History 147 OB Chapter 8
Guam
|
CHAPTER 8: RECONSTRUCTION, Opening and Closing , 1865-1900 Contents Introduction and Pre-Reading Questions: 1 Documents: 5 Document 1, Harper’s Weekly comments on the Freedman’s Bureau, 1868 (Harper's Weekly, 1868) 5 Document 2, Former slaves reflect on their happiness with freedom and the Thirteenth Amendment (Library of Congress, 1936-1938) 7 Document 3, Mississippi Black Codes, 1865 (America Past and Present Online, 1865) 13 Document 4, Reflections on the Lincoln Assassination (The New York Times, 1865) 15 Document 5, President Andrew Johnson orders the return of Field Order 15 land (Engine of Souls Forum, 1865) 18 Document 6, The 14th and 15th Amendments (The Charters of Freedom, 1866 (r. 1868); 1869 (r. 1870)) 19 Document 7, The Arkansas Gazette on Black Male Suffrage, 1890 (Perman, 2001) 20 Document 8, 1868 Ku Klux Klan Charter (albany.edu, 1868) 21 Post-Reading Exercises: 22 Works Cited 22 |
|
So Lincoln instead had to focus on what to do with the South once the war really did end. Lincoln did know one thing for sure—he knew he couldn’t just readmit the South and pretend that nothing had happened. Too much blood had been shed for that and he also didn’t want anyone to think that when they didn’t like a governmental policy, they could just secede from the Union with no consequences. This much was clear to Lincoln early on, but aside from this, he wasn’t too sure on how to proceed with the reunification or the reconstruction of the nation.
By the time the war did finally end in 1865, the South was in tatters, with homes and buildings destroyed, railroads and bridges completely gone, fields untended. The Emancipation Proclamation had stripped many Southerners of their slaves and many acutely felt new economic burdens, particularly because so many fathers and sons had been killed in the war. For these white Southerners, they hoped that the period of Reconstruction—the period of reunifying the nation—would consist of the federal government stepping out of southern affairs and they hoped to see African Americans denied the rights of citizenship. Some even hoped that in the places where the Emancipation Proclamation hadn’t touched slavery, the institution would continue.
For Southern blacks, whose situation was also incredibly difficult in the aftermath of the war, Reconstruction held some opposite hopes. Over 4 million men and women—former slaves all of them—were freed in the months following the surrender of the South in April 1865 with the passage and eventual ratification of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, and though they found hope in their ability to leave the plantation system, they also found that freedom in the South wasn’t as easy as they had hoped. Many found they had nowhere to go, nothing to feed or clothe them, and no work to do. So African-Americans hoped that the program of Reconstruction would be able to help them secure the real freedom they hoped for: political and economic rights, as well as a legal declaration of equality of all the races.
While the specific programs for Reconstruction were being worked out, in the months following the Civil War, Congress stationed federal troops throughout the South to preserve order and protect former slaves, and established the Freedmen’s Bureau, a government agency that was designed primarily to help the former slaves by providing food and education to them (Document 1). The Bureau also worked to help both former slaves and poor whites find their own land. But the Freedmen’s Bureau only had a charter for one year (and no support from President Lincoln), so many former slaves hoped that the program of Reconstruction would extend the charter or design something equally useful to help them continue the transition into free life. What were some of the positives of the Freedmen’s Bureau? Some of the problems?
Despite the lack of a more permanent federal plan for former slaves, these former slaves took quick action, celebrating their freedom, moving away from the plantations, and exercising some of the new rights being afforded them, which you’ll read about in Document 2. As Document 3 shows, however, Southerners did not take too kindly to the end of the war or the new rights slaves now had; the Mississippi Black Codes demonstrate some of the ways southern whites attempted to put blacks back into a position of inferiority. Looking at these three documents together, what was life like for blacks and whites at the conclusion of the war?
Southerners also showed their displeasure with the post-Civil War world by fighting vehemently against President Lincoln’s Reconstruction plans and, ultimately and tragically, against President Lincoln himself. Lincoln was assassinated in April 1865, just days after the official surrender of the Confederacy (Document 4) and he was unable to see any of his plans for Reconstruction come to life. Instead, his successor, Andrew Johnson, took the reins of Reconstruction. In Document 5, Johnson returns land that had been seized from Confederates during the war and given to former slaves to get their new lives started—this was obviously a tremendous blow to many former slaves. Seeing this, what do you think Johnson’s goals for Reconstruction were?
