All right, hello everyone and welcome to week four. So for this week we are jumping into the Civil War and the Reconstruction era now that we are basically up to date with everything. So for weeks one through three we look at defining racism, parsing out those terms, making sure we meant what they knew, right, and what they are and when they take place because that is going to be very important to this history. You can certainly... apply it now to the contemporary time, right?
But you want to make sure that you understand what those terms mean and how they are applied and when they like take place, right? So when we talk about institutional racism, you should know what that is and what that looks like now, because that's definitely going to be important as we move through today and also moving forward, especially when we talk about the Freedmen's Bureau. Then for week number two, we took, I'm sorry, racism was week number two. Week number one was a syllabus walkthrough so that you have the expectations of the course.
You know what the course is about, what assignments, etc. Right? Then week two, we talked about the meaning and impact of racism. Then week three, which was this previous week, we talked about the origins of slavery, how slavery came about, what were the different punishments and violences of slavery that were visited.
We talked about their is no difference, right, between those who were enslaved and worked in the home and were forced to work in the field, right? They were subject to the same methods of violence, right? So it's important now that we have these three weeks down that we can now transition and move into getting into the history of the moment that we are in. So again, we're going to look at the Civil War, we're going to look at the Reconstruction Era.
And certainly the way this particular lecture started, the video clip that you had there gives you a little bit of a glimpse. It's a dramatization, but nonetheless, it gives you an idea of what it was like to be on the front lines of the Civil War. Particularly, you see Black men with the Union troops that are fighting against the Confederacy.
By the way, that did not happen right away. We will talk about that today. But nonetheless, it does give you a dramatization. It gives you an idea.
of what it meant to be on the front lines of the Civil War, but we will talk about some of the politics behind it today, right? So with that being stated, let me go ahead and share my screen so that way we can get underway and get into this week's lecture, right? So let me hit share screen here and then, okay, screen two.
Wonderful. And then let's begin our PowerPoint here. All right.
There we are. OK, so we are going to go ahead and begin by talking about the Civil War, how it came about, its importance in different things of that sort, which connects to this week's discussion by the way. Right.
So the first thing that we should know about the Civil War is that the election of. Abraham Lincoln was strongly contested. Lincoln was elected, you all, to the White House without Southern support, right?
And what was happening in the United States at this time that you all should understand is that there were abolitionists up North, and this does not mean that the North was free of racism, right? We will talk about that in just a bit. But there were abolitionists who were pushing on the United States specifically. the seat of the presidency, right, which represents the executive, right? You have the official, the legislative, and the executive, and you had abolitionists, meaning those persons who were against slavery, pressing against the, really pressing against the executive or the presidential arm of the government, as well as the legislative arm of the government, meaning the House of Congress, the Senate, and the House of Representatives.
And so the United States was in. increasingly becoming divided on this subject of slavery, right? And what's important is, is that the Republican Party at this time was pushing for the end of slavery, right?
They wanted it over. Now, let's be clear. The Republican Party of the 1800s, you all, is not the same GOP or Republican Party of today, right?
We're talking about two different parties, right? So just to be aware of... aware of the political scene at this point in time.
It is not the same ideals. It is not those same things whatsoever, right? So just to be clear on that.
So anyway, so Abraham Lincoln is elected as president in 1860, right? And Lincoln's chief goal, his main thing during this time in 1860, because you have to keep in mind the United States. is falling apart over this idea of slavery. But what else is going on, and we talked about this last week and why this is important, is because what enslavement produced was it placed the United States in international commerce.
So the problem was, and this is another connection between race and capitalism, right? So the problem was, was that if we end slavery, this means something for the economy. economy of the United States, both on the domestic local level and on the international level as well, right? So there was great concern over that, right? But nonetheless, Lincoln's whole jump off, his whole MO was to keep the United States together no matter what.
Now, the problem with this is that those in the South did not agree. with Abraham Lincoln. They did not want him as president at all. And what happens is that the South begins to see from the union, meaning from the United States, because they could not get a hard yes or no from Abraham Lincoln, right?
He played the middle of the road on this. They could not get a hard yes or no out of him about, do you support slavery? Will you end slavery?
And Lincoln is like, look, dude, neither. I don't care. My chief goal is to keep the United States together. And that is a dangerous place to be, right?
Because here you have Northern folks saying, and Northern abolitionists, and there are Black abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass, which we will talk about in just a bit, who are saying slavery needs to end. And then you have the South who say, our whole entire economy, our regional agricultural. uh well our regional economy is based on agricultural goods whereas the south was advancing in the industrial so you even have competing economies within the us at this particular point in time which is why the south is like hey can't get rid of slavery because we want free labor and we're not going to get out there in the fields and work ourselves we're going to make those whom we have enslaved from the west coast of africa do it and we will keep our economy up because We don't want to go the industrial route, right? This is the conversation. Abraham Lincoln is caught up in it.
He's like, look, neither. I just want to keep the United States together. And the South says, fine.
And the state that leads the charge against leaving the United States is South Carolina. They left the United States on November 10th of 1860. Now, not too soon after that, the Southern states within the United States held a convention. Right?
Now. When I say the southern states of the United States, I do need to visualize something for you all so that you can see. Hopefully you can see this. And this is what I mean by the southern United States, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, and Florida. These were the Confederate states, right?
And then you had your border states. where if you were in the wrong place at the wrong time, it was end of days for you. So you had to be able to move, right? And these are people who are making their way to freedom.
We talked about running away as a form of resistance, but those border states were Missouri, Kentucky, and West Virginia. As a matter of fact, there are pockets in Kentucky that have a very dense Black population, right? And then you see your union states that are listed here. And then, of course, we have some states that were just not established at that particular point in time. Right?
So this is what we mean by the Southern United States or the Confederacy versus the Union. The Union is in blue, the Confederacy is in red, and those states that are in between, where you had people that were either for or against slavery pretty much operating in the same space. Those states are right in the middle, as you can see there, and just about paint along the Mason-Dixon line, which cuts right through here, right, right here.
