Slavery letters are set for Library of Congress

[struggle4progress]

~snip~ The letters from Thomas Jackson – an emigré ropemaker in Reading, Pennsylvania – to his cousin Caleb Slater – also a ropemaker, who lived between the two canals in Eastwood – also provide a fascinating glimpse into American Civil War history. ~snip~

One letter, which was published in the Ilkeston Pioneer on August 12 1862 – on the same page as news of the death of Lord Byron's grandson - gives an account of a slave auction which Jackson had attended 20 years before. ~snip~

In another letter, he relates an account told by an old army officer friend about the Confederate practise of torture and castration, and castigates the British Tories who backed the Confederacy with "millions worth of arms, ammunition and the material of war." ~snip~

Beyond the fact that Jackson had two sons and a daughter, and that his ropemaking establishment burned down at some point, very little is known about the man himself. ~snip~

http://www.ilkestontoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=795&ArticleID=2696381