Lecture on slave impressment during the Civil War in North Carolina presented April 14

Posted March 25, 2016 at 10:17 a.m.

BOONE—Civil war historian Jaime Amanda Martinez will speak April 14 at Appalachian State University on “Slave Impressment and Political Dissent in Governor Zeb Vance’s North Carolina.” Her lecture begins at 6 p.m. in room 114 Belk Library and Information Commons. The public is invited to attend.

Martinez is an associate professor at UNC Pembroke. She teaches the U.S. Civil War, antebellum America and African-American history. She is the author of the book “Confederate Slave Impressment in the Upper South” published in 2013 by the University of North Carolina Press.

Slave impressment was a policy instituted by the Confederacy in which slave owners were forced to surrender control over portions of their slave populations to state authorities, military officials and the national government in order to defend the Confederate states.

Historian Aaron Astor wrote, “This is an important and deeply researched book that sheds important light on the process of state formation in the new Confederacy, the experience of slaves temporarily released from plantations and into the uncertain world of the battlefront, and the development of a counter-policy of confiscation, emancipation and enlistment by the Union.”

Martinez’s talk is sponsored by the Department of History, Center for Appalachian Studies Department, Department of Cultural, Global, and Gender Studies, and the College of Arts and Sciences Humanities Council.

About Appalachian State University

As a premier public institution, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives. App State is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System, with a national reputation for innovative teaching and opening access to a high-quality, cost-effective education. The university enrolls more than 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and 80 graduate majors at its Boone and Hickory campuses and through App State Online. Learn more at https://www.appstate.edu.