Nicholas

•       The newly freed slaves attempted to build lives for themselves by volunteering for military service, becoming teamsters and stevedores, and providing needed labor.  However, some remained refugees who were dependent upon the military for food and shelter.  Most took low-paying jobs or continued to work on the plantations.  However, instead of being slaves, they were now paid in some format.  Share-cropping began to spring up in the southern plantations.  

•       Principal obstacles they faced included finding husbands, wives, children and siblings, locating shelter, food, health care, education, and jobs.  Most slave families had been broken up before or during the course of the war.  Thus, they had to find lost family members to start a new life over.  These people had no sense of freedom so they had to begin by finding jobs, often competing with the poor whites for the lowest-paying ones.  

•       The Savannah clergy pressed upon Secretary Stanton and General Sherman the want for land.  They stated that “the way we can best take care of ourselves is to have land, and turn it and till it by our own labor.”  They wanted to be able to be placed on land until they could buy it and make it their own.  Also, they wanted to assist the government by allowing their young men to enlist in the service and serve as they wanted.

•       Complaints  of the black soldiers to the Freedmen’s Bureau chief Oliver Howard:

o       Their family’s only received ∏ of the rations that were promised – they a have gone without food to eat and some rations have been stolen.

o       No one takes notice of their suffering and their rations are being sold while their families are starving.
o       They have not been paid for their work and some disabled men have returned home with no provisions, money, or rations.

o       Their families have no protection against intruders.
The problems illustrated in the complaints against the Bureau highlight the fact that the African American soldiers were poorly treated when they were in the service and when they got out.  While they were away, their families starved because the rations were cut in half or even eliminated.  Also, they were not paid for their work in any means (provisions, rations, money).  It seems to be that they people in charge (Mr. Steeler) did not care what happened to these men or their families.  For instance, they were not offered protection and their homes got broken into and property stolen.

•       According to Douglass, the “former slave [was left] completely in the power of the old master.”  Douglass states that reconstruction left the slave in the power of the old master and there was more care for the sublime superstructure of the republic than the solid foundation upon which it could alone be upheld. When slaves were granted their freedom, most of them stayed on the plantation because they had no concept of freedom.  They had lived their whole lives under the control of their master, living on the plantation, and working on the crops.  Thus, they did not know what to do when they were “freed.”  Most of the slaves continued to work on the plantation, under the control and supervision of the plantation owner.  According to Douglass, they could not sell their former slaves but they continued to hold power over them.

•       If there was more of an emphasis at state level to help the freed men and women, along wit h the “honorable” statesmen who wanted to help them achieve their rights, they would have been able to take advantage of the 14th and 15th amendments.  The rights that were guaranteed to them were denied and held in contempt.  Their citizenship was seen as a mockery and the right to vote was “stamped out in the face of government.”  The old slave master continued to be triumphant over the newly freed slaves.  I believe the states should have enforced the new amendments and allowed the freed slaves to be seen as citizens with the right to vote.  Thus, they would have had a solid foundation to help them achieve their rights.

Emily B

How did they attempt to build lives for themselves?
        -Some of the slaves volunteered to be in the military, others remained “refugees and depended on the military for food and shelter” and this led to the creation of the Freedman’s Bureau.  This bureau helped to locate many family members that were lost during the war or had been sold.  

What were the principal obstacles they faced?
        -The obstacles that they faced was the problem of finding the family members that were separated since many families did not even know where to start to look for them.  They also had to provide the slaves with food, shelter, health care, jobs and education.

What did the Savannah clergy press upon Secretary Stanton and General Sherman as the most important desires of the newly freed men and women?

        -They wanted the slaves to have land that they could labor on themselves and that it should be allowed for the young black men to enlist in the military.  They state that the blacks feel that “the object of the war was not at first to give the slaves their freedom, but the sole object of the war was at first to bring the rebellious States back into the Union and their loyalty to the laws of the United States.  Afterward, knowing the value set on the slaves by the Rebels, the President thought that his proclamation would stimulate them to lay down their arms, reduce them to obedience, and help to bring back the Rebel States; and their not doing so has now made the freedom of the slaves a part of the war.  It is my opinion that there is not a man in this city that could be started to help the Rebels one inch, for that would be suicide.  There were two black men left with the Rebels because they had taken an active part for the Rebels, and thought something might befall them if they stayed behind; but there is not another man.  If the prayers that have gone up for the Union army could be read out, you would not get through them these two weeks.”

The black soldiers' petition to Freedmen's Bureau chief Oliver Howard demonstrates the potential for corruption and abuse within the Bureau. What were their complaints? What problems with the Bureau do their complaints illumine?

