The Union League, Black Leaders, and the Recruitment of Philadelphia's African American Civil War Regiments

Abstract

In 1848 the slave-turned-abolitionist Frederick Douglass wrote inthe National Anti-Slavery Standard newspaper that Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, "more than any other [city] in our land, holdsthe destiny of our people." Yet Douglass was also one of thebiggest critics of the city's treatment of its black citizens. Hepenned a censure in 1862: "There is not perhaps anywhere to befound a city in which prejudice against color is more rampantthan Philadelphia." There were a number of other critics. OnMarch 4, 1863, the Christian Recorder, the official organ of theAfrican Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, commented afterrace riots in Detroit, "Even here, in the city of Philadelphia, inmany places it is almost impossible for a respectable colored personto walk the streets without being assaulted.