America had the largest per capita newspaper circulation in the world at the time of the South's secession, and the war made the nation even hungrier for news.
Brutal physical punishment, psychological abuse and endless hours of hard labor without compensation drove many slaves to risk their lives to escape plantation life.
Throughout much of the Civil War, a key Union objective was to penetrate the South and seize the city of Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederacy.
Speaking out publicly against injustice, publishing and editing newspapers, and helping slaves escape to freedom, these pioneers achieved successes unprecedented for women at the time.
