Summary of Charles W. Mitchell's The Civil War in Maryland Reconsidered

By IRB Media

Get the Summary of Charles W. Mitchell's The Civil War in Maryland Reconsidered in 20 minutes. Please note: This is a summary & not the original book.Original book introduction: The Millers, a white family from Pennsylvania, were neighbors of the Parks, a Black family from Maryland. One day in 1851, a former postman named Thomas McCreary kidnapped a Black woman named Rachel and took her to Maryland, where he sold her as a slave. When the Millers found out, they went after McCreary, and he killed Miller in self-defense.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Nov 23, 2021
• ISBN: 9781638157786

IRB Media

With IRB books, you can get the key takeaways and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.

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Insights on Charles W. Mitchell and Jean H. Baker's The Civil War in Maryland Reconsidered

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 10

Insights from Chapter 11

Insights from Chapter 12

Insights from Chapter 13

Insights from Chapter 14

Insights from Chapter 15

Insights from Chapter 16

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The Millers, a white family from Pennsylvania, were neighbors of the Parks, a Black family from Maryland. One day in 1851, a former postman named Thomas McCreary kidnapped a Black woman named Rachel and took her to Maryland, where he sold her as a slave. When the Millers found out, they went after McCreary, and he killed Miller in self-defense.

#2

Thomas McCreary’s kidnapping of Rachel Parker should also be situated in a larger context. As McCreary was well aware, by the 1850s Baltimore had become a significant center for the domestic slave trade.

#3

The author visited the local history museum in Washington, D. C. to see the exhibits on Maryland’s slave history. He was shocked to learn that many people believed that slavery in Maryland was not as harsh as it was in other states.

#4

Slavery in Maryland was not as prominent as in neighboring Virginia, but it was still present. In Baltimore, for example, many wealthy residents made their fortunes by financing or engaging in the slave trade.

#5

The author worked in Baltimore for a time, and while he did not live there for very long, he was able to see how the city functioned on a day-to-day basis.

#6

Slavery in Maryland was not as harsh as in the Deep South, and many enslavers chose to sell their slaves rather than free them. This led to the large-scale migration of enslaved people out of Maryland.

#7

Slave traders were the middlemen who made the trade work. They were known and identifiable, and many of them worked independently as well as being agents for larger firms.

#8

Even when families were not split up, they often suffered greatly during the sale process. In many cases, the slaveholders would just take the slaves and sell them separately, never informing the families about their whereabouts.

#9

While most enslaved Marylanders were stuck in their situations, they constantly tried to escape. They took advantage of any opportunity that presented itself, and did not wait for someone to come looking for them.

#10

The Fugitive Slave Law enacted in 1850 could not stop the growing exodus of enslaved people from Maryland, as it became clear that the