The history of African Americans in the U.S. Civil War is marked by 186,097 (7,122 officers, 178,975 enlisted) African Americans comprising 163 units served in the Union Army during the Civil War, and many more African Americans served in the Union Navy.

My wife read today’s strip, and after she stopped rolling on the floor laughing, she wiped away the tears and alerted me, “you are gonna get so much hate mail!”

I did part of my growing up in West Virginia where my father mined coal out of the hills - so did my uncles and my grandfather. It is where many of them died due to mining, sometimes by black lung and sometimes by accident. My uncle Dewey died when a kettle bottom fell on him and crushed him below the ribcage.

Today’s commentary is light because it is my birthday and I am relaxing today! w00t!

The Emancipation Proclamation was widely attacked at the time as freeing only the slaves over which the Union had no power, but in practice, it committed the Union to ending slavery, which was controversial in the North.

Hillary’s nuclear umbrella bothers me. What are we protecting besides oil with her umbrella? Dictatorial societies and cultures that are repressive to women, unfriendly towards the west and loves to kill Jews.

At the beginning of 1864, Lincoln made Grant commander of all Union armies. Grant made his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac, and put Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman in command of most of the western armies.

SPECIAL REQUEST FOR TCD FANS: The San Francisco Chronicle is pondering the addition of new cartoons for their paper - a process that seems to be initiated by Darren Bell, creator of Candorville (one of my daily reads - highly recommended).

At the beginning of the war some Union commanders thought they were supposed to return escaped slaves to their masters. By 1862, when it became clear that this would be a long war, the question of what to do about slavery became more general. The Southern economy and military effort depended on slave labor.

Under the cover of darkness on December 26, 1860, Anderson spiked the cannons at Fort Moultrie and moved his command to Fort Sumter. South Carolina authorities considered this a breach of faith and demanded that the fort be evacuated.

SPECIAL REQUEST FOR TCD FANS: The San Francisco Chronicle is pondering the addition of new cartoons for their paper - a process that seems to be initiated by Darren Bell, creator of Candorville (one of my daily reads - highly recommended).

We aren't fighting rebels, nationalists, or patriots in Iraq. We are fighting criminals and bandits in Iraq. "Bandit" is a very interesting term. It implies that we aren't actually fighting a war against a legitimate military foe, but are instead just hunting a group of outlaws.

The San Francisco Chronicle is pondering the addition of new cartoons for their paper - a process that seems to be initiated by Darren Bell, creator of Candorville (one of my daily reads - highly recommended).

SPECIAL REQUEST FOR TCD FANS: The San Francisco Chronicle is pondering the addition of new cartoons for their paper - a process that seems to be initiated by Darren Bell, creator of Candorville (one of my daily reads - highly recommended).

SPECIAL REQUEST FOR BAY AREA READERS: The San Francisco Chronicle is pondering the addition of new cartoons for their paper - a process that seems to be initiated by Darren Bell, creator of Candorville (one of my daily reads - highly recommended). You can read the Chronicle article here and please add your thoughts to the comments if you wish.

Many people associated with the Underground Railroad only knew their part of the operation and not of the whole scheme. Though this may seem like an unreliable route for slaves to gain their freedom, hundreds of slaves obtained freedom to the North every year.

The main explanation for the origins of the American Civil War was slavery, especially the issue of the expansion of slavery into the territories. States’ rights and the tariff became entangled in the slavery issue, and were intensified by it.

I watched last night’s “debate” with horror. As you probably know by now, nearly the entire first hour was taken up by bullshit questions about lapel pins, bitterness, Rev. Wright and Bill Ayers nonsense.

I watched last night’s “debate” with horror. As you probably know by now, nearly the entire first hour was taken up by bullshit questions about lapel pins, bitterness, Rev. Wright and Bill Ayers nonsense.

I watched last night’s “debate” with horror. As you probably know by now, nearly the entire first hour was taken up by bullshit questions about lapel pins, bitterness, Rev. Wright and Bill Ayers nonsense.

I watched last night’s “debate” with horror. As you probably know by now, nearly the entire first hour was taken up by bullshit questions about lapel pins, bitterness, Rev. Wright and Bill Ayers nonsense.

The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th century Black slaves in the United States to escape to free states (or as far north as Canada) with the aid of abolitionists who were sympathetic to their cause.

Slaves were considered legal non-persons except if they committed crimes. An Alabama court asserted that slaves “are rational beings, they are capable of committing crimes; and in reference to acts which are crimes, are regarded as persons.”

It is the morning of April 16, 2007, and I am in my final year of college. I live in Blacksburg, Va., but I attend Radford University. Today a lone student gunman will shoot and kill 27 students and five teachers before he takes his life.

I keep hearing the GOP and their hand-wringers waxing poetic about tax cuts. One of Rush Limbaugh’s fav tricks is asking alleged liberals about tax increases. “If 5% is good why not 10% or 20%?” What if you were to reverse Limbaugh’s rhetoric - if a 28% tax rate is good, why not 20% or 10%> How about 0%?!

The first Native American group encountered by Christopher Columbus were the Island Arawaks (more properly called the Taino) of Boriquen (Puerto Rico), the (Quisqueya) of the Dominican Republic, and the Cubanacan (of Cuba).

This Sunday's edition of the LA Times featured a piece written by Times TV critic Mary McNamara in which she brought up the question that Dare Not Speak Its Name - What the hell is wrong with so many female actresses in Hollywood today?

The transformation from indentured servitude to racial slavery happened gradually. There were no laws regarding slavery early in Virginia’s history. However, by 1640 the Virginia courts had sentenced at least one black servant to slavery.

The U.S. media, military, and politicians refer to the people we are fighting as "Criminal gangs", "Thugs", "Bandits", and "Outlaws". But never "rebels", "nationalists", or "patriots". This is an old story that played out in much the same way 80 years ago, when America invaded Nicaragua because its government owed American bankers money.

The first record of African slavery in Colonial America occurred in 1619. A Dutch ship, the White Lion, had captured 20 enslaved Africans in a battle with a Spanish ship bound for Mexico.