So when you hear folks say the Mason-Dixon line, That was the boundary between freedom and unfreedom, if you will, right? Or freedom and slavery, however you would like to say it. But just where you see the United States separated here, that's what that represented there, right?
Okay, so let's jump back into it. So with that being stated, the Southern United States held their first convention and they listed six reasons, and this is important, listed six reasons why they were leaving the United States. The first one was... Northern interference with slavery, right? Meaning that they were sending down abolitionists, right?
Their legislators were voting against slavery saying, you know, if we're going to be the United States, you know, no one should be enslaved. And let's keep in mind here that the North was not free of racism. We will get to that in just a bit.
So just because a population wanted you to be free doesn't necessarily mean that they want you next to them. That's a life lesson that'll take you a long way. Anyway, moving right along, right?
So that was the first problem, that the North's interference with slavery, that these legislators, that these politicians, that these abolitionists in the Northern might get rid of slavery, right? The second reason that the South ceded from the union that they cited in this convention was repeated Northern, the repetition of the North, in this particular case, church officials say that slavery was a sin because the South was also. Christian, right? Heavily Christian.
And then you had Northern preachers who were saying, well, if you are so-called Christians, then you can't believe in slavery and you are sinful. Well, and the South is still this way to this day. It is very much like a Bible belt, like just hand clapping, toe tapping, good time church, right?
It's still a heavily Christian, if you will, to this day. And so to the South, to be called sinful. by the North, no pun intended, was a sin for them.
That was a no-go for them, right? And this is one of the reasons that they listed, right? So you have the politicians and you have the preachers, right, that the South has a problem with. The third one was Northern support for abolitionism.
So the South was like, it's bad enough that you already have abolitionists, but then the Northern states are saying, we're cool with abolitionists. They're not even pushing back against abolitionists. They are not punishing. abolitionists.
Because if you were in the South, again, those states that I just showed you, if you were in the South and you were an abolitionist, it was lights out for you. But if you were in the North and you were an abolitionist, you had support, right? So that was another problem for the South. Then number four reason was Norther's aiding and abetting, excuse me, the escape of Southern fugitive enslaved persons, right? So this is what I meant here on this map by the Mason-Dixon line.
Right. And some of you may have heard of the Underground Railroad. We talked about it a little bit.
Certainly Harriet Tubman is a big figure on the Underground Railroad when people were making their way from the south to the north. And a problem of those in the south was not only did they say that the north was supporting abolitionists, but moreover, they were also aiding and abetting those who were escaping slavery to be free. Right.
This was a problem for the south. Because remember, down here. the economy is agricultural. Up here, it is industrial.
So the North is not depending on enslaved labor and the ways in which the South is depending on slave labor. And by the way, that's not to say that those who were enslaved, that there were no enslaved people in the North. There were, right?
There's nuance to this. But overall, Black folk were overwhelmingly free, right? If we can call it that once we made it to the North. Again, we'll talk about that more in depth, right? So that was reason number four, that Northerners were aiding and abetting the escape of Southern fugitive enslaved persons, right?
Because remember, the South counted those freed as what? Property. So just keep that in mind. So you have to make sure these weeks go together. Next, Northern promotion of insurrections by the enslaved through emissaries, books, and pictures.
In other words, not only were there abolitionists, right, but northern abolitionists were also sending down pamphlets to the South. It was like, yes, do an insurrection. Yes.
Kill if you have to get and be free. Right. So there was a lot that was coming down from the north.
It was basically you have to keep in mind, like sending a pamphlet from the north was the equivalent of running a commercial in today's time. Right. And the South was upset because these pamphlets and in some areas they call them tracks.
But these pamphlets and tracts were making pictures and all of these different things were making their way to the South. One of the things that provoked the South more than anything else is or were pictures of Abraham Lincoln. Right. The South could not take that at all. Right.
And so the more pictures that showed up in. in the South of Abraham Lincoln, that was a signal to those who were enslaved that, you know what, you should do whatever it is you need to be free to get up in these areas. As a matter of fact, here's a book recommendation.
You all know I'm always going to recommend you a book. There's a wonderful book by Stephanie M. H. Camp titled Closer to Freedom, Enslaved Women and Everyday Resistance in the Plantation South. And...
And in this particular book, again, the name of it is called Closer to Freedom, Enslaved Women in Everyday Resistance in the Plantation South. And in this book, she talks about like the posters that were sent from the north down to the south that had pictures of Abraham Lincoln on it, that had pictures of white and black people working together on it. And this made Southern leaders very upset.
Right. Because it was putting into the minds of those who were enslaved as if they didn't already have their first place. that they should escape and be free.
And their sixth reason, you guessed it, the election of Abraham Lincoln, right? So all of these six reasons put together, the South said, you know what, we're out. And South Carolina led that charge and they succeeded from the United States, right?
And as a result, by February 4th, 1861, Most southern states had ceded from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America, right? And its president was Jefferson Davis of Mississippi. Jefferson Davis was the first and the last president of the Confederate States of America.
And there was actually a constitution for the Confederate States of America, right? They drew up a constitution, and the constitution read very, very much like the constitution we have today. except for it basically, it said that Black folks should be and will be enslaved, right? Because remember, slavery was pumping the economy of the South at this point in time, as the North was more industrial, right? Moving on.
So here we go, on to Lincoln. Now, a thing that we have to acknowledge and recognize here about Lincoln is that Lincoln did not support the abolition of slavery outright. He didn't. Remember, his chief goal. was to keep the union together, right?
He made this clear in his letter to Horace Greeley. He also made it clear in his 1861 inaugural address when he said, quote, I have no purpose directly or indirectly to interfere with the institutional slavery in the states where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so. So not only did he put it in writing, in terms of in the newspaper with Horace Greeley, but he also stated this in his inaugural address. So Lincoln's whole thing was basically like, where slavery is, keep it there.
