Book 1 - Civil War in the Fox Valley
Title: Civil War in the Fox Valley
Authors: Jessi Nelson, Kelly Schumacher, Hannah Gore, Amber Krause, Tess Botsford, Brenna Smith
Page 1a
Feyikemi: Growing up I remember going to City park in Appleton listening to my grandmother talk about how our kinfolk both past and present came to the Wisconsin region and later on settled in what is now the Fox Cities Area.
Page 1b
Grandma: Now our history went way back to the days of the fur trade back when the United States was just land and people traveled.
Feyikemi: Grandma, what’s a fur trade?
Grandma: It’s where people trade animal fur, to get things they need, they use the fur as a type of money.
Anyway what was I saying? grandma asked
“You were talking about the fur trade” I reminded her
Page 2
Grandma: Oh yes! Some of our kinfolk were Black fur traders. Sadly for many of our friends they were slaves to the French traders. Meaning that they worked very hard, but did not receive any money for their work, and sometimes they were even treated very badly by their masters. However they were two free Black fur traders that ran their own trading post.
“Our kinsfolk aren’t working in the Fur Trade now,what happened after the Fur Trade?” I asked puzzled
Grandma: After the Fur Trade days, in the year 1787, the Northwest Ordinance was put in place. This ordinance was a rule that said that slavery was not allowed in the land area that is now the state of Wisconsin.
Page 3
Grandma: As slavery became a bigger problem, the north and south prepared to fight each other. during this time black pioneers came to wisconsin to help find and name towns.
Feyikemi- What towns did they start?
Grandma- A man named Andrew Jackson established the town of Freedom Wisconsin, and Moses Stanton helped find Chilton.
Page 4
Simon: Why does it matter if the North and South were going to fight each other, if Wisconsin was free state and had towns of their own.
Grandma: It mattered because Black people were not the only ones to live in these towns and they were treated badly. Once the Civil War started, the war to end slavery in the United states, people from WI wanted to help. Some Blacks including Horace Artist, William Cleggett, and Joseph Elmore fought in the United States Colored Troops in the war.
Page 5
Feyikemi- Wow! I didn’t know blacks in the Fox Valley helped fight in the war!
Simon- Who won?
Grandma- The north, the side against slavery won. In fact the president at the time, Abraham Lincoln signed the emancipation proclamation which freed all slaves in the south, but not everyone knew they were free until 2 years after the war on June nineteenth. This is why we are going to the park to celebrate the freedom of blacks in America.
Feyikemi- That’s Great, So there were no more problems for our kinfolk and other blacks in America!
Page 6
Grandma- Not quite, there was still a lot of work to be done, and there is still a lot of work to be done in the present and future. For example after the Civil War Blacks were still not allowed to vote. However, slowly, some white people began to support the rights of people of colored. Including the 15 Amendment which allowed all men to vote regardless of their skin color.
Mom: Alright everyone, let’s get in the car it’s time to get over to the park for the Juneteenth Celebration. There will be plenty of time to hear more stories from grandma and grandpa.
Authors: Jessi Nelson, Kelly Schumacher, Hannah Gore, Amber Krause, Tess Botsford, Brenna Smith
Page 1a
Feyikemi: Growing up I remember going to City park in Appleton listening to my grandmother talk about how our kinfolk both past and present came to the Wisconsin region and later on settled in what is now the Fox Cities Area.
Page 1b
Grandma: Now our history went way back to the days of the fur trade back when the United States was just land and people traveled.
Feyikemi: Grandma, what’s a fur trade?
Grandma: It’s where people trade animal fur, to get things they need, they use the fur as a type of money.
Anyway what was I saying? grandma asked
“You were talking about the fur trade” I reminded her
Page 2
Grandma: Oh yes! Some of our kinfolk were Black fur traders. Sadly for many of our friends they were slaves to the French traders. Meaning that they worked very hard, but did not receive any money for their work, and sometimes they were even treated very badly by their masters. However they were two free Black fur traders that ran their own trading post.
“Our kinsfolk aren’t working in the Fur Trade now,what happened after the Fur Trade?” I asked puzzled
Grandma: After the Fur Trade days, in the year 1787, the Northwest Ordinance was put in place. This ordinance was a rule that said that slavery was not allowed in the land area that is now the state of Wisconsin.
Page 3
Grandma: As slavery became a bigger problem, the north and south prepared to fight each other. during this time black pioneers came to wisconsin to help find and name towns.
Feyikemi- What towns did they start?
Grandma- A man named Andrew Jackson established the town of Freedom Wisconsin, and Moses Stanton helped find Chilton.
Page 4
Simon: Why does it matter if the North and South were going to fight each other, if Wisconsin was free state and had towns of their own.
Grandma: It mattered because Black people were not the only ones to live in these towns and they were treated badly. Once the Civil War started, the war to end slavery in the United states, people from WI wanted to help. Some Blacks including Horace Artist, William Cleggett, and Joseph Elmore fought in the United States Colored Troops in the war.
Page 5
Feyikemi- Wow! I didn’t know blacks in the Fox Valley helped fight in the war!
Simon- Who won?
Grandma- The north, the side against slavery won. In fact the president at the time, Abraham Lincoln signed the emancipation proclamation which freed all slaves in the south, but not everyone knew they were free until 2 years after the war on June nineteenth. This is why we are going to the park to celebrate the freedom of blacks in America.
Feyikemi- That’s Great, So there were no more problems for our kinfolk and other blacks in America!
Page 6
Grandma- Not quite, there was still a lot of work to be done, and there is still a lot of work to be done in the present and future. For example after the Civil War Blacks were still not allowed to vote. However, slowly, some white people began to support the rights of people of colored. Including the 15 Amendment which allowed all men to vote regardless of their skin color.
Mom: Alright everyone, let’s get in the car it’s time to get over to the park for the Juneteenth Celebration. There will be plenty of time to hear more stories from grandma and grandpa.