Despite Johnson’s sometimes wishy-washy stance on the status of former slaves and former Confederates, a radical Republican Congress pushed forward a lengthy Reconstruction plan in 1865 that demanded voting rights be taken away from former Confederate officials, required southerners to pledge an oath of loyalty to the Union before their state would be allowed back into the Union, and promised new rights for African Americans, including the rights of citizenship and the right to vote for black men. These two laws, the 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution (Document 6), were difficult to get passed and ratified, but ultimately paved the way for some tremendous changes for African Americans and for whites. As Documents 7-8 show, southern whites continued to struggle mightily with the new roles that African Americans were playing. What problems do you think these struggles would pose for blacks in the post-Reconstruction era?
Overall, Reconstruction was both a series of positives and negatives. The negatives were that racism was not properly discussed or dealt with and that meant it would never go away in the South or the North. However, it’s successes were that it allowed blacks a measure of dignity and equality that they had not had under slavery; it provided economic opportunity, including the possibility of owning land, and, most importantly, it allowed blacks to create their own culture within the American south, through churches, schools and meeting groups, that would allow them to feel a true sense of freedom. The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments would prove to be invaluable laws for the Civil Rights movement that was to occur a century later.
Documents:
Document 1, Harper’s Weekly comments on the Freedman’s Bureau, 1868 (Harper's Weekly, 1868)[footnoteRef:1] [1: Alfred R. Waud, “The Freedmen’s Bureau,” July 25, 1868, Harper’s Weekly. HarpWeek.com Explanation written by Robert C. Kennedy, http://www.harpweek.com/09Cartoon/BrowseByDateCartoon.asp?Month=July&Date=25 ]
Explanation (Secondary Source) from HarpWeek.com: In July 1868, Congress essentially ended the existence of the Freedmen's Bureau, a temporary federal agency established to provide basic relief to emancipated slaves. Cartoonist A. R. Waud honors its three years of service by portraying it as the necessary line of defense protecting black Southerners from their hostile white neighbors.
In February 1862, George William Curtis, an abolitionist and columnist for Harper's Weekly, wrote Treasury Secretary Salmon Chase suggesting the creation of a federal agency to assist the former slaves crossing into Union territory. It was an idea already eagerly discussed among abolitionists, and Curtis publicly promoted it in his “Lounger” column in the March 1, 1862 issue of Harper's Weekly. He placed such importance on the issue that he addressed it again in the first issue of the newspaper in which he assumed responsibility as editorial writer, December 26, 1863. Curtis and his father-in-law, Francis Shaw, president of the philanthropic Freedmen’s Relief Association, helped Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts draft the Freedmen’s Bill to establish the Freedmen’s Bureau.
Radical Republicans like Curtis wanted the agency in the Treasury Department under the abolitionist Chase. Others wanted it positioned within the War Department, so passage of the legislation was delayed until after Chase resigned in 1864. In March 3, 1865, Congress created the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, commonly known as the Freedmen’s Bureau. The final version of the bill established a temporary agency within the War Department, under the direction of General Oliver Otis Howard.
The law granted relief to black and white persons displaced by the Civil War, but was aimed at assisting the freed slaves in their transition from enslavement to liberty. The freed slaves were provided basic shelter and medical care, assistance in labor-contract negotiation and the establishment of schools, and similar services. The Freedmen's Bureau was the first federal agency dedicated to social welfare.
In February 1866, Congress passed a second Freedmen’s Bureau Act, which extended the temporary agency’s life for two years and gave the United States Army the responsibility of protecting the civil rights of black Americans in the former Confederate states. President Andrew Johnson, however, vetoed the bill. Although Congress had rejected Johnson's own Reconstruction program in 1865 as too lenient, many Republicans were surprised by the president's veto. It was the beginning, though, of an increasingly acrimonious relationship between the Democratic president and the Republican Congress over the shape and control of Reconstruction in the postwar South.