And where it isn't, don't start it. I'm fine with everybody. Let's keep everything together, however.
Right. This was his position. Right. So along with this position, Abraham Lincoln also strongly believed that no state had the right to see from the United States that every state should be a part of the United States.
So in South Carolina and the rest of the southern United States that became the Confederacy separated from the United States, Lincoln said, you know what? I got something for that. And what he does is that he sends supplies down to Fort Sumter in South Carolina. Right.
And he stops them up with everything, with cannons, with guns, with all of these things. What was this? This was a show of force.
This is a very this is very much a tactic that is still used in, quote unquote, diplomacy efforts of the United States today. You do a show of force. it gets people to back down, right?
So that is a tactic as old as time. So what Lincoln does is he says, all this weaponry down to Fort Sumter in South Carolina to show the United States force and that if we have to ruin certain places in the South to bring you back to the United States, we're willing to do that. Well, there was a problem with that. The South...
did not take kindly to that. Specifically, South Carolina did not take kindly to that. You remember that South Carolina was the first state to leave the United States.
So you know they weren't trying to hear, right? So South Carolina on April 12th, 1861 said, we got something for that too, Lincoln. And what happens is that they pull forces together.
the Confederacy, they pull the force together and they attack Union troops on Fort Sumter. This marks the opening of the Civil War. Why?
Because the Union troops lose to the Confederate troops, right? So given the fact that the Confederacy won, what happens is that Lincoln sends 75,000 Union troops or militia to Fort Sumter. and it pops off.
And that's how you get the scene from, that's how you get that opening scene that we had for today's lecture, and it being the Civil War, right? Okay, so let's move on. Let's talk about some of these politics on the battlefield. So now we're in the Civil War, right? Both sides are going back and forth.
There is death happening for this idea of maintaining slavery, right? Being able to maintain... states rights which comes about in this era we'll talk about that in just a bit so this now this language of states rights etc that we hear in contemporary time it comes from this era from the reconstruction era and we'll get into that in a bit but let's talk about some of these politics on the field right so firstly in the union troops this is what i meant by the north was not free of racism because what you have to keep in mind is that as the civil war is going down folks are escaping southern regions and territory and fleeing um to the north so they're coming from the south fleeing to the North and they're staying in camps in the North, but those camps are strategically positioned because Northern folk do not want Black folk necessarily in their space.
They do think that Black folks should be free, but just not in my neighborhood. Does that sound familiar? Stay over there.
Don't come over here, right? So you should be able to connect the dots, right? So in any case, Black men, because women were not able to be in the military at all at this point in time.
However, there's an exception to this because Harriet Tubman, who worked the Underground Railroad, was very instrumental in the Civil War in pointing Union troops to the right place. Why? Because she walked through the woods. She did all of that. So she knew that because that's where the Underground Railroad ran, right, that ushered enslaved Black folks to freedom.
So she knew, OK, if you go by this tree, if you go this way, then you can remain undetected. And this house has this. She had all the intel.
Those who were on this, you cannot underestimate, you cannot understate this at all, you all. This is a big deal. Those who operated the Underground Railroad were so important to Union success in the Civil War, because Union troops did not know the geography in the territory of the South like those who were enslaved did.
So even though they did not want them to fight in the battle with them, guess what they needed? They needed the knowledge of those who were enslaved and those who worked the Underground Railroad to give people freedom. Because they need to know, how do we get to these places undetected?
Which houses are important? Once we access those houses, are there weapons that we can access? Are there weapons that we should be aware of? And who had that information? Those who worked the fields during slavery.
Those who worked inside the plantation home during slavery. And those who ran the Underground Railroad. Black people are incredibly important to facilitating the moment of freedom vis-a-vis the Civil War at this particular point in time.
All right, so moving on. Back to politics on the battlefield. So...
Black men were not welcomed in the service, both in the North and the South, right? And a union officer, and this is a historical document that we had, is quoted as saying, quote, we want you damn niggers to stay out of this. This is a white man's war.
That is a direct quote from a white union troop during this time. So fighting for freedom, everybody should be free, but we don't want you near us, right? This is this idea of segregation that is happening.
Free, but segregated. Right. It doesn't just happen in 1954 with the Brown versus Board of Education ruling where they get rid of a separate and equal. Right.
But it comes out of this moment. And I cannot stress that enough. You know, folks talk about the North as being a free space and that's all well and fine. But what you have to keep in mind is that the North was not necessarily a welcoming space.
And although they agreed that black folks should be free. Right. And that the United States should be together. They say you can be free. but you need to be free over there, right?
That was pretty much their position. So interestingly enough, despite this, Black people in the North and abolitionists continue to press on Lincoln that folks should be free. Now, keep in mind, we are in the moment of the Civil War, you all.
1861, it is popping off. The Civil War lasts for four years, 1861 to 1865. So the Civil War is popping off over slavery. popping off over the fact that southern states left the united states right both both are reasons right and both are couched in this economic argument right so this is a both-in argument not necessarily either or so abolitionists and black folk who make freedom are still pushing on lincoln and you know what lincoln is still saying as the war is going down as people are dying he's saying nope i'm good i said what i said that's his whole position you know he's saying you don't pay I still believe where slavery exists, it should be, and where it doesn't exist, it should not start.
I'm not going to take anyone's side as he's watching the country of blames, right? So as things go on, Lincoln's like, what might I do to maybe, you know, settle this up so we can go ahead and end this? And one of his first proposals is, I know I should offer to pay those folks. who are willing to emancipate those they enslaved, right?
But I'm going to leave it up to each state what they want to do. This is the beginning of states'rights. So Lincoln makes federal money available. Hey, hey, hey, if you want to free those whom you've enslaved, the federal government will pay you for those whom you enslaved, but it's up to you as a state, right?
