who freed the slaves? the civil war and reconstruction patrick rael associate professor bowdoin...
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Who Freed the Slaves?Who Freed the Slaves?The Civil War and The Civil War and
ReconstructionReconstruction
Patrick RaelAssociate Professor
Bowdoin College
Introduction
From a war for union To a war to end slavery The key: the agency of African
Americans themselves
Emancipation from the bottom up
day-to-day resistance during the war
the significance of flight proximity of Union lines
Emancipation from the bottom up
General Benjamin F. Butler, Fortress Monroe, Va., 1861
Slaves are “contraband of war” Every slave removed from the
Confederacy = one Union worker
Slaves behind Union lines lived in “contraband” camps. Life was difficult, but many former slaves received their first formal schooling in such camps.
Emancipation from the top down: in the field
What to do with enslaved African Americans behind Union lines?
General John C. Frémont, Missouri, 1861
General David Hunter, South Carolina and Georgia, 1862
Emancipation from the top down: in Congress
The war stalemates First Confiscation Act (1861):
masters cannot reclaim slaves Second Confiscation Act (1862):
slaves of disloyal citizens “forever free”
Abolition of slavery in District of Columbia and U.S. territories
Emancipation from the top down: Lincoln
Transformation of war aims• Risks losing border states• Military necessity of emancipation
Emancipation Proclamation• Preliminary draft, September 1862
Emancipation from the top down: Lincoln
Transformation of war aims• Risks losing border states• Military necessity of emancipation
Emancipation Proclamation• Preliminary draft, September 1862• Goes into effect January 1, 1863• Declares slaves in Confederate lands
free
Emancipation Proclamation: effects
Transforms war from war for union to war against slavery
• Keeps Great Britain from allying with Confederacy
• Sets precedent for freedom• Enlists the enslaved in the Union war
effort
Recruitment of black soldiers
54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry (the “Glory” regiment)
1st South Carolina Volunteers 189,000 African Americans serve
in Union army and navy
The reconstruction of black labor
War aims transformed by necessity, not a change in attitudes
First priority after the war: sectional reconciliation
Lincoln’s plan for reconstruction
Under what conditions can former Confederate states re-enter the Union?
“10% plan” (December 1863)• “Proclamation of Amnesty and
Reconstruction”• 10% of population must swear oath of
loyalty to Union• Must ratify 13th Amendment abolishing
slavery• Freedpeople: ??
The “Port Royal Experiment”
South Carolina Sea Islands, 1861 Experiment in “free labor” Abolitionists, missionaries and
philanthropists “Gideon’s Band”: James Miller
McKim, Edward S. Phillsbrick
What they wanted
The freedpeople: Subsistence
crops Production for
local exchange networks
Work in families on own land
The planters: Cotton Production for
international capitalist economy
Work in gangs for share of crop
The labor negotiation
Freedpeople vs. planters Bureau of Freedmen, Refugees,
and Abandoned Lands (“Freedmen’s Bureau”)
The labor negotiation
Freedpeople vs. planters Bureau of Freedmen, Refugees,
and Abandoned Lands (“Freedmen’s Bureau”)
The result = sharecropping• local credit monopolies• collusion with local white officials
Presidential Reconstruction (1865-67)
Andrew Johnson succeeds Lincoln (April 1865)
Lenient terms for Confederate re-entry into Union
Many former Confederates admitted to office
Black Codes
Black Codes
Strict controls over terms of labor Vagrancy laws kept freedpeople a
docile, immobile labor force Denial of basic civil rights Violation of free market principles Race riots during Presidential
Reconstruction:• Memphis, TN (1866)• New Orleans, LA (1866)
Radical Republicans respond
“Radical” Republicans: pre-war abolitionists and antislavers now in Congress
Rep. Thaddeus Stevens; Sen. Charles Sumner
Radical Republicans respond
“Radical” Republicans: pre-war abolitionists and antislavers now in Congress
Rep. Thaddeus Stevens; Sen. Charles Sumner
Impeachment of Andrew Johnson, 1868
Congressional Reconstruction (1867-77)
a.k.a. “Radical” or “Military” Reconstruction
Reconstruction Act of 1867 All former Confederate states removed
from Union (except Tennessee) Former Confederacy placed under
military rule
Congressional Reconstruction (1867-77)
a.k.a. “Radical” or “Military” Reconstruction Reconstruction Act of 1867 All former Confederate states removed from
Union (except Tennessee) Former Confederacy placed under military
rule New conditions for re-entry of states into
Union:• New state constitutions• Enfranchisement of African-American men• Ratification of 14th Amendment (guarantees blacks
citizenship)
Why black enfranchisement?
Conservative constitutional foundations States’ rights federalism: highly
proscribed role for federal government in local matters
Protection of black rights required federal intervention
Enfranchisement = blacks can use the vote to protect themselves
Distasteful federal intervention minimized
Robert Smalls, former slave, war hero, Congressman from South Carolina
J.R. Rainey of South Carolina,
an antebellum
free African
American
Hiram Revels occupied the Mississippi Senate seat once held by Jefferson
Jonathan Jasper Wright, 1st black state supreme court justice (South Carolina)
The Radical state governments
Blacks hold office in most states Free schools, social institutions,
internal improvements All southern states fall out of
Republican hands by 1877
The failure of Radical Reconstruction
Internal divisions within local Republican machines
• “Carpetbaggers” vs. “scalawags”• Among African Americans themselves
Loss of crucial “swing” vote of southern whites
• New social costs borne by all
The key: racial violence
The failure of Radical Reconstruction
White supremacist paramilitary organizations
• Knights of the White Camilla• White League• Invisible Knights of the Ku Klux Klan
The failure of Radical Reconstruction
White supremacist paramilitary organizations
• Knights of the White Camilla• White League• Invisible Knights of the Ku Klux Klan
Function as• Military wing of Democratic Party• Agents of labor and racial control
The failure of Radical Reconstruction
White supremacist paramilitary organizations• Knights of the White Camilla• White League• Invisible Knights of the Ku Klux Klan
Function as• Military wing of Democratic Party• Agents of labor and racial control
Consequences:• Force necessity of distasteful federal intervention in
local affairs• Northern support for Reconstruction wanes• Crucial southern white “swing” vote turns against
Republicans
Alternatives to federal intervention
Give freedmen role in local self-government
14th Amendment (1868): guarantees black citizenship
15th Amendment (1870): secures suffrage for black men
Civil Rights Act of 1875: prohibits discrimination in public places (later declared unconstitutional)
The end of Reconstruction
Republican state governments fall to the Democrats
1876 Presidential Election:• Contested electoral vote in Louisiana
and Florida• Rutherford B. Hayes (Republican) vs.
Samuel J. Tilden (Democrat)
Rutherford B. Hayes (Republican)
Samuel J. Tilden (Democrat)
The contenders in the 1876 Presidential Election
The end of Reconstruction
Republican state governments fall to the Democrats
1876 Presidential Election:• Contested electoral vote in Louisiana and Florida• Rutherford B. Hayes (Republican) vs. Samuel J.
Tilden (Democrat)
– “Compromise of 1877"• In exchange for White House, Republicans leave
South to its own devices• Republican Party ceases to advocate for black
rights
Conclusion: Who freed the slaves?
What was the sine qua non of black freedom?
African Americans struggled to create their own lives in freedom
The letter of the law insufficient to guarantee black freedom
Emancipation and enfranchisement the products of expedience, not enlightenment
An important precedent for biracial democracy