Slavery and The University

This section of the LibGuide provides researchers with resources on Proslavery and Confederate Ideologies among Citadel faculty and students between 1840 and 1920.

The sources in this LibGuide build upon the work of scholars studying the connection between slavery and universities. For example, Craig Steven Wilder, in Slavery and the University: Histories and Legacies explains the importance of slavery in building and maintaining colleges and universities in the beginning years of Colonial America and post-revolutionary America. The methodology of this essay can be used to connect back to the creation of The Citadel as a fear of insurrection among African Americans in the early 1800s. Another example comes from Alfred L. Brophy, in Slavery and the University: Histories and Legacies, discusses how members of the southern academy defended the idea of slavery and thus perpetuated slavery in the South. Sources found in this subsection can be used to argue similar ideals prevalent in Citadel faculty and students prior to, during, and after the Civil War.

Also included in this LibGuide, are other secondary sources which may prove useful for providing context to researchers on The Citadel’s involvement in the Civil War. For instance, Persistence Through Peril: Episodes of College Life and Academic Endurance in the Civil War South examines The Citadel’s faculty and student’s active roles in the Confederacy during the Civil War as well as their views on the institution of slavery. The actions, speeches, and unspoken words in letters and memoirs reveal to researchers the proslavery and Confederate ideologies held by faculty, staff, students, alumni, and board members of the Citadel from 1840 to 1920.