Slavery and The University

Baker, Gary R. Cadets in Gray: The Story of the Cadets of the South Carolina Military Academy and the Cadet Rangers in the Civil War. Columbia, SC: Palmetto Bookworks, 1989.

             Cadets in Gray gives a detailed overview of the use of Citadel cadets in military situations, following their movement across the South, throughout the Civil War. Baker combines detailed military reports with primary sources taken from the cadets themselves to paint a larger picture of how the Citadel was utilized during the war and how the moral of the cadets changed throughout the conflict. The author covers the actions of the cadets from the initial firing on the Star of the West, all the way to the final defense of Charleston. This source can be used to highlight how extensively used were the cadets of the Citadel in the larger Confederate war machine and what some of their reasons were for that dedication. 

Bond, O.J., The Story of the Citadel. Southern Historical Press, 1989.

               Oliver James Bond graduated from the Citadel as part of the first graduating class after the reopening of the school in 1882. From 1908 till 1931, Bond served as president of the Citadel and would serve as the architect of many of the post war reforms that would revitalize the school. It is during that time that Bond would assemble one of the quintessential works on Citadel history. In it, Bond covers not only the founding of the school, but also its war time years and what he hopes for the future of the academy. While not overtly pro-Confederate, there are notions of it in Bonds language and how he choose to present past events. From notions of the Civil War as a war between the states and one over states rights, Bond also points to the importance that the future of the academy lies in the hands of white cadets. Even though written decades after the war, it is important to note how such an important figure such as Bond is telling the story of the school. As someone whose name remains on buildings on the Citadel campus, researchers can use this sources to understand how the legacy of the Civil War was learned about and carried through the Citadel for so long.

Brophy, Alfred L., James T. Campbell, and Leslie M. Harris. “Chapter 3. Proslavery Political Theory in the Southern Academy, 1832-1861.” Essay. In Slavery and the University: Histories and Legacies, 65–83. Athens: The University of Georgia Press, 2019.

              Boyd does an amazing job in convincing readers that in the 1800s southern universities encouraged proslavery through his use of a horrifying number of examples from different universities. This chapter teaches us that not only can universities become complacent to the idea of slavery, but some of them actively supported it, and now have to face the consequences that, that relationship has now brought up in current times. This essay may be used as a starting point for historians to address proslavery views universities had in their past.

Brophy, Alfred L., James T. Campbell, Leslie M. Harris, and Craig Steven Wilder. “Chapter 1. ‘Sons from the Southward & Some Form the West Indies’: The Academy and Slavery in Revolutionary America .” Essay. In Slavery and the University: Histories and Legacies, 21–45. Athens: The University of Georgia Press, 2019.

              In Craig Steven Wilder’s essay the authors showed how views and interpretations of slavery and the universities began to change as the Civil War ended and the need to correct the relationship that universities had with slavery as well as acknowledge that these universities had a relationship with slavery and the need to acknowledged this relationship began to grow. He is also careful in explaining the different ways in which the universities utilized slavery and the need to properly recognize this relationship. This essay may be useful in helping historians interpret relationships a university may have with the institution of slavery.

Kullberg, Andrew D. First to Fight: Citadel Cadets, the Star of the West, and Fort Sumter. Charleston, SC: Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina, Historical Society, 2010.

             First to Fight gives a brief history on the use of Citadel cadets during some of the earliest events of the war and how the school had transitioned from college to military headquarter. From the rising of tensions over the election of Lincoln, to the firing on Fort Sumter, the author uses a mixture of military reports, Citadel documents, and a rich collection of pictures and paintings to show how the Citadel became a hotbed for Confederate ideology. Readers can also find in this source detailed descriptions of the teachers and cadets that manned the cannons looking over Charleston harbor and what happened to them later in the war. These sources show the pride that was instilled in the Citadel with its participation in the opening shots of the war. This source can be used by researchers as a solid overview of the schools participation in the early events of the war and how it was being perceived by the city. 

Platt, R. Eric, and Foster, Holly A., eds. Persistence Through Peril : Episodes of College Life and Academic Endurance in the Civil War South. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2021. ProQuest Ebook Central.

              Persistence Through Peril is a series of essays addressing the histories of Southern colleges and universities surviving throughout the Civil War without closing their doors. Each chapter focuses on a different college or university of the South, including The South Carolina Military Academy, Wofford College, Mississippi College, Spring Hill College, Tuskegee Female College, Mercer University, Wesleyan Female College, The University of Virginia, The Virginia Military Institute, The University of North Carolina, and Trinity College of Duke University. The first chapter, by Christian K. Anderson, looks at The South Carolina Military Academy and examines it’s faculty and student’s active roles in the Confederacy during the Civil War as well as their views on the institution of slavery and what daily life was like for members of The South Carolina Military Academy during the Civil War. The author uses a variety of primary sources including personal letters, private journals, newspaper articles, Board of Visitor minutes, registers, and speeches. These primary sources help the author determine how The South Carolina Military Academy participated during the Civil War. The secondary sources that the author uses look at the history of The South Carolina Military Academy and its students and faculty. Most books looking at the history of higher education during the Civil War in the South examine the closures of institutions but this book goes into detail which institutions stayed open. This book can be used as a basis of understanding for future researchers on the participation of The South Carolina Military Academy in the Civil War.

Thomas, John Peyre. The History of the South Carolina Military Academy, with Appendixes. Columbia, S.C: Palmetto Bookworks, 1991.

              The History of the South Carolina Military Academy, with Appendixes is a book created by the 6th Superintendent of The Citadel for the 50th anniversary of the creation of The Citadel in 1892. The book looks at the history of The Citadel from its creation 1842-1892 through the eyes of a past Superintendent of the college. Primary sources used in The History of the South Carolina Military Academy, with Appendixes include acts passed by the government and quotations from faculty members. This book presents interpretations of the creation and history of The South Carolina Military Academy from the perspective of a previous faculty member of The South Carolina Military Academy. This source can be used to gain insight into the beliefs and ideologies of a faculty member of The Citadel for the creation and history of The Citadel.