| Southern Governments and African Americans in Politics, Education, and the Economy (1865-1870) |
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Sections:- Early Reconstruction: The Black Codes and the Radical Republican Response
- African Americans in Politics
- African Americans and the Economy
- African Americans and Education
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| Historical Context
The Civil War was nearing an end with a Union victory just within reach. The fates of African Americans appeared to be improving while at the same time the Southern state governments that had so adamantly fought for both succession and slavery were forced to comply with the federal government's laws. The abolition of slavery, declared by the Thirteenth Amendment of the Constitution, was not readily accepted by all, particularly the state governments of the south. Attached Documents
Coupled with this discontent was the general dissatisfaction with the emergence of the Freedmen's Bureau Bill, created just before the end of the Civil War in March of 1865. Passed by the Republican Congress, the Freedmen's Bureau Act established a bureau to protect the rights and privileges of African American citizens. The bill was not largely supported by southern democrats, yet the Radical Republican House was victorious. Provided below is link to the full text of the act.
Dissatisfied with the new freedoms enjoyed by African Americans, several southern state legislatures passed their own laws which served to limit the rights afforded to African Americans by federal legislation. Coined "Black Codes", these laws were widely accepted in the South. Provided below is an example of the legislation. The Black Codes below are from Mississippi and were clearly meant to undermine the Thirteenth Amendment. Within the Black Code comes the basis for the legality in Mississippi for indentured servants; provided by law is the statute for orphans, or the children of neglectful parents to be cared for by "those suitable". These people, presumably white land-owners were to clothe, house, and feed the children in exchange for work until the age of eighteen for boys and twenty-one for females. Also included in Mississippi's Black Codes is the declaration that African Americans were not allowed to own firearms as well as the implementation of convict labor for those African Americans believed to be vagrants. Provided below is a photograph depicting a group of so-called vagrants assigned by the courts to convict labor.
Far from the only state with Black Codes, Mississippi is often remembered as having some of the harshest. Texas also enacted a series of legislation aimed at placing African Americans in positions of subordination. The following document is a petition by one William Dickerson in which he wishes to take charge of one Lucinda Dickerson, a supposedly parent-less child who had wandered onto his property. Dickerson's request is for eighteen years. The petition is an excellent example of the lengths to which some southerners, and indeed southern governments, were willing to go to keep African Americans from achieving freedom and independence. It should be noted that shortly after the petition was made, it was granted, under the condition that Dickerson pay a sum of $200 to the state.
Outraged by the southern states' refusal to grant legal freedoms to the African American population, the Radical Republicans of the North began to act in kind. In early March of 1866, the Senate attempted to extend the Freedmen's Bureau Bill in order to expand it's influence. In March of 1866, Andrew Johnson vetoed the bill, indicating that he felt it unconstitutional. Johnson's move came as a shock and lent credence to suspicions concerning the President's willingness to treat fairly the African American citizenry. Below is a link to Johnson's veto message.
Issuing the Civil Rights Act of 1866 in March, the Republicans were fighting back against the Southern states. The Civil Rights Act called for complete equality for African Americans, which would essentially undermine the southern state's Black Codes. While positive in scope, the Civil Rights Act of 1866 was somewhat vague and not nearly as descriptive as the southern state legislation it wished to combat. In the following months the Fourteenth Amendment was also added to the Constitution, promising further the equal rights of African American citizens. The Act also served to limit southern representation in Congress. As was to be expected, the Act and the Fourteenth Amendment received little support from the southern states and were viewed as unrealistic and unfair.
The final document was printed in Debow's Review, a journal which concentrated on the south in November of 1867. The editorial asserts that the northern, Radical Republicans were incorrect in their assumptions that the southern governments were treating the southern African Americans unfairly. To the contrary, the editor insists that the northerners would act in the same way if there were as many African Americans in the north as there were in the south. The economy of the south needs to be protected, laments the editor, and by limiting the rights of the African American population this is being accomplished. This editorial provides a glimpse into the mentality driving the southern state governments during the reconstruction.
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| Historical Context
The southern states were essentially forced into compliance with the Radical Republicans in the federal government with the first Reconstruction Act of 1867. This Act, passed despite presidential veto from Johnson, called for the military redistricting of the ten rogue southern states, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, Texas and Arkansas. The states would be under marshal law as dictated by the federal government and remain so until adequate state governments could be established that would recognize and respect the tenets of the Fourteenth Amendment. Most notably the Act gave African Americans the right to vote and participate in politics before the formal inclusion of the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution. Provided below is a link to the Reconstruction Act of 1867.
Attached Documents
The Reconstruction Act hoped for a radical transformation of the south, and for a time this seemed to have been the result. The ability to vote in local elections had a major impact on Reconstruction politics in the south, and republicans began to make headway in southern state governments. The inclusion of the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution only cemented the notion of suffrage, making the African American right to vote a constitutionally binding right.
The following years saw the emergence of African Americans on the political scene. Because of the large African American population in the south, African Americans were actually the majority in many towns and cities. As a result, many African Americans were elected to political office. Local politics from sheriff and mayoral races to state senate and gubernatorial races included African American candidates. While each office holder is no doubt important in their own right, the following section will highlight some of the better known African American office holders during Reconstruction.