Here's the thing. No Southern state participates. You want to know why?
Because the funding was not recurring. It was only a one time payment. But when you enslave someone, it was naturally reoccurring.
Not only would you get labor right for free, they also had children. Those children would be. So it became perpetual. And income became what? Guaranteed.
Right. So they said no to Lincoln's proposal and no to the fact that, you know. you know states rights yeah whatever but we're saying no right now what happens is the district of columbia eventually participated right and they played and they paid excuse me each plantation master three hundred dollars per enslaved person and they paid the enslaved persons one hundred dollars peep game y'all this this is too much they paid those that were enslaved one hundred dollars if and only if they will leave the country and go to Haiti, Liberia, or another country. Nearly 3,000 people took y'all, right?
Now, the first problem with this is the fact that those who were actually enslaved, who endured the beatings, who endured the many forms of violence, were only given $100. But that $100 was contingent upon them leaving the United States. That's deep, you all. And that if you said, well, I'm not leaving the United States, my family has tilled the soil here.
families very keep in mind y'all at this point in time slavery had been going on for over 200 years slavery begins in the 1500s y'all you know some people say 1619 no no it began in the 1500s right um even if even if it still began in 1619 we're in 1861 at this point in time right that's a long time And so some people like, no, I have generations of my family that's here. I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to stay here just like anybody else.
I don't care how much money you give me. I can't be bought. Right. Versus now others were like, you know what? I don't care how much you give me.
Give me up out this country. Yes, I will go. Goodbye.
Right. I've been waiting for this moment. And the thing about this is both answers are correct. Both answers are correct. Those who were enslaved had a right to stay and say, you know, I know my mother, my grandmother, my great grandmother, et cetera.
work on this land um you know they they they put in their labor i'm going to stay here because this is my inheritance and i'm not moving because we have sacrificed here and we've worked here that's a valid argument another argument is hell yeah give me up out of here right both arguments can be true and so anyway dc participates um and you know again those who uh the plantation masters receive three hundred dollars per person and what's interesting to this you date is Washington, D.C. is still not recognized as a state and they do not have any representation in the House of Representatives. Some might ask, why? Particularly looking at this history, one might keep that in mind.
As a matter of fact, those of you who visited Washington, D.C., you will see that the District of Columbia's license plate says taxation without representation because they are taxed, but they have no federal representation in the House of Representatives or within the Senate. And the person that does represent Washington, D.C., it is a honorary position. They have no voting or signing power, nor do they serve on committees. That's pretty deep, being the fact that they were the only area that agreed to free those whom they enslaved. Of course, they were paid for them.
But nonetheless, there's a history and legacy here. Right. So moving on. As the war waged on, northern spaces grew crowded with enslaved persons from the south escaping to Union lines of the north.
Again, I talked about this earlier. Right. how those persons as they escaped from the North found their way to Union lines, that this was a lot of Black folk, y'all.
This wasn't just like maybe 800 people. This was like millions of people hitting it North. Camps became overcrowded. That placed a demand on goods, resources, food, all of these things, sanitary conditions, et cetera, right?
What this did in return, this forced the North, i.e. the Union, to decide. oh lord what is the status of black folk what we gonna do because remember they they agreed that black folks should be free but they just don't want them around them and what the north settles on here we go this is what i mean what the union settles on is that they say that those who have been freed and have escaped the freedom are considered confiscated confederate property not persons property and what this does is this re-inscribes you this idea of subjection, right, of belittlement. And Black people become aware immediately that, well, damn, we escaped slavery to run into this? What is going on here? We're not even welcomed here, right?
And so what, again, what is happening, even as it's happening, is they are still pressing Lincoln for freedom. But there starts to be a problem. And the problem in this is that the world is paying attention. And the part of the world that's paying attention is one of the United States allies, Great Britain. Even though Great Britain is slave folks, they had already gotten rid of slavery at this point in time.
And they are very much an anti-slavery nation at this point in time. And it becomes a problem. So not only is there a domestic conversation, there's an international conversation about...
How can you be this great democracy even then? How can you be this great democracy and you enslaving people? But nobody else is doing that anymore, right? That's important.
So this comes to be an embarrassment on the world stage for the United States. And the Civil War definitely becomes about slavery at this point in time. And Lincoln realizes, if I'm going to take down the Confederacy, I'm going to need more troops. Who does he call on?
He calls on Black folk who were previously enslaved. Not only because they knew the geography. But by pulling on those persons, he has a numbers advantage.
And after the win in Antietam Creek in Maryland, Antietam, excuse me, Antietam Creek in Maryland, Lincoln eventually issues the Emancipation Proclamation. What I want you to understand here is that Lincoln had to be poked and prodded to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. This is not something he did out of the goodness of his heart. Like, oh, I just want to free those who are enslaved and I just want to do the right thing.
thing. That's not how that works, right? That's not how that worked at all. He had to be poked and prodded to do so.
So he writes the Emancipation Proclamation, right? The Proclamation releases those enslaved from slavery and allow Black men into the Union military. So the Emancipation Proclamation is a utilitarian document. It wasn't necessarily about freeing those who were enslaved.
It was about giving those who were enslaved a different designation of the other than confiscated Confederate property, to now free men so that they can do what? Serve in the Union military. Freedom wasn't going to come via the Emancipation Proclamation, or the Emancipation Proclamation itself wasn't going to come any other way.
Excuse me. Lincoln saw it as a utilitarian tool. If I do this, then this. So the Emancipation Proclamation was used to change the status again. of those who were enslaved from a confiscated confederate property to freedmen so that they could serve formally in the union military and this is eventually how the civil war is won right so moving right along so we have to end the war uh january 16 1865 general sherman issues special order number uh 15 the civil war is one of course general sherman rise to the south some of you may be familiar with this history lights everything up, right?
