Phuong Van
On January 16, 1865,
Union general William T. Sherman issued his Special Field Order No. 15, setting
aside the Sea Islands and a track of land along the Southern Coast of
Charleston for the exclusive settlement of Blacks. Each family would receive
“40 acres and a mule” to work the land and Gen. Rufus Saxton was assigned by
Sherman to implement the Order. In prior to any formal, governmental policy on
reconstruction, General William T. Sherman created his own land redistribution
policy.
Sherman would go on to allow Freedmen use of army mules that were no longer fit for army service; the basic for many Freedmen’s hopes and poor White’s demands later in reconstruction. Shortly after Sherman’s order was issued, the former slaves believed that this was their land now, their to keep. Congress had also established the Bureau of Refugees, Freedman and Abandoned Lands (the Freedman’s Bureau); “tens of thousands of troops remained in the South as an occupation force until civil government could be restored.” The Freemen’s Bureau created by Congress became the principal agency order for former slaver and owners. “Staffed by army officers,” the bureau serviced the South by supervising “free-labor wage” for landowners and freedpeople; the Freedmen’s Bureau also “issued food ration to 1500,000 people dairy during 1865, one-third of them to whites; some whites privately admitted.” Whatever his intentions, by Jun of 1865 over 40,000 Freedmen had settled in the sea Island area, the bureau had the authority to give forty acres plots of abandoned and confiscated land to Freeman and southern while refugees who had been loyal to the Union. In addition, the man in charge of the Sea Islands as inspector of settlement and plantations, General Rufus Saxton, was a supporter of the Freedmen and he worked to make the program successful. Besides, in providing land for agriculture, community leaders worked to provide other resources. Under slavery it had been illegal to teach a slave to read. The Freedman demanded education and schools were established throughout the Island. Black and White educator came from all over the nation to provide assistance. But the policy of land redistribution never met with full support in Congress. Some argued for a “hands off” approach to the freedmen; others insisted that it would be unfair to abandon the Freedmen to their former masters without the economic base they would need to become independent citizens. Thousands of former slaves had followed his army as it cut through Georgia, and he could not afford the diversion of resources to provide for them as he moved in to cradle of secession. The freedom and woman, on the other hand, came to the table with clear sense that they had already earned the land with their labors as slaves-the profit they produced had been stolen from them, and so they had already paid for the land many times over. Congress created the Freedmen’s Bureau as temporary compromise measure which would aid freedmen and women in the immediate transition to freedom, but prevent any long-term dependency. Even so, between Sherman’s Special Field Order and the creation of the Freedmen’s Bureau; the former slaves on the Sea Islands believed that they had secured the land they needed. However, Freedpeople who held land under Sherman’s Special Field Order No.15 never had secure title. In Summer and Fall of 1865, “President Johnson’s Amnesty Proclamation and his wholesale issuance of pardons restored most of this property to pardoned ex-confederates. The same thing happened to white-owned land elsewhere in south.” In September 1856, Johnson issued a policy returning the majority of the seized land to its original owners. So the Sherman’s Order just exited the dream of Negro farmers in a short-lived promise for them; it also was a basic plan for land redistribution in the South later.
Sherman would go on to allow Freedmen use of army mules that were no longer fit for army service; the basic for many Freedmen’s hopes and poor White’s demands later in reconstruction. Shortly after Sherman’s order was issued, the former slaves believed that this was their land now, their to keep. Congress had also established the Bureau of Refugees, Freedman and Abandoned Lands (the Freedman’s Bureau); “tens of thousands of troops remained in the South as an occupation force until civil government could be restored.” The Freemen’s Bureau created by Congress became the principal agency order for former slaver and owners. “Staffed by army officers,” the bureau serviced the South by supervising “free-labor wage” for landowners and freedpeople; the Freedmen’s Bureau also “issued food ration to 1500,000 people dairy during 1865, one-third of them to whites; some whites privately admitted.” Whatever his intentions, by Jun of 1865 over 40,000 Freedmen had settled in the sea Island area, the bureau had the authority to give forty acres plots of abandoned and confiscated land to Freeman and southern while refugees who had been loyal to the Union. In addition, the man in charge of the Sea Islands as inspector of settlement and plantations, General Rufus Saxton, was a supporter of the Freedmen and he worked to make the program successful. Besides, in providing land for agriculture, community leaders worked to provide other resources. Under slavery it had been illegal to teach a slave to read. The Freedman demanded education and schools were established throughout the Island. Black and White educator came from all over the nation to provide assistance. But the policy of land redistribution never met with full support in Congress. Some argued for a “hands off” approach to the freedmen; others insisted that it would be unfair to abandon the Freedmen to their former masters without the economic base they would need to become independent citizens. Thousands of former slaves had followed his army as it cut through Georgia, and he could not afford the diversion of resources to provide for them as he moved in to cradle of secession. The freedom and woman, on the other hand, came to the table with clear sense that they had already earned the land with their labors as slaves-the profit they produced had been stolen from them, and so they had already paid for the land many times over. Congress created the Freedmen’s Bureau as temporary compromise measure which would aid freedmen and women in the immediate transition to freedom, but prevent any long-term dependency. Even so, between Sherman’s Special Field Order and the creation of the Freedmen’s Bureau; the former slaves on the Sea Islands believed that they had secured the land they needed. However, Freedpeople who held land under Sherman’s Special Field Order No.15 never had secure title. In Summer and Fall of 1865, “President Johnson’s Amnesty Proclamation and his wholesale issuance of pardons restored most of this property to pardoned ex-confederates. The same thing happened to white-owned land elsewhere in south.” In September 1856, Johnson issued a policy returning the majority of the seized land to its original owners. So the Sherman’s Order just exited the dream of Negro farmers in a short-lived promise for them; it also was a basic plan for land redistribution in the South later.
Phuong Van
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