Hiram Revels served in the Mississippi State Senate from 1869-1870. In 1870, despite heavy criticism and debate among the Mississippi democrats, Revels was elected to represent his state in the U.S. Senate, becoming the first African American elected. Below is a photograph of Hiram Revels. Interestingly, Revels filled the seat once held by Jefferson Davis, the former president of the Confederate States of America. The cartoon depicted below was released shortly after Revels victory in the Senate and depicts a jealous and suspicious Davis lamenting over his lost seat. The New York Times article provided below dated February 25, 1870 outlines the very nature exhibited by Revels throughout his political career; calm, confident and strong, Revels refused to be shaken amidst the criticism slung at him and African Americans in general as a result of his election. The same unwavering assurance was characteristic of Revels political career.
Also residing in the state of Mississippi was John R. Lynch, the first African American Speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives. Elected to the Mississippi House in 1869, Lynch had to endure much to obtain the Speaker position. Provided below is an excerpt from a book written by Lynch himself, "Facts of Reconstruction", published in 1913. The chapter provided outlines Lynch's struggle for his seat, as well as a brief description of the important legislation passed during his term. Lynch went on the represent his district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1873-1877.
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| Historical Context
The years of Reconstruction ushered in an entirely new economic system for America. The slave-based economy the states were dependent on prior to the Civil War was no longer, forcing the local and national economies to adjust. The new system was seen as potentially advantageous to African Americans, but as will be displayed, this was not often the case; new, legalized forms of subordination began to take shape in the wake of the Civil War.
Sharecropping was one such way in which white land-owners were able to continue the subjugation of African Americans. Sharecropping was a common arrangement during Reconstruction and involves, in theory, a land-owner and a plantation, or agricultural worker sharing profits in exchange for labor. Typically this meant the land-owner was to provide housing, food, and agricultural assistance (equipment, seeds, etc.) in exchange for the worker's services. The worker in turn lives on the land and receives a share of the crop. In practice, however, white land-owners often exploited their African American workers, providing poor housing, forcing extremely long work days, and offering few crops in exchange for labor. As a result, the workers tended to become quite indebted to the land-owners, entering into what was more of indentured servitude than a mutually beneficial work agreement.
Attached Documents
Provided below is a photograph of a sharecropping family captured during Reconstruction.
The following documents are actual sharecropping contracts. The contracts display both the legally binding nature of sharecropping, as well as the subordinated state of the African American workers. While appearing fair at first glance, the contracts acually display the rather unjust nature of the contracts; in actuality the land-owners benefit largely from the deals.
While surely unfair for African Americans, southern plantation owners also found their returns not nearly as profitable as pre-Civil War times. The general consensus was that the African American freedom was largely to blame; because they were no longer forced to work, it was more difficult for the land-owners to secure employment. As a result, southern land-owners lashed out at African Americans and the white politicians who supported their rights. The following article from Debow's Review entitled "Department of Commerce: Cotton and the Cotton Trade" outlines the general southern sentiment toward African Americans and the perceived threat their new freedoms have posed on the agricultural economy of the south.
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| Historical Context
One of the most important functions of the aforementioned Freedmen's Bureau was in the realm of education. The Bureau contributed money to establish schools, as well as holding conventions that provided for the sharing of ideas and information in order to better the lot of African Americans in education. The majority of African Americans were very eager to begin their formal educations; as a result of the Freedmen's Bureau and the subsequent amendments and legislation, more than 90,000 former slaves were said to have enrolled in public schools. Attached Documents
Provided below is an educational constitution devised at the Freedmen's Convention in North Carolina in 1866. The Constitution calls for more attention and focus to be placed on African American education and displays the attitude of African Americans toward education during the Reconstruction years.
Freedmen's schools, or schools exclusively for former African Americans slaves sprung up all over the south as a result of the work of the Freedmen's Bureau. Unfortunately, sparse record-keeping makes it rather difficult to obtain exact figures of the amount of Freedmen schools in the south. The following letter from the Superintendent of Colored Schools to the President of the Board of Education for the city of Memphis tracks the progress of these Freedmen schools. The Superintendent notes with optimism the successes of the schools, yet points out the need for a more centralized school system, while noting the continued importance of higher education.
Influenced heavily by some of the most powerful voices of the time, Congress issued in 1867 an Act calling for the establishment of Howard University, a nonsectarian university for both sexes and all races. The school, financed by both the federal government and privately by one of its biggest proponents, Oliver Howard, was to be the first to offer freedmen a liberal arts education, as well as training in law, mathematics, and science. The following chart provides the legislative Act numbers, as well as the appropriations provided by the government for Howard University over the years. A picture of Howard University in 1869 is also provided.
Originally opening in 1865, Fisk University of Nashville became incorporated in 1867 in an effort to train African American teachers. With scarce funds available, the Fisk Jubilee Singers toured America, as well as internationally, with proceeds going to the University.
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