Storm over Key West : the Civil War and the call of freedom / Mike Pride.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Pride, Mike, 1946-2023, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

African Americans--Florida--Key West--History--19th century.

African Americans.

History.

United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--African Americans.

United States.

Key West (Fla.)--History--19th century.

Key West (Fla.).

Florida--Key West.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

viii, 307 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Palm Beach, Florida : Pineapple Press, Inc., [2020]

Summary:

"A few weeks after the Emancipation Proclamation took effect, James Montgomery sailed into Key West Harbor looking for black men to draft into the Union army. Eager to oblige him, the military commander in town ordered every black man from fifteen to fifty to report to the courthouse, 'there to undergo a medical examination, preparatory to embarking for Hilton Head, S.C.' Montgomery swept away 126 men. Storm over Key West is a little-known story woven of many threads, but its main theme is the denial to black people of the equality central to the American ideal. After the island's slaves flocked to freedom during the summer of 1862, the white majority began a century-long campaign to deny black residents civil rights, education, literacy, respect, and the vote. Key West's harbor and two major federal forts were often referred to as 'America's Gibraltar.' This Gibraltar guarded the Florida Straits between Key West and Cuba and thus access to the Gulf of Mexico. When Union forces seized it before the war, the southernmost point of the Confederacy slipped out of Confederate hands. This led to a naval blockade based in Key West that devastated commerce in Florida and beyond"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: pt. I Peace Slips Away

1. The Coming Storm

2. Slave Days

3. The Inner Circle

4. Slavers

5. Secession

6. Waiting For War

7. An End To Peace

8. Divided Loyalties

9. A Tightening Grip

pt. II Occupation, Epidemic, Emancipation

10. Invasion

11. Smallpox

12. "Bereaved Hearts And Desolate Homes"

13. Feud

14. Blockade

15. Freedom

16. Swept Away

17. Changing Of The Guard

18. Schemers And Dreamers

pt. III Brave Black Soldiers on a Hostile Island

19. "Soger Men"

20. The Road To Key West

21. On Trial

22. Calamity

23. Horror On Land And Sea

24. Doctor Holder's Brainstorm

25. And Death Marched On

26. Trial By Fire

27. Assassination

28. Visitors Esteemed And Notorious

29. White Man's War, White Man's Peace.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Pride, Mike, 1946- Storm over Key West

ISBN:

9781683340935

1683340930

OCLC:

1158507594