        -The black soldiers complained that their families were supposed to receive rations from the government while they were away at war yet they did not.  They also complain that their families were mistreated and when the complainant was taken to an officer nothing was done.  The families of those black soldiers had no protection and the whites would break into their houses and steal whatever they wanted from them.  This seems to show that they had a problem with the Bureau keeping their word.

Was the "former slave [left] completely in the power of the old master"? If so, how did this happen?
        -The blacks were put under the laws of the Black Codes after the war which means that they were still technically under the control of their old masters since they had to ask their masters for permission before they could do anything.  “Under the new Codes, blacks could not testify against whites, could not own rifles and other weapons, could not freely contract for jobs until given permission by their former "masters," among other restrictions. White Southerners also returned the old Confederate leadership to office. This last required the active collaboration of President Johnson who spent hours each day signing the pardons which made leading Confederates eligible for office.”

What "solid foundation" might have enabled the freed men and women and the "honorable" statesmen who wished to help them to achieve the rights promised them in the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments?

        -Reconstruction Bill

Kerri

“Although the Proclamation only applied to slavery in states still in rebellion, it nonetheless marked the beginning of the end of the South's "peculiar institution." As Union armies gradually extended their control, hundreds of thousands of "contrabands" crossed their lines in search of freedom. Some of these former slaves volunteered for military service in regiments like the First South Carolina Volunteers. Others became teamsters and stevedores, providing needed labor. Still others remained refugees, dependent upon the military for food and shelter. Out of this need to provide housing and other services came the Freedmen's Bureau. The Bureau organized communities of free blacks on seized Confederate land. It coordinated the efforts of thousands of volunteers, many of them women, from the North who set up schools. It helped reunite families. Bureau chaplains solemnized marriages, baptized children, and buried the dead.”

“Lincoln's assassination led to a power struggle between President Andrew Johnson, former Democratic Senator from Tennessee, and the Republican Congress over how to "reconstruct" the South. Both sides agreed on the abolition of slavery but on little else.”

“Early in 1865 Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton and Major General William Tecumseh Sherman (fresh from his celebrated March across Georgia to the Sea) held a meeting with a group of black clergy to discuss the needs of newly freed men and women. Sherman came out of the meeting convinced that the most important step was to provide former slaves with land. He therefore issued Special Field Order 15 setting aside part of coastal South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida for occupation by blacks.”

“War's end was supposed to signal the beginning of a new life for African Americans. Not only was slavery ended, but the heroic service of black soldiers, many believed, would lead northern whites to support their right to be full citizens. Below is an illustration of the demobilization of a black regiment in Arkansas.”

“Which vision would prevail? For "radical" Republicans, the answer depended upon who won the battle over control of Reconstruction. President Johnson seized the initiative, simply by refusing to summon a special session of Congress. This meant that, between April and December, 1865, the president had the field to himself. He demanded white Southerners repudiate Confederate debts, swear allegiance to the Union, and ratify the Thirteenth Amendment. Once they did so, he held, Reconstruction was over. White Southerners did as he bid. By summer the former Confederate states adopted new constitutions, which prohibited slavery. The new governments also adopted so-called Black Codes.”

“At the beginning of November, 1866, the status of the freedmen, by the laws of Alabama, was nominally the same as that of other non-voting inhabitants. They were, it is true, prohibited from testifying in cases in which whites only were concerned, and for a single crime a different penalty from that imposed upon white persons was prescribed for them. But in all those rights of more important and ordinary use, of holding and acquiring property of all kinds, of suits and contracts, of travel and inheritance, no difference against them was expressed in terms.”

“The rights which they were intended to guarantee are denied and held in contempt. The citizenship granted in the fourteenth amendment is practically a mockery, and the right to vote, provided for in the fifteenth amendment, is literally stamped out in face of government. The old master class is to-day triumphant, and the newly-enfranchised class in a condition but little above that in which they were found before the rebellion.”

Sarah

1.)        Although some black people were living a better life than before the war began, there were also plentiful examples of black families forced to live in deplorable situations that were scarcely above the abuses they suffered as slaves. In states where Black Codes were adopted, for instance, the extensive limitations placed upon them severely restricted any sense of citizenship. Among the many laws were ones that stated that “blacks could not testify against whites, could not own rifles and other weapons, could not freely contract for jobs until given permission by their former "masters," among other restrictions.” Perhaps most offensive was the fact that “white Southerners also returned the old Confederate leadership to office,” and was able to do so with the help of dozens of pardons signed by President Johnson.
            The acts of cruelty committed by corrupt Freedmen’s Bureau agents, such as Superintendent Fritz, painted a similarly bleak portrait of black life at this time. One of the many atrocities he committed including keeping a black man “who was arrested for debt, shut up in the black house--the prison--for months, while his wife and children, reduced to abject destitution, died with the small-pox, and took him from the prison under guard and compelled him to bury his last child in the cradle in which it died.” Unfortunately, the condition of many supposedly free blacks depended largely on the integrity and morality of the whites who had the power in their vicinity. 