More specifically, Atlanta. And what happens is this is where the 40 acres in a mule comes from. So the special order of field 15 granted all confiscated and abandoned Confederate land to formerly enslaved persons.
Each head of household could receive up to 40 acres and a few freed people received army mules to help work their land. Of course, these were overwhelmingly... men because gender politics was still in place at this particular point in time as it is today right but this is where the 40 acres in a mule come from comes from it comes from special order phil 15 uh special order excuse me special field order 15 that was given by general sherman um that all confiscated in abandoned confederate land had to be redistributed to enslaved persons so they could jump start their life right then in march of 1865 you The U.S. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen in Abandoned Lands, also known as the Freedmen's Bureau. Take note of that. The Freedmen's Bureau is established.
Oliver Otis Howard, for which Howard University in Washington, D.C. is named for, a union general, was appointed as a commissioner. And the Freedmen's Bureau starts.
Now, a book that I want to point, refer to you all here is Freed Women in the Freedmen's Bureau, Race, Gender, Public Policy in the. Age of Emancipation. I'm not sure if you can see it here on the small screen, but it's a wonderful book to read about the Freedmen's Bureau because the Freedmen's Bureau was all about providing services to those who were enslaved, right? They married folks, they reunited families, but they were also the place of disputes, right?
Divorces, et cetera. Life was real during this time, getting bank accounts established, but also during this time, you had folks that were from the South that needed a job, so they were in the banks, but they were taking the money of those who were freed. who were previously enslaved from the Freedmen Bureau's bank, right, which Frederick Douglass eventually takes over toward his end, right, to help eliminate these things. So a lot of things is happening in the Freedmen's Bureau at this time. It's not just there for decoration.
It is literally to help facilitate the process of freedom itself and to onboard Black people economically, socially, politically, etc. And you can read about some of the work of the Freedmen's Bureau, but specifically how... freed women, i.e. black women, navigated the Freedmen's Bureau in this book, Freed Women in the Freedmen's Bureau, right?
Now, here's where we get Juneteenth from. Those in Texas did not receive news of the Emancipation Proclamation. until June 19, 1865. Once word was received, Black folks leave the plantation and from there, right? Now, from before the Reconstruction era like swings in or as it's swinging in, I should say, the legislative branch of the United States does a few things and they are called the Reconstruction Amendment and they passed the 13th Amendment.
which is abolishing its slavery, except as punishment for a crime, right? And we will talk about that very soon. The 14th Amendment, which had to deal with citizenship and abolishing the three-fifths compromise in due process of law.
Because you will remember, for those of you who have taken politics or intro to government, is that Black folks who were enslaved were counted as three-fifths of a person for the sake of the House of Representatives. So the 14th Amendment did away with that and applied due process of law. In other words, Black folks get the same rights, but we see how that played out.
And it also granted citizenship, right? Or naturalization, as they call it. And then there was the 15th Amendment, and this was the right to vote what could not be refused on the basis of race or a previous condition of servitude. Obviously, who this did not apply to was women. It had to do with race and previous conditional servitude.
And this would spur on the women's rights movement by the way. But these were the Reconstruction Amendments. The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the United States Constitution.
Again, 13th Amendment getting rid of slavery. 14th Amendment providing citizenship. And 15th Amendment providing the right to vote.
As Robert E. Lee surrendered on April 9, 1865. to Ulysses Grant at the courthouse in Virginia or near the courthouse because the courthouse was closed so technically he surrendered at the McLean house which you see pictured here. When he surrendered on April 9th 1865 that signaled the end of the Civil War. What opens up along with the period of reconstruction is that the Ku Klux Klan is established in Tennessee in the same exact year. Because when Black freedom and seemingly Black advantage is given, there will always be a white response.
I hope you caught it, right? So now let's move to Reconstruction and then we will be done, right? So what is important about Reconstruction? So first of all, Reconstruction... just simply refers to efforts to bring the United States back together after the Civil War to give Black people their rights, right?
So when we say the Reconstruction era, this is what we're talking about. We're talking about 1865 to 1885, and there is a very specific election that ends the Reconstruction era and begins Jim Crow. We'll get to that.
But we're going to look at Black families, Black churches, Black everyday life, Black Reconstruction, and the challenging of Reconstruction and the Hays-Tilden Compromise. But when I say Reconstruction, what you should be thinking about are efforts to... bring the United States back together after the Civil War. So what happens here in terms of the Black family during the Reconstruction era? Again, as I stated, one of the first things that Black folks do is they try to reunite with their families in the moment of freedom.
Everyone's free, right? And of course, they're thinking about, okay, where am I going to go? Where am I going to live?
Because now you just freed me, but ain't nothing happening. Ain't got nowhere to go. But one of the things that's important is seeking my family, right? Where are my family? Where are my children?
How might we reunite? I heard they were on this plantation over here. So folks went in search of one another.
So very much the constitution of black family itself is an act of resistance, that the black family still exists in whatever forms we choose to exist, whether that be through fictive kinship or bloodlines. Right. So let's look at this a little a little bit further.
Right. So looking at black everyday life. Again, there was Special Field Order 15 that was issued by General Sherman.
And then we have the Homestead Act of 1866. And what the Homestead Act did, the Homestead Act provided land in the South to those who were formerly enslaved. So whereas General Sherman's Special Field Order was a wartime act, the Homestead Act of 1866 made it official, right? So it took General Sherman's... field order and institutionalized, right? So what begins to happen is, you know folks in the South ain't happy about this.
What you mean by that's their lane? What do you mean by they get a mule? And some things start to happen because who is it affecting this point in time? The Ku Klux Klan. And the South is not happy about this.
So as terror is experienced in everyday life, the Homestead Act of 1866 is eventually repealed, forcing Black people back into subjugation. those who wanted to remain or desire to remain in the South, right? And what happens is, is that they move into a system of sharecropping, crop leasing, convict leasing, black codes, and vagrancy laws that emerge because of the fact that the homestead at 1866 becomes repealed, because, excuse me, becomes repealed.