That spring, President Johnson sent Generals John Steedman and Joseph Fullerton on a tour of the South to gather information in an effort to discredit the Freedmen’s Bureau. Southern blacks, however, expressed strong support for the continued presence of the Freemen’s Bureau in the South, believing that it gave them necessary aid and, especially, protection. In one case, when General Steedman offered a crowd of 800 blacks a hypothetical choice between the Freedmen’s Bureau and the United States Army, the audience overwhelmingly chose the Bureau. In July 1866, Congress passed the Freedmen’s Bureau Act a second time. President Johnson vetoed it again, but Congress was able to override his veto and it became law.
The Freedmen's Bureau helped Southern blacks build schools and churches, enforced civil rights and due process, facilitated the reunion of families separated by slavery, and allocated basic necessities of food and shelter until recipients could provide for themselves. Yet, for all the good that it did, the agency's effectiveness was hampered by several obstacles. During most of its three years of existence, it never had sufficient funding or personnel (at its peak, it only had 900 agents throughout the South). It also faced opposition from segments of the Southern white population and their political representatives at the local, state, and federal level. Furthermore, many whites in the North and their congressmen became increasingly uneasy about Reconstruction, and in this case over a federal social program targeting one specific group of Americans.
On July 6, 1868, Congress passed a law that essentially instructed the Freedmen's Bureau to close up shop. The federal legislation extended the agency's life to the end of the year, but discontinued it in the former Confederate states that were reconstructed (all but three). On January 1, 1869, General Howard brought most of the agency's activities to a halt.
In an editorial appearing in the same issue as this cartoon, George William Curtis reflected on the vital role the Freedmen's Bureau had played. "No institution was ever more imperatively necessary, and none has been more useful." The Harper's Weekly editor agreed with cartoonist Waud's perspective that the Freedmen's Bureau had prevented a "war of races" in the postwar South. The Civil War ended with the slaves freed, but left them without resources and hated in the land they knew. "The Freedmen's Bureau was the conscience and common-sense of the country stepping between the hostile parties and saying to them, with irresistible authority, 'Peace!'" The agency "stood between the freedmen and starvation and cruel laws, meanwhile giving them arms and schools and civil and political equality, that they might start fair in the common race."
Document 2, Former slaves reflect on their happiness with freedom and the Thirteenth Amendment (Library of Congress, 1936-1938)[footnoteRef:2] [2: ”Aunt” Rhody Holsell, “Slaves Happy to be Free,” Frederickstown, MO, from Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project, 1936-1938, Missouri Narratives, Volume X, pages 191-192; Henry Johnson, Slave Narrative, St. Louis, MO, from Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project, 1936-1938, Missouri Narratives, Volume X, pages 210-212.]
Document 3, Mississippi Black Codes, 1865 (America Past and Present Online, 1865)[footnoteRef:3] [3: “Mississippi Black Codes,” Approved November 25, 1865.]
Section 1. Be it enacted by the legislature of the State of Mississippi, That all freedmen, free Negroes, and mulattoes may sue and be sued, implead and be impleaded in all the courts of law and equity of this state, and may acquire personal property and choses in action, by descent or purchase, any may dispose of the same, in the same manner, and to the same extent that white persons may: Provided that the provisions of this section shall not be so construed as to allow any freedman, free Negro, or mulatto to rent or lease any lands or tenements, except in incorporated town or cities in which places the corporate authorities shall control the same.
Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, That all freedmen, free Negroes, and mulattoes may intermarry with each other, in the same manner and under the same regulations that are provided by law for white persons: Provided, that the clerk of probate shall keep separate records of the same.
Sec. 3. Be it further enacted, That all freedmen, free Negroes, and mulattoes, who do now and have heretofore lived and cohabited together as husband and wife shall be taken and held in law as legally married, and the issue shall be taken and held as legitimate for all purposes. That it shall not be lawful for any freedman, free Negro, or mulatto to intermarry with any white person; nor for any white person to intermarry with any freedman, free Negro, or mulatto; any person who shall so intermarry shall be deemed guilty of felony and, on conviction thereof, shall be confined in the state penitentiary for life; and those shall be deemed freedmen, free Negroes, and mulattoes who are of pure Negro blood, and those descended from a Negro to the third generation inclusive, though one ancestor of each generation may have been a white person.
