Category: Black History Month

At one-point a thousand White volunteers from Harrisburg joined a large group of Black people to dig trenches and build ramparts around the geographical extremities. After one day, 700 of the White people returned home – saying the labour “hurt their hands” – whilst the other 300 acted as foremen directing the Black labourers (as if they were slaves). Black people built the defences of Harrisburg – but by and large were excluded from defending the place on the grounds that Black men carrying guns (and acting “free”) would scare the women and children. The situation was a little more nuanced than this, however, as NO White person from Harrisburg possessed the courage to join a local militia to defend the place they lived in. This led to the local authorities agreeing to arm a small company of local Black men that everyone knew – who had to drill away from the sight of ordinary people from Harrisburg. Meanwhile, thousands of White volunteers poured into the area to offer their services in defence of the place (risking their lives) – but were met with indifference and hostilities from the locals. Shop-keepers, hoteliers, and bar-owners put up their prices by ten or twenty times (even charging for a glass of water) – asking for excessive amounts of money for the smallest necessity of life.