JESSE JAMES (1847-1882)

As a teenager in Missouri, Jesse joined the Confederate army under the command of William C. Quantrill. As a member of “Quantrill’s Raiders” Jesse engaged in guerrilla tactics that caused heavy causalities of the Union forces. The first picture is during this time when he was around 16 (1863). The period of time after the Civil War saw the rise of the “outlaw” of the Wild West. Many of these men were unemployed and dissatisfied with daily life.

As a war veteran during Reconstruction, Jesse began his criminal career in order to support his mother and family in a new South overrun by carpetbaggers and scalawags. The second photo is what he looked like at the beginning of his outlaw days. He killed over 17 men and played part in many major bank and train robberies. Jesse considered himself a loyal southerner until his assassination by a member of his own gang.

QUESTION:

What effect did the Civil War have on the young people that fought in the war? Even though it officially ended in 1865 why did the war "continue" for many years after in the new period of the "Wild West"?

NATHAN BEDFORD FORREST (1821-1877)

To many loyal Southerners the Civil War was seen as the war of Northern aggression. When it began Nathan was already a millionaire having been born poor but getting rich in the slave business. He left his plantation and enlisted in the Confederate Army. He was the South's best strategist, capturing and killing unarmed Union soldiers (both Black and White) in the Battle of Fort Pillow which took place one year after this picture was taken (1863). Although Nathan was considered a military genius, like most CSA veterans, he found himself angered by the changes of Reconstruction in the South. He is considered to be a founding member and the original “Grand Wizard” of the mysterious Ku Klux Klan in 1867. The original purpose of the clan was to protect loyal white (and Black) Southerners from the greed (real and imagined) of the Northern carpetbaggers. He later ordered the group to disband after they became increasingly violent with their terrorist activities. Ironically he was known to be a supporter of Civil Rights for Blacks is his later life.

QUESTION:

The more I researched this guy the more mystery I uncovered. Some say he really never was that involved with the Klan and that they originally were for self-defense. Others say that he lied about not being involved so he could be in charge in secret! Um, what do you think he was - racist or loyal Southerner?

FREDERICK DOUGLASS (1818-1895)

Douglass was a runaway slave in the period before the Civil War. Once he found his way North, Douglass began to be an active member in the abolitionist movement. His eloquent speeches such as “The Meaning of the Fourth of July for the Negro” questioned the idea of “freedom” in a country that allowed slavery. The first picture is three years after that speech (1855) in which we see Fred in a youthful manner.

When the Civil War broke out Douglass was asked by the governor of Massachusetts to help recruit volunteers for first all Black group of soldiers. Two of his sons enlisted under the command of Colonel Robert Shaw. During Reconstruction Fred continued to speak against the injustices suffered by ex-slaves in the form of Black Codes. The second photo (1879) is the more recognizable image of Douglass. By this time slavery had long been abolished and Douglass widened his scope to include other social issues.

In the last shot (1885) we see him with his second wife Helen Pitts (far right) and her sister. Helen was a feminist and met Douglass when he was a part of the
Women’s Suffrage movement. She was twenty years younger and white, and some of her family disapproved of the marriage. The feminist Elizabeth Cady Stanton, friends of the couple, defended the marriage.

QUESTION:

When people talk about Frederick they usually limit the conversation to his abolitionist activity. As you just read he was involved with many movements throughout his life. What kind of example does this set for people that are trying to help change the world in small steps?

JUAN CORTINA (1824-1892)

When the United States won new lands after the Mexican-American War many Mexicans were suddenly considered “foreigners” in lands they had been living on for hundreds of years. In Texas, whites revoked deeds to land that had always been Mexican owned because it was now part of the US. Juan was a wealthy landowner that did not passively accept the anti-Mexican, racist attitudes in Texas. He killed a white man that was beating up on one of his workers and then later freed more from prisons. Although this made him a criminal in the state, he survived and would later serve as a leader in the Union army for the Civil War. In this photo (1870) he had was in good standing with carpetbaggers that were buying up land in Texas during Reconstruction.

QUESTION:

I actually didn't know about Juanito until I started researching Manifest Destiny. He's actually the first "Latino" that fits into US History that I can think of. He actually made a big speech that warned all white Texans to back off or he would kill them for being racist. Why do you think that people like Juan are not generally well known in US history?