H. Ford Douglas and the Emergence of Radical Activism in Illinois During the Civil War Era

BY THE MID-1850S, THE CONFRONTATION between the North and South became increasingly volatile, and the likelihood that its resolution would only be determined through violent means seemed inevitable. As the Civil War loomed, Black Illinoisans became even more resolute in their collective goal of economic empowerment. Expunging the state's Black laws, they maintained, was paramount to their collective survival, and the only way they would be able to thrive within the political economy. The increasingly militant attitude amongst Black Illinoisans during the prewar years was a conducive breeding ground for the emergence of a young colonization advocate, H. Ford Douglas. His unrelenting dedication to the destruction of the Illinois Black Laws and slavery, as well as his intelligence and innate oratory skills, catapulted him to the forefront of Black leadership in Illinois.1Douglas was renowned for his charismatic personality, intelligence, and oratory brilliance. At only twenty-three years of age, he captured the attention of his peers at the 1854 National Emigration Convention with his fiery rhetoric and his ability to defend the convention's objectives. He argued that African American ancestors remained in America without any noticeable improvement to their status. The degraded condition of African Americans demanded positive action, which did not permit them to wait indefinitely for the nation to alter its opinion of them.2The convention delegates were so impressed with the skills and commitment of Douglas to the overall improvement of African Americans that they were willing to overlook his pro-emigration stance. Most of them opposed Black emigration. Yet they understood that Douglas's bottom line was the abolishment of slavery and the repeal of the Illinois Black laws—how he arrived at this end was not particularly significant to him.The tenor of Black activism in Illinois was already becoming more radical during the early 1850s—the emergence of Douglas helped to cement the radical aspect of the movement. At the 1856 Alton Convention, Douglas advocated a strongly worded declaration and called for the immediate abolishment of the Black laws. Although some delegates favored tempered language, Douglas insisted that direct language was a way to let “white men know that we had rights, and to convince them, let us use the mildest means adequate to that end, which was free speech.”3Not only was he instrumental in writing the preamble for the convention, but he also chaired several committees, including a committee to draft a constitution and by-laws for the Repeal Association, whose major objective was to abolish the Black laws and to achieve recognition for African Americans in Illinois as citizens.4The 1856 Illinois State Convention at Alton, Illinois, ended just as the convention in Chicago did—white state legislators virtually ignored the demands of Black Illinoisans and maintained the status quo. Most of the programs and plans laid out by the delegates never made it beyond the paper stage, mostly due to a lack of funding. Yet prominent Black Illinoisans remained hopeful that their protests were not unheard.Douglas believed violent revolutionary tactics were necessary to end slavery. Rumors of the possible secession of Southern states confirmed his beliefs. Two weeks after Abraham Lincoln was elected to the presidency, he wrote to the Chicago Daily Times and Herald, welcoming secession on the grounds that there could be no real union between slavery and freedom.5In July 1862, Douglas enlisted in the army to fight in the Civil War. He believed by fighting in the war there would be a much greater opportunity to uproot slavery. The only way he was able to gain entry into the army was by “passing” as a white man, since African Americans were not yet allowed to fight in the Civil War. While his regiment was stationed near Lake Providence, Louisiana, it witnessed the first official organization of Black troops for the Union Army. Several of its enlisted men became officers for the new units. Inspired by these events, Douglas wrote the famous abolitionist congressman from Illinois Owen Lovejoy about a possible transfer. He revealed that he had enlisted early but regretted that he had not waited until African Americans were openly mustered into the Union Army. Dissatisfied with his position, he requested Lovejoy's intercession for a shift to South Carolina, where he understood that Black regiments were being formed. Douglass concluded that he could be a more effective soldier if he fought with Black soldiers because he believed he could be helpful in recruiting them. In April 1863, he was granted the authority to raise an independent company of Black soldiers for use as scouts and similar service. By the end of the war, he was one of nearly eighty Black commissioned officers in the Union Army.6Douglas was relatively light-skinned, which likely allowed him to defy racial restrictions when he enrolled in Company G of the 95th Regiment of Illinois in 1862. By 1865, he was promoted to captain and placed in charge of the Independent Battery, US Colored Light Artillery, at Fort Leavenworth, becoming the only African American to command his own unit during the Civil War. He died from complications of malaria on November 11, 1865.7