Because remember what I told you, even though The South is now back with the Union. You still have the House of Representatives, the Senate, et cetera. And just because folks in the North thought that Black people should be free, it didn't mean that they were necessarily going to vote in Black folks'interest. This is why you have to be careful about who you're voting for. They might say Black Lives Matter, right?
Because they don't believe that you should die at the hands of a wild police officer, but they don't necessarily think that you should be on equal footing with them. Hello, somebody. This has a historical...
reverberates that you all should be aware of here, okay? So now that we know that the Homestay Act is eventually repealed, and by the way that took both Northern and Southern folks to agree on repealing that, right? The sharecropping, crop lease, convict leasing, etc. kicks in.
Well, what are these things? I'm glad you asked. Let's talk about sharecropping, right? So sharecropping was a system wherein a sharecropper was given land, right?
He was given seed by a previous plantation master because obviously those who were enslaved did not have access to money. And here is plantation master who has all this money. So, right, you have to go back to the person who enslaved you to constitute your life. You don't see the problem here, right?
It is literally a caught in between. And this is what I meant by whenever there is a moment of black freedom, there is always a... a white response to that.
That is historical. If that is happening in the present moment, it is historical, right? And so what happens is that the person who was formerly enslaved, working in the land says, all right, cool, I'll give you half the crops that will, you know, that will take care of the land and the seed, right, that you give me.
And what happens is, is that in the process of this, that Black folks have to have clothes, we got to have food, we got to have somewhere to live, all this stuff. And what does that take? That takes money. Enter credit mark.
this is where they come from and so those who were enslaved buys buy these things from those who own the stores y'all who do y'all think on the stores it wasn't enslaved folks it was the same people that had enslaved them rather and so now the sharecropper who's got who has this land that is seen from the plantation master also has to go to that same plantation master store that's in the area and get food clothes and everything else on what credit So now you're already in debt for the land and the seed. Now you added clothes, housing, and anything else, doctor visits, et cetera, on credit in that same thing. So the sharecroppers obviously at this point in time, he and she are planting. And I'll also say they, them, right, for non-binary folks did exist in this time as well. Right.
There are whole books on that that you can look at. But anyway. sharecropper plants and harvest the crop, right?
And then the sharecropper gives the landowner these crops to sell, right? And what's supposed to happen is they split it down. They're supposed to split the profits down the middle. But what happens, right?
The landowner says that the sharecropper owes more than he has earned. This is where the advancement. of white economic stability comes into play after the Civil War.
Because even though those who were previously enslaved are sharecroppers, now they're finding themselves further in debt. And the previous plantation bachelor saying, actually, not only do you owe me for the land and the seed now that we've repealed the Homestead Act, but you owe me for the clothes, you owe me for the food, you owe me for the doctor's visit, you owe me for the light bill, you owe me for the horse and buggy, you owe me for the tools that you use. And these crops that you gave me came up short. So guess what?
are still in debt. And what does this do? This means that they are now in debt and the sharecropper must promise the landowner a greater share of next year's crops.
But this also brings up what? A crop lien, which means that those who were... who worked as sharecroppers were now formally obligated to the former plantation master by way of a crop lien, right?
And I hope you are seeing how important that was, right? So, or how important this is. So, a crop lien meant that they had to borrow against the next year's crops.
Y'all see this vicious cycle? And if that debt stayed in place, then you had to end up working for what? Free.
And if you refuse to work to pay off the debt, then you were sent to jail. Known as what? Convict leasing. Then what would happen?
The same plantation owner could now lease you from the state. So the state now makes money off of you and you have to labor for the plantation owner. for free on the land that you previously owned. Do y'all see what's happening here? This is the vicious cycle.
And this is how sharecropping, crop lease, and convict leasing are all linked with one another. What also develops during this time is Black codes. And Black codes were a series of laws that Black folk had to follow during this time. You went on the sidewalk.
If you are walking by a white person, you step off the sidewalk. You tilt your hat. You give deference to white people. These were the Black codes.
Oh, you know, colored only is what some signs said, right? And then white only, right? These were the black codes, right? But what's important that you take away from this is how slavery is re-inscribed. Remember, we are now post-Civil War and the Homestead Act has been repealed by both Northern and Southern politicians.
So this lets you know whether it's the right wing, the left wing, or the moderate-tailed Senate. But they... all float that same bird called the United States.
They just have different ways of going about and constituting it. And so when they repealed the Homestead Act of 1866, it allowed sharecropping to enter in. Sharecropping drove those who were formerly enslaved further into debt.
That debt created a crop lien where they had to borrow against the next year's previous harvest, excuse me, against the next year's coming harvest, but they had no idea how that would work out, and they had no way of predicting the weather a year in advance. And then when that wasn't paid, they were arrested and sent to jail. They were convict leased out from there.
That same plantation owner would lease them from the state. The state would make money in addition to taxes. And then the previously enslaved person is back in the same condition it was in. Because what you will recall in the 13th Amendment is that slavery is abolished except for a crime. And they view debt as a crime.
Remember what we talked about last class. that in order for one to be free, one had to be debt-free and on property. You had to link these things up, right? So that is important to understand here.
All right, let's move on. Let's begin to wrap this up, right? So during this time, what also comes about are police, because you need folks to police those who are in convict leasing. So not only are convict leasing folks who are convict leasing working in plantations that they...
they were previously enslaved on or previously sharecropping with, right? But they are policed by the police. And a lot of those police were formerly members of the slave patrol. You all see here where it says plantation police or the runaway slave patrol versus today's sheriff's badge, right?
Particularly for Los Angeles County. There are commonalities between the two. And so the slave patrol becomes.
police, well, the police becomes those who were slave controllers in the Reconstruction era. This is how they keep it the same, right? Just by a different name.
