Historical Notes
Gregory Howard's Story
by Carolyn Reeder

Chapter One

Miss Lily — It was the custom in the South to refer to women and girls by the title Miss and their first name, showing both respect and friendship.

Manassas Junction — the place where the rail line from Virginia's Shenandoah Valley joined the rail line from Alexandria and turned toward Richmond. The Confederate army was gathering there as men from all over the South were sent by rail to protect the Confederacy's capital just as men from the loyal states were gathering in Washington to protect the capital of the United States.

Chapter Two

His history teacher had traced the roots of the problems between North and South back to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia — The delegates to the Constitutional Convention had come to an impasse over the issue of slavery in 1787, with many of them in favor of abolishing the practice but with some delegates from the South threatening to walk out unless slavery was allowed to continue. Finally, a compromise was reached: Five slaves would count as three people when determining how many representatives to Congress each state should have.

. . . to help sew shirts and uniforms for Confederate volunteers — Especially early in the war, southern soldiers' uniforms were often sewn by family members in rural areas and by members of volunteer groups in cities and towns, though well-to-do men would have their uniforms professionally tailored. In the industrial North, however, factories churned out uniforms for Union soldiers.

Fairfax Court House — In Virginia, the village or town that grew up around the county courthouse was known by the name of the county plus the words "Court House."

Chapter Three

"Well, now, young fellow. I know you're free and white and male, but I doubt you're twenty-one." When the Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution, they limited the right to vote to free white males who had reached their 21st birthday. (After the Civil War, the 15th Amendment gave voting rights to black men, but it was not until the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920 that women won the right to vote. In 1971, the voting age was lowered to 18 by the 26th Amendment.)

Chapter Five

Proclamation of Martial Law — a notice that the civilian law enforcement of a town or city is being replaced by military law and will be enforced by military police, and that the duties of the mayor and city council will be under a military official, the provost marshall. Usually martial law includes curfews and the requirement for people to have passes to enter or leave the city.

Chapter Eleven

"Haven't you read the poem 'My Maryland?" Written by a young man from Baltimore who was teaching in the South and who heard (mistakenly) that a close friend had been killed in the rioting back home, the poem, urging Maryland to secede, was widely published in newspapers throughout the South. A few months later it was set to music by two Baltimore sisters. To make the words fit the tune they had chosen ("O Tannenbaum") the young women added "my Maryland" at the end of the first two sentences in each verse and changed the title from "My Maryland" to "Maryland, My Maryland."