It is worth noting that commonly used language of that time is not the same as today. Some words and labels used in every day speech and sometimes in print would be deemed offensive by today's standards. It is true that even words used by the most senstive and forward thinking of that day would not be acceptable in today's society. In fact in recent times, preferred ethnic identifiers seem to change every ten to twenty years. What was derogatory forty years ago is sometimes a preferred label today and what was acceptable at that time is now considered a slur. So it is to be expected that language used one hundred and fifty years ago will often not stand the test of time.

There is the temptation to clean such language up to avoid hurt feelings and unnecessary controversy. That would almost certainly be a mistake since an historical document is an historical document and attempts to sanitize documents of certain words prevents the complete context needed to properly study the time in which it was written. There is no intent to inflame passions or harm anyone's sensibilities. Rather this site seeks to simply present these important historical documents in their full context for the study of those interested in this period and the people who lived through it.