And that's important to understand, right? All right, we're almost done. So as this is going about, what we also get is Civil Rights Act of 1866. And citizenship defined equal protection under the law. By the way, this was vetoed by Andrew Johnson.
And then we have the 14th Amendment that we talked about. We have the 15th Amendment. So citizenship and voting.
But also, y'all, Black people aren't victims during this time. This is what I need you all to understand. What are we establishing?
We are establishing HBCUs or Historically Black Colleges and Universities. We are establishing Black churches. The Black church was very, very important during this time. I'll get to that in just a bit.
But referring to HBCUs, right, we established Lincoln University in 1854 before slavery ends, right? And Lincoln University is above the Mason-Dixon line, by the way. Cheney University, 1837, Howard University. 1865 Tuskegee, Tuskegee University, 1881 Spelman College, same year, 1881 Morehouse College, from which yours truly graduated from, 1865 Fisk University, Hampton, Bethune-Cookman, Florida Agriculture and Mechanical University, right, also known as FAMU.
And there are so many others, Alabama A&M, right, Norfolk State. There are so many different HBCUs, Albany State, there are there are a lot of them, so I don't want to get into it. into naming them.
But we established our own institutions wide for the education and uplift of Black people. Because what you will remember is that folks thought that we should be free, but they just did not want us close to them. So this brings about segregation.
So we started to teach our own selves, right? And to teach our own selves how to read, write, skills, trades, and different things of that sort. We see our first politicians elected, Hiram Revels, right?
all of these different people that are coming to serve in the United States Senate and House of Representatives for the first time, right? So Black people are making gains during this time. Is the South happy about this?
Heck no, they are not happy about this, right? In particular, South Carolina. If you look up South Carolina history, they have a very interesting history around Black politicians during this time, right?
And then we have the Civil Rights Act of 1865, excuse me, 1875. And what this... um did was it provided equal treatment in public accommodations and transportation again do you think the south is happy about this no but do you think that the north is like yes they should be free i just don't want them next to me yes right so there's a way that the north is agreeing with the south but also disagreeing with the south and trying to they're trying to provide this middle of the road type effect right but also as black people are going through this and we're establishing schools right we're getting these black politics and we are also establishing black churches the most present Black church during this time is the AME Church, or the African Methodist Episcopal Church, that was founded by Richard Allen in 1816, okay? And even though 1816 is before slavery ends, what you have to keep in mind is that 1816, the AME Church is established in Philadelphia, right above the Mason-Dixon line.
But part of the reason why the AME Church is established, if you look at its history, is because they did not want Richard Allen praying in the church with white people. So he said, fine, I will start my own church. Right.
So the AME church is the most prominent black church at this point in time. And we are and we're doing more than just have a church in there. You all you all know how important the church is to the civil rights movement.
If you don't know, you'll know before this class is over. But we also have a community meetings in there. We're having mutual aid societies to help one another out in there.
We're holding classes in our churches. Right. So the church becomes very important.
And then eventually what comes along in 1897 is the Church of God in Christ. Right. That is founded by.
Charles Mason. And this is, to date, I believe the biggest Black denominational church that we have presently, right? And there were many, many others, but the African Methodist and Crucifical Church, or the AME Church, along with the Church of God in Christ, represents this type of Black autonomy that Black people had, and the fact that even though we were experiencing all of these things socially, We were not going to back down that we could give ourselves what white folks weren't willing to give for us. Right. So there is that.
Now, what begins to happen, you all, as this is going on, is that reconstruction becomes challenge. You all, I have said this many, many times, and I'll say this again. Right. Remember, as black folks advance, there is always a response. Right.
to Black progress, right? Barack Obama, then Trump, then the storming of the Capitol, right? There is always a white response, you all, right? Black freedom, and then we go into the Black Medea, which we talk about next week, right?
Then we have the advancement of civil rights, and then we have institutions. still not accepting Black people on jobs, universities, etc. There is always a white reprisal.
That is the history and legacy of the United States. It hasn't changed. I forecast that it won't, right?
So anyway, the reconstruction becomes challenged. What happens? White Southerners in office begin to lobby and garner support in their governmental roles amongst the public under the idea of a home rule. Write this down.
Remember, the southern states and southern politicians are in the same house of representatives, the same Senate, the same legislators as northern folk. And what begins to happen is the same thing they do today. They are lobbying folks for votes and they are garnering support, right, vis-a-vis their official political positions along this idea of the home rule.
And keep in mind, I told you all at the beginning that these lectures will be a bit long because some of us may not necessarily be able to afford the book. And I want to make sure that everybody gets the same details. Right.
So I'm being equitable in this. And we are in chapter eight. So if you already read this, then you can maybe stop the lecture.
But that's up to you. Anyway, so they are garnering support under the home rule. The home rule gives way to what we now call states'rights. This is where it comes from, you all.
And so the home rule was similar to states'rights. However, it offered a plan northern states could agree with. Here we go.
And this is where the north signs off on it. Do you all see this? This is where the north signs off on it. And the agreement was lower taxes, decreased federal oversight, and economic austerity, also known as conservatism, that the federal government shouldn't be spending all this money all over the place. This is where conservatism comes from.
And this gives rise to states'rights, specifically where it says decreased federal oversight. You can imagine what southern states had in mind by thinking about decreased federal oversight. Right.
In the north, it wasn't necessarily a big deal. But in the south, I said, no, we don't necessarily want you all looking over us. Why?
Because when the Civil War was won, what did Lincoln do? He put troops in the south. Right. Well, troops come to be in the south because Lincoln is assassinated in the process. Right.
Which was another response to the Civil War, by the way. But anyway, troops come to be placed in the south to guarantee the freedoms of black people and that black people could move freely about. And then there's the Freedmen's Bureau, et cetera.
But still remember things like sharecropping was happening. Both end, it's not either or, it's both end. All of this stuff was happening at the same time. It's just like today, right? Like we have a war going on, but there's still disputes going on inside.
