The Union Flag was a newspaper published in Jonesborough, Tennessee, from 1865 to 1873 by George Edgar Grisham. The paper, serving the region of East Tennessee, began as a moderate paper but gradually became more radical and anti-former Confederates. Three unsuccessful attempts were made to burn down the paper's offices
The Union Flag was founded by George Edgar Grisham (also spelled Gresham), a white man who had served in the Union Army during the American Civil War and previously co-published the Jonesborough Express , [1] [2] in mid-1865. [2] The first issue was published on October 13. [3] Subscriptions cost $3 a year. [2] Grisham had led a company of the 8th Tennessee Cavalry Regiment and later served directly under Major General Alvan Cullem Gillem. He was Jonesborough's postmaster in addition to publishing the paper and later led African-American soldiers in the Tennessee State Militia. [4] A profile of the paper prepared by the University of Tennessee described the paper's tone as initially "balanced", [5] and a history of Jonesborough deemed it "moderate", [6] but it gradually became more partisan. [5] [6] This shift followed Grisham's gradual radicalization, influenced by politicians such as William G. Brownlow, [4] and his increasingly vocal anti-Confederate stance. [4] In addition to news and editorials, the paper included numbers of local advertisements, sensationalized stories, and poems. [7] Three unsuccessful attempts were made to burn down the paper's offices, [8] two in October 1866 alone, both with staff in the building. [4] While it is unclear who attempted to set the fires, [8] historian Ben H. Severance attributes it to upset former Confederate soldiers. [4]
The paper's editor mocked the idea of Frederick Douglass running for president in December 1865, suggesting that white people would not want to vote for an African-American candidate. [9] He also wrote that freed slaves only had "crude ideas of freedom", had poor character, and needed what historian Richard H. Abbott describes as "close supervision". [10] The paper advocated confiscation and sale of the property owned by former Confederates, with the money going towards paying debts the nation incurred from the war or helping people who had been on the Union's side recoup their losses. [11] It endorsed William B. Stokes's unsuccessful campaign in an 1869 gubernatorial election against Dewitt Clinton Senter. [11] By that year, The Union Flag was the official publisher for Tennessee's 1st congressional district. [3] In December 1869 Grisham added a tagline to the paper: “The star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave/O’re the land of the free and the home of the brave.” [5] In 1871 The Union Flag was a four-page paper published weekly on Fridays and claimed that it had a circulation of 1,800. [7] That year John G. Hayes became co-publisher of the paper and it claimed that its circulation was the largest in Eastern Tennessee. [5] [6] Around this time the paper became somewhat more moderate. [5] The Union Flag ceased publication in the summer of 1873 when Grisham died of cholera. [5]
The Reconstruction era was a period in American history following the American Civil War (1861–1865); it lasted from 1865 to 1877 and marked a significant chapter in the history of civil rights in the United States. Reconstruction, as directed by Congress, abolished slavery and ended the remnants of Confederate secession in the Southern states. It proclaimed the newly freed slaves citizens with (ostensibly) the same civil rights as those of whites; these rights were nominally guaranteed by three new constitutional amendments: the 13th, 14th, and 15th, collectively known as the Reconstruction Amendments. Reconstruction also refers to the general attempt by Congress to transform the 11 former Confederate states and refers to the role of the Union states in that transformation.
Jonesborough is a town in, and the county seat of, Washington County, Tennessee, in the Southeastern United States. Its population was 5,860 as of 2020. It is "Tennessee's oldest town".
William Gannaway "Parson" Brownlow was an American newspaper publisher, Methodist minister, book author, prisoner of war, lecturer, and politician who served as the 17th Governor of Tennessee from 1865 to 1869 and as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 1869 to 1875. Brownlow rose to prominence in the late 1830s and early 1840s as editor of the Whig, a polemical newspaper in East Tennessee that promoted Whig Party ideals and opposed secession in the years leading up to the American Civil War. Brownlow's uncompromising and radical viewpoints made him one of the most divisive figures in Tennessee political history and one of the most controversial Reconstruction Era politicians of the United States.
The Whig was a polemical American newspaper published and edited by William G. "Parson" Brownlow (1805–1877) in the mid-nineteenth century. As its name implies, the paper's primary purpose was the promotion and defense of Whig Party political figures and ideals. In the years leading up to the Civil War, the Whig became the mouthpiece for East Tennessee's anti-secessionist movement. The Whig was published under several names throughout its existence, namely the Tennessee Whig, the Elizabethton Whig. the Jonesborough Whig, the Knoxville Whig, and similar variations.
