Talk:Contraband (American Civil War)

Confiscation Act
There's a request to expand Confiscation Act of 1861 and try to link to it in more articles. I know one-sentence paragraphs are generally bad, but it's pretty important to the topic and doesn't really fit anywhere else in the article. Please try and expand it. Stilgar135 04:02, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

Original Research
It appears that editors have cited their own research in trying to determine the first usage of "contraband" in military records and to trace the early policy that was developed on the issue of fugitive slaves. This is OR (Original Research), as editors are supposed to use as sources published accounts by third parties, not the primary sources. Why do historians generally credit Butler with the contraband policy - because he was the first to refuse to return slaves? There must be some academic histories or articles that address this issue, which can be used to support this article.Parkwells (talk) 22:12, 22 July 2011 (UTC)
 * Since Parkwells's comment, a fine book has appeard, which covers the topic in detail: James Oakes, "Freedom National". I haven't edited the article yet. According to Oakes (pp. 102-103), Butler used the term "contraband of war" in a letter of July 30, 1861. His action of May 24, 1861, is very early in the war, after Fort Sumter, but before any larger battles. Oaklandguy (talk) 07:26, 5 July 2018 (UTC)