Sec. 4. Be it further enacted, That in addition to cases in which freedmen, free Negroes, and mulattoes are now by law competent witnesses, freedmen, free Negroes, or mulattoes shall be competent in civil cases when a party or parties to the suit, either plaintiff or plaintiffs, defendant or defendants, also in cases where freedmen, free Negroes, and mulattoes is or are either plaintiff or plaintiffs, defendant or defendants, and a white person or white persons is or are the opposing party or parties, plaintiff or plaintiffs, defendant or defendants. They shall also be competent witnesses in all criminal prosecutions where the crime charged is alleged to have been committed by a white person upon or against the person or property of a freedman, free Negro, or mulatto: Provided that in all cases said witnesses shall be examined in open court on the stand, except, however, they may be examined before the grand jury, and shall in all cases be subject to the rules and tests of the common law as to competency and credibility.
Sec. 5. Be it further enacted, That every freedman, free Negro, and mulatto shall, on the second Monday of January, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, and annually thereafter, have a lawful home or employment. . . .
Sec. 6. Be it further enacted, That all contracts for labor made with freedmen, free Negroes, and mulattoes for a longer period than one month shall be in writing and in duplicate, attested and read to said freedman, free Negro, or mulatto, by a beat, city or county officers, or two disinterested white persons of the country in which the labor is to be performed, of which each party shall have one; and said contracts shall be taken and held as entire contracts, and if the laborer shall quit the service of the employer, before expiration of his term of service, without good cause, he shall forfeit his wages for that year, up to the time of quitting.
Sec. 7. Be it further enacted, That every civil officer shall, and every person may, arrest and carry back to his or her legal employer any freedman, free Negro, or mulatto who shall have quit the service of his or her employer before the expiration of his or her term of service without good cause, and said officer and person shall be entitled to receive for arresting and carrying back every deserting employee aforesaid, the sum of five dollars, and ten cents per mile from the place of arrest to the place of delivery, and the same shall be paid by the employer, and held as a set-off for so much against the wages of said deserting employee.
Sec. 8. Be it further enacted, That upon affidavit made by the employer of any freedman, free Negro, or mulatto, or other credible person, before any justice of the peace or member of the board of police, that any freedman, free Negro, or mulatto, legally employed by said employer, has illegally deserted said employment, such justice of the peace or member of the board of police shall issue his warrant or warrants, returnable before himself, or other such officer, directed to any sheriff, constable, or special deputy, commanding him to arrest said deserter and return him or her to said employer, and the like proceedings shall be had as provided in the preceding section. . . .
Sec. 9. Be it further enacted, That if any person shall persuade or attempt to persuade, entice, or cause any freedman, free Negro, or mulatto to desert from the legal employment of any person, before the expiration of his or her term of service, or shall knowingly employ any such deserting freedman, free Negro, or mulatto, or shall knowingly give or sell to any such deserting freedman, free Negro, or mulatto, any food, raiment, or other thing, he or she shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be fined not less than twenty-five dollars and not more then two hundred dollars and the costs, and, if said fine and costs shall not be immediately paid, the court shall sentence said convict to not exceeding two months' imprisonment in the county jail, and he or she shall moreover be liable to the party injured in damages: . . . .
Sec. 10. Be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for any freedman, free Negro, or mulatto to charge any white person, freedman, free Negro, or mulatto, by affidavit, with any criminal offense against his or her person or property and upon such affidavit the proper process shall be issued and executed as if said affidavit was made by a white person, and it shall be lawful for any freedman, free Negro, or mulatto, in any action, suit, or controversy pending, or about to be instituted, in any court of law or equity of this state, to make all needful and lawful affidavits, as shall be necessary for the institution, prosecution, or defense of such suit or controversy.
Sec. 11. Be it further enacted, That the penal laws of this state, in all cases not otherwise specially provided for, shall apply and extend to all freedmen, free Negroes, and mulattoes. . . .
Approved November 25, 1865
Document 4, Reflections on the Lincoln Assassination (The New York Times, 1865)[footnoteRef:4] [4: N.a., “President Lincoln Shot by an Assassin,” New York: New York Times, April 15, 1865, pp. 1.]
