{"id":{"repo_id":"central-wash","oai_identifier":"oai:digitalcommons.cwu.edu:etd-1091"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/central-wash/oai:digitalcommons.cwu.edu:etd-1091","repository":{"repo_id":"central-wash","name":"Central Washington University","base_url":"https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/do/oai/"},"display":{"title":"Broken Promises: Rape, Race, and the Union Army","abstract":"Through the use of Union courts-martial records, this paper will examine the ways in which black women who had been assaulted by white men were denied justice in military courts. Although the Union Army was often perceived of as an army representing freedom and higher moral purpose, the court martial records reveal a darker side. They reveal that sometimes black women found no safety behind Union lines; rather, they found themselves victims of sexual violence by white men and had little recourse to justice. Although outwardly the Union Army was devoted to abolishing slavery, the inner workings of its courts reveal that black women, supposedly protected by Lincoln’s Lieber Code, were often sexually dehumanized by Union soldiers and military judges.","abstract_html":"Through the use of Union courts-martial records, this paper will examine the ways in which black women who had been assaulted by white men were denied justice in military courts. Although the Union Army was often perceived of as an army representing freedom and higher moral purpose, the court martial records reveal a darker side. They reveal that sometimes black women found no safety behind Union lines; rather, they found themselves victims of sexual violence by white men and had little recourse to justice. Although outwardly the Union Army was devoted to abolishing slavery, the inner workings of its courts reveal that black women, supposedly protected by Lincoln’s Lieber Code, were often sexually dehumanized by Union soldiers and military judges.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Hedgers, Kellie J."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":"History","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Daniel Herman","Roxanne Easley","Rex Wirth"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2015,"date_issued":"2015-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2015-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:36:32Z","subjects":["Rape","Race","Civil War","Union Army","Courts-Martial","Arts and Humanities","History","Military History","United States History","Women's History"],"languages":["English"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd/141","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Daniel Herman","Roxanne Easley","Rex Wirth"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Hedgers, Kellie J."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2020-06-15T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["History"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Rape","Race","Civil War","Union Army","Courts-Martial","Arts and Humanities","History","Military History","United States History","Women's History"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd/141"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Through the use of Union courts-martial records, this paper will examine the ways in which black women who had been assaulted by white men were denied justice in military courts. Although the Union Army was often perceived of as an army representing freedom and higher moral purpose, the court martial records reveal a darker side. They reveal that sometimes black women found no safety behind Union lines; rather, they found themselves victims of sexual violence by white men and had little recourse to justice. Although outwardly the Union Army was devoted to abolishing slavery, the inner workings of its courts reveal that black women, supposedly protected by Lincoln’s Lieber Code, were often sexually dehumanized by Union soldiers and military judges."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Broken Promises: Rape, Race, and the Union Army"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Daniel Herman","Roxanne Easley","Rex Wirth"],"dc:creator":["Hedgers, Kellie J."],"dc:date.available":["2020-06-15T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Through the use of Union courts-martial records, this paper will examine the ways in which black women who had been assaulted by white men were denied justice in military courts. Although the Union Army was often perceived of as an army representing freedom and higher moral purpose, the court martial records reveal a darker side. They reveal that sometimes black women found no safety behind Union lines; rather, they found themselves victims of sexual violence by white men and had little recourse to justice. Although outwardly the Union Army was devoted to abolishing slavery, the inner workings of its courts reveal that black women, supposedly protected by Lincoln’s Lieber Code, were often sexually dehumanized by Union soldiers and military judges."],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd/141"],"dc:language":["English"],"dc:subject":["Rape","Race","Civil War","Union Army","Courts-Martial","Arts and Humanities","History","Military History","United States History","Women's History"],"dc:title":["Broken Promises: Rape, Race, and the Union Army"],"dc:type":["Text"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["History"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (MA)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:36:32Z"}