The Radical Republicans were a faction within the Republican Party, originating from the party's founding in 1854, some 6 years before the Civil War, until the Compromise of 1877, which effectively ended Reconstruction. They called themselves "Radicals" because of their goal of immediate, complete, and permanent eradication of slavery, without compromise. They were opposed during the War by the Moderate Republicans, and by the pro-slavery and anti-Reconstruction Democratic Party as well as liberals in the Northern United States during Reconstruction. Radicals led efforts after the war to establish civil rights for former slaves and fully implement emancipation. After weaker measures in 1866 resulted in violence against former slaves in the rebel states, Radicals pushed the Fourteenth Amendment and statutory protections through Congress. They opposed allowing ex-Confederate officers to retake political power in the Southern United States, and emphasized equality, civil rights and voting rights for the "freedmen", i.e., former slaves who had been freed during or after the Civil War by the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment.
In United States history, the term scalawag referred to white Southerners who supported Reconstruction policies and efforts after the conclusion of the American Civil War.
The Committee of Nine was a group of conservative political leaders in Virginia, led by Alexander H. H. Stuart, following the American Civil War, when Virginia was required to adopt a new Constitution acknowledging the abolition of slavery before its readmission into the Union. They engineered the federal and state political machinery so that separate votes would be taken on the constitution and provisions restricting voting and office-holding rights of former Confederates.
Landon Carter Haynes was an American politician who served as a Confederate States senator from Tennessee from 1862 to 1865. He also served several terms in the Tennessee House of Representatives, including one term as speaker (1849–1851). In the early 1840s, Haynes worked as editor of the Jonesborough-based newspaper, Tennessee Sentinel, garnering regional fame for his frequent clashes with rival editor, William "Parson" Brownlow.
The Herald & Tribune is a paper serving Jonesborough, Tennessee. It is currently owned by the Sandusky Corporation, which runs a number of local papers and radio stations.
The American Civil War made a huge impact on Tennessee, with large armies constantly destroying its rich farmland, and every county witnessing combat. It was a divided state, with the Eastern counties harboring pro-Union sentiment throughout the conflict, and it was the last state to officially secede from the Union, in protest of President Lincoln's April 15 Proclamation calling forth 75,000 members of state militias to suppress the rebellion. Although Tennessee provided a large number of troops for the Confederacy, it would also provide more soldiers for the Union Army than any other state within the Confederacy.
This is a selected bibliography of the main scholarly books and articles of Reconstruction, the period after the American Civil War, 1863–1877.
Telford is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in Washington County, Tennessee, United States, located between Jonesborough and Limestone. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 921. The community is part of the Johnson City Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Johnson City–Kingsport–Bristol, TN-VA Combined Statistical Area – commonly known as the "Tri-Cities" region. It has one school, Grandview Elementary.
Joseph Alexander Cooper was an American farmer, soldier, and civil servant. A Southern Unionist, he fought for the Union Army during the American Civil War, commanding units at Mill Springs, Stones River, Chickamauga, Franklin, Nashville, Bentonville, and in the Knoxville and Atlanta campaigns. He had achieved the rank of Brevet Major General by the time he was mustered out in early 1866.
Joseph Benjamin Palmer was an American lawyer, legislator, and soldier. He served as a Confederate general in the American Civil War, during which he was wounded four times. After the conflict he resumed his law practice in Tennessee.
The Knoxville Register was an American newspaper published primarily in Knoxville, Tennessee, during the 19th century. Founded in 1816, the paper was East Tennessee's dominant newspaper until 1863, when its pro-secession editor, Jacob Austin Sperry (1823–1896), was forced to flee advancing Union forces at the height of the Civil War. Sperry continued to sporadically publish the Register in Atlanta, and later Bristol, until he was finally captured by Union forces in December 1864.
James William Deaderick was an American attorney who served as chief justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court from 1876 to 1886. Prior to becoming Chief Justice, he was an associate justice of the court, having been elected to the bench in 1870 after the enaction of the new state constitution. He had previously served one term in the Tennessee Senate (1851–1853), and campaigned as an elector for presidential candidate John Bell in 1860.
Philip H. Murray was an abolitionist, journalist, phrenologist, and civil rights activist who spent most of his career in St. Louis, Missouri. He grew up in Reading, Pennsylvania, where he participated in the abolitionist movement in that region. During the US Civil War he continued his work and served as a recruiting officer to help enlist blacks into the Union Army. After the war, he focused on journalism. In 1867, he established the first black newspaper in Kentucky, The Colored Kentuckian. He later moved to St. Louis where he continued to work in journalism and as an advocate for black education and civil rights. He was also the president of the first Negro Press Association.
The Tuskegee News is a weekly newspaper based in Tuskegee, Alabama with a circulation of about 3,800. The paper was established in 1865 by A. F. Henderson & Co.
The Tennessee Staatszeitung was a daily German language newspaper in Nashville, Tennessee that was published from 1866 to 1869.
The Clayton Herald was an American weekly newspaper based in Clayton, Delaware, United States. It was founded by Mrs. R. S. McConaughy, believed to be the only woman to start a Delaware newspaper. She published it for three years until her death in December 1869, after which the paper was relocated to Smyrna and renamed the Herald and Intelligencer. It ceased publication in 1871. The paper's motto was "Independent in Everything; Neutral in Nothing."