You know, there's still good things happening as, you know, not so good things are happening at the same time. Right? What happens?
Eventually, the Southern approach of the home rule wins significant support. And the South began to return to. pre-Civil War social practices, which were expedited and reinforced by way of the Ku Klux Klan. Why? Because there was decreased federal oversight.
And who signed off on it with the South? Northern politicians. Do y'all see the move? This is what I mean by this, because people want you to be free.
They don't necessarily think that you should be next to them. People can say Black Lives Matter all day, and they can genuinely think that Black people should not be shot. down in the streets by cops and that is a step too far but they also think but you certainly shouldn't be in my neighborhood i don't want you living next to me do you all see where this type type of thing comes from this is it right so the interesting thing about the ku klux klan what we know via historical documents is that many of their members were former confederate soldiers slave patrolmen and women and southern sympathizers and so via the home rule we now get this idea of rights that states should be able to decide what they want to decide for themselves without the federal government over um overreaching right or being overpowering and that money shouldn't be spent on the federal level like that this is where states like alabama louisiana all the south loves this notion of states rights specifically georgia georgia loves a good conversation about states rights this is the era that that comes from this is why this chapter in particular is so important because a lot of the things that we see in today's time comes up out of the Reconstruction era, right? As Black folks are fighting for their freedom and there is white reprisal at the same time.
Final slide, here we go. What brings the Reconstruction era to a close? It's the Hayes-Tilden Compromise. It is a presidential election, you all. And we have Rutherford B. Hayes and we have Samuel J. Tilden who are running off concerning the 1876 presidential election.
Right now. And by the way, the electoral college is a product of slavery. Should we abolish the electoral college?
Absolutely. Because it is a relic of slavery. Absolutely. We should get rid of it.
But anyway, moving right along. So why is this important? Because Samuel J. Tilden had won the popular vote. He is a Democrat from New York. Remember, Democrats at this point in time is what we would think Republicans are now.
And what Republicans are now is what we think Democrats. And Republicans now are what Democrats were then, right? inverse the parties, right? But keep in mind, as I said earlier, whether it's the left wing or the right wing, where the moderate tail center is still floating that same bird called the United States, they just have different ways of going about doing it. Now, Samuel J. Tilden had won the popular vote, right?
And there was some tension concerning the electoral vote. Tilden, Samuel J. Tilden, the Democrat from New York, had 184 electoral votes, while Rutherford B. Hayes had 160. Five electoral votes. 20 electoral votes were outstanding. Who is in play here? One of these states, you all should not surprise.
Florida, Florida, South Carolina, Louisiana, and Oregon were in the swing about what to do. And so Samuel J. Tilden says, Brother for B. Hayes. I will see these contested electoral votes to you under four conditions.
Before I go into the four conditions, notice that the feud is over electoral votes. Notice what the storming of the Capitol was all about. This is what I meant by historical lineage and historical continuities.
that anytime there's Black advancement, there's always white reprisal, and it always falls out along the lines of voting because this has to do with power. And we defined power in week two in this course. So what were the four conditions that Samuel J. Tilden laid out for Rutherford B. Hayes?
He said, Rutherford B. Hayes, if you want this presidency, the first thing that you're going to have to do is union troops must be removed from the South. Y'all already know how consequential that was because the Union troops were there to guarantee that Black folks could move through public space without experiencing violence, without being spit upon, without being beat upon, without being disappeared into the night, only to show up swinging from a tree in the morning. This is the purpose of the Union troops being there, to protect Black businesses, to protect Black homes, Black churches, etc.
And Samuel J. Tiller says, if you want it, the first thing you're going to have to agree to do is move. the union troops away from the south and the reason why these four things are important is because they were sandwiching to them was like look either you do or i'm gonna do it they won't get done either way but if you want to be president you're going to promise me these four things but if i'm president these four things and a lot more will happen right so removing troops is number one number two was a postmaster general be appointed to the presidential uh cabinet that how the mail is handled didn't this come up mailbox is disappearing how things Do you want to see what I'm saying? Right?
This is why, like, we watch the news, like, you have to see historically. But in Samuel J. Tilden saying the postmaster general should be appointed to the presidential cap. Then Samuel J. Tilden says that railroads must be established in the South for commerce.
Why? Because remember, the Civil War had taken place. The entire economy of the South is disrupted. It is disrupted.
And in order to get it back online and to get the economy of the South booming again, and thus the United States economy overall and international trade booming again, we need some railroad lines so it can connect to the North, so that the North can connect to the South, and also so that we can move these things internationally. And then the final condition was that the South be permitted to resolve race issues as they see best. Where did he pull that from? The home rule. What did this introduce?
States'rights. And so when he said that the South be permitted to resolve race issues as they see best, what did this introduce? The Jim Crow era, where segregation and white violence reigned supreme as the Ku Klux Klan ran all over the place.
This, the Hayes-Tilden Compromise, ended the Reconstruction era and began... The Jim Crow era that we also refer to as the Nadir, meaning dark, dangerous, right? The most dangerous and perilous time for Black people. This is how the Reconstruction era of the United States ends. Black people have made all of these gains.
We have Black politicians, we have our Black church, etc. And literally overnight, by the way, it's the Hays to the Compromise. Black churches start being bombed. Black people start being hated and killed. Black businesses are...
on fire. Black people are driven out of their political positions. particularly those that served in local state legislators in the South.
Look up that history about South Carolina that I was telling you about and what happens. Black subjugation is reconstituted yet again. So there was sharecropping going on, right? That happened after slavery.
That was reconstituting the condition of slavery. But then because of the Hayes-Tilden Compromise, Black people are re-subjugated yet again in the United States. Okay? So...
With that being stated, this is chapter eight and we are now into the book. Next week, we will move on to chapter nine and then we will continue on from there. All right.
I'll see you all next time. Bye.