The first site we took in while staying in Virginia is
actually a fairly new National Park as of 2012 - Fort Monroe.
Fort Monroe is the largest stone fort ever built in the
United States, and it is surrounded by a moat.
It was deactivated in 2011, so it is a National Park still “in progress”.
The fort is known as “Freedom’s Fortress” due to a peculiar
aspect of the history of slavery. In
1861, just barely a month after the first shots of the Civil War were fired at
Fort Sumter, three fugitive slaves sought refuge at the gates of the fort. The fort was occupied by the Union Army, and
the enslaved men thought they might have a chance at freedom if the Union Army could
harbor them from their owners.
However, under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, runaway slaves
had to be returned to their owners, even if they somehow made it across the
border into a free state. The three men
were taking a huge risk by coming to Fort Monroe.
But Major General Benjamin Butler, the fort commander,
used a little trick in order to prevent the slaves from being returned. He reasoned that since Virginia had seceded
from the Union, it was no longer part of the United States. Therefore, the Fugitive Slave Act didn’t
apply. Furthermore, since the
Confederate states considered slaves to be “property” and were using them in
their war efforts against the Union, these slaves could be considered
“contraband of war”. Just like other
siezed goods during wartime, these men would not be returned to their owners.
This decision gave rise to hope for many men, women, and
children who lived under enslavement. A “Contraband
Camp” popped up near Union forces.
Thousands of people sought sanctuary behind Union lines due to General
Butler’s contraband decision. This
decision ultimately led to the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and the
ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution in 1865.
General Butler supported education, training, and enlistment
of members of the “Contraband Camp”.
Mary Peake, who worked for the American Missionary Association, taught
former slaves who were camped near Fort Monroe how to read and write. Today, the old oak tree that she started
teaching underneath is still on the grounds of Hampton University which still
today thrives as a historically black college tracing its beginning to Mary
Peake’s efforts.
Interestingly, Hampton
is still a historically black city with a population of nearly 50% African
Americans - FAR above the national average of 13%. My mother lives in historic downtown
Hampton, merely blocks away from Hampton University, so exposure to the unique
black culture here has been an eye-opening experience for our family.
During our time at Fort Monroe, we walked along the ramparts
which encircle the fort, then walked inside the fort seeing General Butler’s
quarters (the oldest building on the fort).
We also saw the building that Robert E. Lee used to live in (obviously
before the Civil War) when he was assigned here. While he lived at Fort Monroe, he married Mary
Custis, great-granddaughter of Martha Washington. Their first child, Custis Lee, was born here.
We also went inside the Casement Museum. Besides being a museum which shows the varied
history of the fort, we also saw the cell, or “casement”, in which Confederate
President Jefferson Davis was held prisoner.
Outside the museum, we saw a 500-year-old Live Oak tree as well as a
huge cannon called a Lincoln Gun named after Abraham Lincoln.
This is an interesting place to visit, even though it’s
still a “diamond in the rough”. I can
imagine that in several more years, after the National Park Service does its
magic, this fort will be a major attraction in the area. Right now I don’t think many people know
about it besides the local folks, but I think that will change in the years to
come.
