On March 13, 1865, with the main Rebel armies facing long
odds against much larger Union armies, the Confederacy,
in a desperate measure, reluctantly approved the use of
Black troops.

The situation was bleak for the Confederates in the spring
of 1865. The Yankees had captured large swaths of Southern
territory, General William T. Sherman’s Union army was tearing
through the Carolinas, and General Robert E. Lee was trying
valiantly to hold the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia,
against General Ulysses S. Grant’s growing force.

On the cold, snowy night of March 5, 1770, a mob of American
colonists gathered at the Customs House in Boston and began
taunting the British soldiers guarding the building.

The protesters, who called themselves Patriots, were protesting
the occupation of their city by British troops, who were sent to
Boston in 1768 to enforce unpopular taxation measures passed
by a British parliament that lacked American representation.

British Captain Thomas Preston, the commanding officer at the
Customs House, ordered his men to fix their bayonets and join
the guard outside the building.

The other soldiers began firing a moment later, and when the
smoke cleared, five colonists were dead or dying—Crispus
Attucks, Patrick Carr, Samuel Gray, Samuel Maverick and
James Caldwell—and three more were injured.

Although it is unclear whether Crispus Attucks, an African
American, was the first to fall as is commonly believed, the
deaths of the five men are regarded by some historians as
the first fatalities in the American Revolutionary War.

On March 2, 1807, the U.S. Congress passes an act to “prohibit
the importation of slaves into any port or place within the
jurisdiction of the United States…from any foreign kingdom,
place, or country.” It would go into effect at the start of the
following year.

On February 29, 1940, Gone with the Wind is honored with eight
Oscars by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences. An epic Southern romance set during the hard times
of the Civil War, the movie swept the prestigious Best Picture,
Director, Screenplay, Cinematography, Art Direction, Film Editing,
and Actress categories.

However, the most momentous award that night undoubtedly
went to Hattie McDaniel for her portrayal of “Mammy,” the
housemaid and former enslaved woman.

McDaniel, who won the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award,
was the first African American actress or actor ever to be honored
with an Oscar.

Born in Wichita, Kansas, in 1895, McDaniel demonstrated her
talents as a singer and actress while growing up in Denver,
Colorado.

Hiram Rhodes Revels, a Republican from Natchez, Mississippi, 
was sworn into the U.S. Senate, becoming the first African
American ever to sit in Congress.

During the Civil War, Revels, a college-educated minister,
helped form African American army regiments for the Union
cause, started a school for freed men, and served as a
chaplain for the Union army.

Hiram Rhodes Revels (
September 27, 1827 – January 16, 1901)

Hiram Rhodes Revels bust by Edmond’s Bob Willis.