Awful Event
President Lincoln Shot by an Assassin
The Deed Done at Ford's Theatre Last Night
THE ACT OF A DESPERATE REBEL
The President Still Alive at Last Accounts.
No Hopes Entertained of His Recovery.
Attempted Assassination of Secretary Seward.
DETAILS OF THE DREADFUL TRAGEDY.
Official
War Department, Washington April 15, 1:30 A.M. - Maj. Gen. Dis.: This evening at about 9:30 P.M. at Ford's Theatre, the President, while sitting in his private box with Mrs. Lincoln, Mr. Harris, and Major Rathburn, was shot by an assassin, who suddenly entered the box and appeared behind the President.
The assassin then leaped upon the stage, brandishing a large dagger or knife, and made his escape in the rear of the theatre.
The pistol ball entered the back of the President's head and penetrated nearly through the head. The wound is mortal. The President has been insensible ever since it was inflicted, and is now dying.
About the same hour an assassin, whether the same or not, entered Mr. Sewards' apartments, and under the pretence of having a prescription, was shown to the Secretary's sick chamber. The assassin immediately rushed to the bed, and inflicted two or three stabs on the throat and two on the face. It is hoped the wounds may not be mortal. My apprehension is that they will prove fatal.
The nurse alarmed Mr. Frederick Seward, who was in an adjoining room, and hastened to the door of his father's room, when he met the assassin, who inflicted upon him one or more dangerous wounds. The recovery of Frederick Seward is doubtful.
It is not probable that the President will live throughout the night.
Gen. Grant and wife were advertised to be at the theatre this evening, but he started to Burlington at 6 o'clock this evening.
At a Cabinet meeting at which Gen. Grant was present, the subject of the state of the country and the prospect of a speedy peace was discussed. The President was very cheerful and hopeful, and spoke very kindly of Gen. Lee and others of the Confederacy, and of the establishment of government in Virginia.
All the members of the Cabinet except Mr. Seward are now in attendance upon the President.
I have seen Mr. Seward, but he and Frederick were both unconscious.
Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War.
Detail of the Occurrence
Washington, Friday, April 14, 12:30 A.M. - The President was shot in a theatre tonight, and is perhaps mortally wounded. Secretary Seward was also assassinated.
Second Dispatch.
Washington, Friday, April 14 - President Lincoln and wife, with other friends, this evening visited Ford's Theatre for the purpose of witnessing the performance of the "American Cousin."
It was announced in the papers that Gen. Grant would also be present, but he took the late train of cars for New-Jersey.
The theatre was densely crowded, and everybody seemed delighted with the scene before them. During the third act, and while there was a temporary pause for one of the actors to enter, a sharp report of a pistol was heard, which merely attracted attention, but suggesting nothing serious, until a man rushed to the front of the President's box, waving a long dagger in his right hand, and exclaiming "Sic semper tyrannis," and immediately leaped from the box, which was in the second tier, to the opposite side, making his escape amid the bewilderment of the audience from the rear of the theatre, and mounting a horse, fled.
The screams of Mrs. Lincoln first disclosed the fact to the audience that the President had been shot, when all present rose to their feet, rushing toward the stage, many exclaiming "Hang him! Hang him!"
The excitement was of the wildest possible description, and of course there was an abrupt termination of the theatrical performance.
There was a rush toward the President's box, when cries were heard: "Stand back and give him air." "Has any one stimulants." On a hasty examination, it was found that the President had been shot through the head, above and back of the temporal bone, and that some of the brain was oozing out. He was removed to a private house opposite to the theatre, and the Surgeon-General of the army and other surgeons sent for to attend to his condition.
On an examination of the private box blood was discovered on the back of the cushioned rocking chair on which the President had been sitting, also on the partition and on the floor. A common single-barreled pocket pistol was found on the carpet.
A military guard was placed in front of the private residence to which the President had been conveyed. An immense crowd was in front of it, all deeply anxious to learn the condition of the President. It had been previously announced that the wound was mortal but all hoped otherwise. The shock to the community was terrible.
The President was in a state of syncope, totally insensible, and breathing slowly. The blood oozed from the wound at the back of his head. The surgeons exhausted every effort of medical skill, but all hope was gone. The parting of his family with the dying President is too sad for description.
