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Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
Deglassco ("Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco") wrote:

Lincoln defended delay, urged patience, promised equality later. Douglass left unsatisfied but sharpened. He resumed recruiting not because the system had changed, but because its limits were now visible. Douglass never mistook access for equality. He measured power by how much resistance it required to move—and kept pushing anyway.
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Image: Detachment muster roll for Sylvester Ray, Company B, 2nd U.S. Colored Cavalry, first black soldier to refuse service until equal pay with white troops.

Narrow, handwritten detachment muster roll card for Sylvester Ray, Company B, 2nd U.S. Colored Cavalry. The document records his status as “present” in the field in Virginia in October 1864. Pre-printed fields list pay, valuation of horse and equipment, and government dues. A handwritten remark notes the “difference between white and colored soldiers’ pay,” referencing dates December 22, 1863–February 29, 1864. The aged paper shows ink entries and official formatting typical of Civil War service records.