & hides for a day in a small cave beside this waterfall.
Celia's journey changes her, and she slowly transforms from the child-like girl into a young woman as she searches for truth, - her own truth.
BOOK LINK at AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/Freedom-Callin...
See PICS & MORE: https://www.facebook.com/CivilWarHist...
Freedom Calling: A Civil War Slave Escapes By Sea
Freedom Calling A Civil War Slave Escapes By Sea
FREEDOM CALLING is a page-turner packed with action, emotion, romance and adventure - vibrantly painted with powerful characters, vivid imagery and factual details of the Civil War era.
Runaway slaves ...more
Runaway slaves ...more
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