At midnight, the Cabinet, with Messrs. Sumner, Colfax and Farnsworth, Judge Curtis, Gov. Oglesby, Gen. Meigs, Col. Hay, and a few personal friends, with Surgeon-General Barnes and his immediate assistants, were around his bedside.
The President and Mrs. Lincoln did not start for the theatre until fifteen minutes after eight o'clock. Speaker Colfax was at the White House at the time, and the President stated to him that he was going, although Mrs. Lincoln had not been well, because, the papers had announced that Gen. Grant and they were to be present, and, as Gen. Grant had gone North, he did not wish the audience to be disappointed.
He went with apparent reluctance and urged Mr. Colfax to go with him; but that gentleman had made other engagements, and with Mr. Ashman, of Massachusetts, bid him good bye.
When the excitement at the theatre was at its wildest height, reports were circulated that Secretary Seward had also been assassinated.
On reaching this gentleman's residence a crowd and a military guard were found at the door, and on entering it was ascertained that the reports were based on truth.
Everybody there was so excited that scarcely an intelligible word could be gathered, but the facts are substantially as follows:
About 10 o'clock a man rang the bell, and the call having been answered by a colored servant, he said he had come from Dr. Verdi, Secretary Seward's family physician, with a prescription, at the same time holding in his hand a small piece of folded paper, and saying in answer to a refusal that he must see the Secretary, making the same representation which he did to the servant. What further passed in the way of colloquy is not known, but the man struck him on the head with a "billy," severely injuring the skull and felling him almost senseless. The assassin then rushed into the chamber and attacked Major Seward, Paymaster of the United States army and Mr. Hansell, a messenger of the State Department and two male nurses, disabling them all, he then rushed upon the Secretary, who was lying in bed in the same room, and inflicted three stabs in the neck, but severing, it is thought and hoped, no arteries, though he bled profusely.
The assassin then rushed down stairs, mounted his horse at the door, and rode off before an alarm could be sounded, and in the same manner as the assassin of the President.
It is believed that the injuries of the Secretary are not fatal, nor those of either of the others, although the Secretary and the Assistant Secretary are very seriously injured.
Secretaries Stanton and Welles, and other prominent officers of the government, called at Secretary Seward's home to inquire into his condition, and there heard of the assassination of the President.
They the proceeded to the house where he was lying, exhibiting of course intense anxiety and solicitude. An immense crowd was gathered in front of the President's house, and a strong guard was also stationed there, many persons evidently supposing he would be brought to his home.
The entire city to-night presents a scene of wild excitement, accompanied by violent expressions of indignation, and the profoundest sorrow; many shed tears. The military authorities have dispatched mounted patrols in every direction, in order, if possible, to arrest the assassins. The whole metropolitan police are likewise vigilant for the same purpose.
The attacks both at the theatre and at Secretary Seward's house, took place at about the same hour- 10 o'clock- thus showing a preconcerted plan to assassinate those gentlemen. Some evidences of the guilt of the party who attacked the President are in the possession of the police.
Vice-President Johnson is in the city, and his headquarters are guarded by troops.
Document 5, President Andrew Johnson orders the return of Field Order 15 land (Engine of Souls Forum, 1865)[footnoteRef:5] [5: N.a., “Legal Form for the Restoration of Confiscated Property Held by the Freedmens Bureau,” 1865, From South Carolina Freedmens Bureau Records, Box 483; in Martin Abbott, Freedmens Bureau in South Carolina (Chapel Hill, NC: 1967), pp. 137-138.]
Richard H. Jenkins, an applicant for the restoration of his plantation on Wadmalaw Island, S. C., called Rackett Hall, the same having been unoccupied during the past year and up to the 1st of Jan. 1866, except by one freedman who planted no crop, and being held by the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, having conformed to the requirements of Circular No. 15 of said Bureau, dated Washington, D. C., Sept. 12, 1865, the aforesaid property is hereby restored to his possession.
The above instrument to be considered null and void unless the obligation herewith attached and subscribed to by said Richard H. Jenkins be faithfully and fully complied with.
All differences arising under this instrument and obligation are to be adjusted by the Board of Supervisors constituted by order of the Commissioner of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, dated Charleston, November 14, 1865.
. . . . . .
