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Central Washington University

Broken Promises: Rape, Race, and the Union Army

Abstract

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.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Arts (MA)
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
History
Year dc:date.available
2015

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Hedgers, Kellie J.
Contributors dc:contributor
  • Daniel Herman
  • Roxanne Easley
  • Rex Wirth

Subjects

dc:subject × 10

Rights

Language dc:language
English

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Repository record dc:identifier
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd/141
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:digitalcommons.cwu.edu:etd-1091

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Central Washington University
Base URL
digitalcommons.cwu.edu/do/oai/
Last updated
2026-07-24
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Hedgers, Kellie J.. Broken Promises: Rape, Race, and the Union Army. 2015. https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd/141