John Washington's Civil War

In 1872, just seven years after his emancipation, a thirty-four-year-old former slave named John Washington penned the story of his life, calling it "Memorys of the Past." One hundred and twenty years later, historian Crandall Shifflett stumbled upon Washington's forgotten manuscript at the Library of Congress. JOHN WASHINGTONS CIVIL WAR presents this remarkable slave narrative in its entirety, with Shifflett's detailed annotations on the mundane and life-changing events that Washington witnessed and recorded. While joining the canon of better-known slave narratives by Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, and Solomon Northup, Washington's account illuminates a far different world, one providing insight into the more personal aspects of slave life: forced attendance at the slave owner's church, much-anticipated gatherings of neighboring slaves at harvest time, and even a brief episode of courtship among slaves are among the events described.