The Undersigned, Richard H. Jenkins, does hereby solemnly promise and engage, that he will secure to the Refugees and Freedmen now resident on his Wadmalaw Island Estate, the crops of the past year, harvested or unharvested; also, that the said Refugees and Freedmen shall be allowed to remain at their present houses or other homes on the island, so long as the responsible Refugees and Freedmen (embracing parents, guardians, and other natural protectors) shall enter into contracts, by leases or for wages, in terms satisfactory to the Supervising Board.
Also, that the undersigned will take the proper steps to enter into contracts with the above described responsible Refugees and Freedmen, the latter being required on their part to enter into said contracts on or before the 15th day of February, 1866, or surrender their right to remain on the said estate, it being understood that if they are unwilling to contract after the expiration of said period, the Supervising Board is to aid in getting them homes and employment elsewhere.
Also, that the undersigned will take the proper steps to enter to schools sanctioned by the Supervising Board, or by the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands.
But nothing in this instrument shall be so construed as to relieve the above mentioned persons from the ordinary judicial consequences of crime and misdemeanor.
Neither the land owners nor the Refugees and Freedmen will be obligated by this instrument beyond one year from this date unless the instrument is renewed.
Document 6, The 14th and 15th Amendments (The Charters of Freedom, 1866 (r. 1868); 1869 (r. 1870))[footnoteRef:6] [6: Amendment XIV, passed by Congress June 13, 1866, ratified July 9, 1868. Amendment XV, passed by Congress February 26, 1869, ratified February 3, 1870.]
AMENDMENT XIV
Passed by Congress June 13, 1866. Ratified July 9, 1868.
Section 1.
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Section 2.
Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age,* and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.
Section 3.
No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
Section 4.
The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.
Section 5.
The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
AMENDMENT XV
Passed by Congress February 26, 1869. Ratified February 3, 1870.
Section 1.
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude--
Section 2.
The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Document 7, The Arkansas Gazette on Black Male Suffrage, 1890 (Perman, 2001)[footnoteRef:7] [7: Michael Perman, Struggle for Mastery: Disenfranchisement in the South, 1888-1908 (North Carolina: UNC Press, 2001), 61.]
The negro must retire as a competitive factor in politics, in order to ensure peace and harmony between the races. The rugged issue cannot be dodged. It is a struggle for mastery, in which the strongest arm must win.
Document 8, 1868 Ku Klux Klan Charter (albany.edu, 1868)[footnoteRef:8] [8: N.a., “Organization and Principles of the Ku Klux Klan,” 1868.]
Appellation
This organization shall be styled and denominated the Order of the---
We, the Order of the ---, reverentially acknowledge the majesty and supremacy of the Divine Being and recognize the goodness and providence of the same. And we recognize our relation to the United States government, the supremacy of the Constitution, the constitutional laws thereof, and the Union of states thereunder.
Character and Objects of the Order
This is an institution of chivalry, humanity, mercy, and patriotism; embodying in its genius and its principles all that is chivalric in conduct, noble in sentiment, generous in manhood, and patriotic in purpose; its peculiar objects being:
First, to protect the weak, the innocent, and the defenseless from the indignities, wrongs, and outrages of the lawless, the violent, and the brutal; to relieve the injured and oppressed; to succor the suffering and unfortunate, and especially the widows and orphans of Confederate soldiers.
Second, to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and all laws passed in conformity thereto, and to protect the states and the people thereof from all invasion from any source whatever.
Third, to aid and assist in the execution of all constitutional laws, and to protect the people from unlawful seizure and from trial, except by their peers in conformity to the laws of the land.
Titles
Section 1. The officers of this Order shall consist of a Grand Wizard of the Empire and his ten Genii; a Grand Dragon of the Realm and his eight Hydras; a Grand Titan of the Dominion and his six Furies; a Grand Giant of the Province and his four Goblins; a Grand Cyclops of the Den and his two Night Hawks; a Grand Magi, a Grand Monk, a Grand Scribe, a Grand Exchequer, a Grand Turk, and a Grand Sentinel.
Section 2. The body politic of this Order shall be known and designated as "Ghouls."
Territory and Its Divisions
Section 1. The territory embraced within the jurisdiction of this Order shall be coterminous with the states of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, and Tennessee; all combined constituting the Empire.
Section 2. The Empire shall be divided into four departments, the first to be styled the Realm and coterminous with the boundaries of the several states; the second to be styled the Dominion and to be coterminous with such counties as the Grand Dragons of the several Realms may assign to the charge of the Grand Titan. The third to be styled the Province and to be coterminous with the several counties; provided, the Grand Titan may, when he deems it necessary, assign two Grand Giants to one Province, prescribing, at the same time, the jurisdiction of each. The fourth department to be styled the Den, and shall embrace such part of a Province as the Grand Giant shall assign to the charge of a Grand Cyclops.
Questions To Be Asked Candidates
1. Have you ever been rejected, upon application for membership in the ---, or have you ever been expelled from the same?
2. Are you now, or have you ever been a member of the Radical Republican Party, or either of the organizations known as the "Loyal League" and the "Grand Army of the Republic"?
3. Are you opposed to the principles and policy of the Radical Party, and to the Loyal League, and the Grand Army of the Republic, so far as you are informed of the character and purposes of those organizations?
4. Did you belong to the Federal Army during the late war, and fight against the South during the existence of the same?
5. Are you opposed to Negro equality both social and political?
6. Are you in favor of a white man's government in this country?
7. Are you in favor of constitutional liberty, and a government of equitable laws instead of a government of violence and oppression?
8. Are you in favor of maintaining the constitutional rights of the South?
9. Are you in favor of the reenfranchisement and emancipation of the white men of the South, and the restitution of the Southern people to all their rights, alike proprietary, civil, and political?
10. Do you believe in the inalienable right of self-preservation of the people against the exercise of arbitrary and unlicensed power?
Post-Reading Exercises:
1. According to the documents in this chapter, what were some of the positive changes made for blacks in the United States during Reconstruction? What were some of the problems that Reconstruction posed for blacks?
2. Pretend you are a former slave who was freed by the 13th Amendment. Using specific examples and quotes from the primary source documents in this chapter, write a letter to a friend or family member (also a former slave who was freed by the 13th Amendment) about your hopes, happiness, fears, and doubts about your future.
3. JOURNAL OPTION: For this chapter of OB, instead of answering Question 1 or 2, you may instead choose to turn in a 2-4 page typed document (double-spaced) with brief notes on each document in the chapter, as well as 5 questions about the chapter’s material. Please see the handout under Files titled “Journal Notes/Questions Guide” for more specific instructions on how to do this properly.
Works Cited Document 8: albany.edu. (1868). albany.edu. Retrieved July 10, 2012, from Organization and Principles of the Ku Klux Klan: http://www.albany.edu/history/history316/kkk.html Document 3: America Past and Present Online. (1865). America Past and Present Online. Retrieved July 10, 2012, from Mississippi Black Codes: http://occawlonline.pearsoned.com/bookbind/pubbooks/divine5e/medialib/timeline/docs/sources/theme_primarysources_Civil_Rights_1.html Document 5: Engine of Souls Forum. (1865). Engine of Souls Forum. Retrieved July 10, 2012, from Restoration of Confiscated Property: http://www.activeboard.com/forum.spark?forumID=110976&p=3&topicID=14448331 Document 1: Harper's Weekly. (1868, July 25). Harper's Weekly. Retrieved July 10, 2012, from Cartoon of the Day, "The Freedmen's Bureau": http://www.harpweek.com/09Cartoon/BrowseByDateCartoon.asp?Month=July&Date=25 Document 2: Library of Congress. (1936-1938). Library of Congress. Retrieved July 10, 2012, from Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938: http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mesn&fileName=100/mesn100.db&recNum=195&itemLink=D?mesnbib:1:./temp/~ammem_P0aU Document 7: Perman, M. (2001). Struggle for Mastery: Disenfranchisement in the South, 1888-1908. North Carolina: UNC Press. Document 6: The Charters of Freedom. (1866 (r. 1868); 1869 (r. 1870)). The Charters of Freedom. Retrieved July 10, 2012, from Constitution of the United States, Amendments 11-27: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_amendments_11-27.html Document 4: The New York Times. (1865, April 15). The New York Times. Retrieved July 10, 2012, from On This Day, President Lincoln Shot by an Assassin: http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0414.html
20