2.)      In order for the freed men and women to truly enjoy the rights that had been promised to them in the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments, they would have needed solid protection from the national government. Instead President Johnson, himself a Southerner who insisted that he was “merely carrying out Lincoln’s wishes,” continued to grant pardon after pardon to former Confederate state leaders, effectively granting their permission to return to office. In addition, Johnson was “determined to end the Bureau’s activities,” despite the fact that it was the only institution that sought to help the black families who had been shattered by the war and were dependent upon the government for food, shelter and jobs. Although Johnson failed in this effort, the lack of national oversight and/or funding ensured that “corruption and inefficiency continued to dog its efforts.”

Rebecca B

How did they attempt to build lives for themselves?

“As Union armies gradually extended their control, hundreds of thousands of "contrabands" crossed their lines in search of freedom. Some of these former slaves volunteered for military service in regiments like the First South Carolina Volunteers. Others became teamsters and stevedores, providing needed labor. Still others remained refugees, dependent upon the military for food and shelter.”

What were the principal obstacles they faced?

”They too needed to locate husbands, wives, parents, children, siblings who had been sold away. They too needed shelter, food, health care, education. They needed to find jobs. The legislation creating the Bureau anticipated their needs and thus authorized the Bureau to continue its work for a year following the war.”

Was the "former slave [left] completely in the power of the old master"? If so, how did this happen?

Yes the former slave was left under the power of the old master. The main focus was to restore the union and there was little focus geared towards the new life of the black man.

What "solid foundation" might have enabled the freed men and women and the "honorable" statesmen who wished to help them to achieve the rights promised them in the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments?

The solid foundation that would have enabled the freed man was the Government and reign of president Abraham Lincoln. His cabinet could have made sure that the black man was truly free.

CJ

-The best answer to how the freed slaves comes from the answer given by black clergyman Garrison Frazier:

            “The way we can best take care of ourselves is to have land, and turn it and till it by our own labor--that is, by the labor of the women and children and old men; and we can soon maintain ourselves and have something to spare.  And to assist the Government, the young men should enlist in the service of the Government, and serve in such manner as they may be wanted.  (The Rebels told us that they piled them up and made batteries of them, and sold them to Cuba; but we don't believe that.)  We want to be placed on land until we are able to buy it and make it our own.”

-The main obstacles they would face came in a variety of forms.  There was the white population that was extremely prejudiced against the blacks that, in the future, would scare them from the polls.  There was also the hardships that faced them as they tried to earn a living for themselves doing the only thing many knew how to do: work the land.  They worked for incredibly low wages, many becoming sharecroppers and farmhands, and in some ways lived in more poverty than they did in bondage.

-The Savannah clergy expressed their greatest desire as the will to work their way into society, and make new lives for themselves as free people, mostly by farming to earn money and getting positions in the government to support legislation favoring their ideals and positions.

-The issues taken up in the petition are as follows: their families’ rations were constantly being cut, the leadership was not doing anything about this, and they still faced prejudices from their white counterparts, who were stealing their supplies, etc.

-They were still in the hands of their former masters, in a sense.  They couldn’t vote, and without this right, you can’t really do anything in terms of legislation.  So, with no legal protection to speak of, as particular states were passing acts restricting the freedmen’s rights, they were still in political and social bondage, not actual physical bondage like they had been before.

-A “solid foundation” would have been more protection of rights by the federal government.  The US government failed them, as too much leeway was given to states to determine laws regarding blacks.  The amendments were great ideals, but the government didn’t follow through and force the states to accept absolute equality, and this would have provided a “solid foundation” for the freedmen to set up new lives equal to the lives Southern whites were leading.

Francis

1) Freed slaves sought to build lives for themselves in various ways. First off, many volunteered to fight for the Union Army to help set all blacks free. A Militia Act, passed in July of 1862, granted freedom to former slaves and their families employed by the Union armed services. Those who did not want to fight directly became teamsters and stevedores, providing needed labor. During the American Civil War and after its conclusion, blacks turned to the Freedmen’s Bureau. The Bureau was responsible for providing food, shelter, and school for refugee blacks. It also helped reunite many families who had been sold off to different plantation owners. “Bureau chaplains solemnized marriages, baptized children, and buried the dead.” These former slaves sought jobs so that they could now provide for their families and take care of themselves.

2) The principal obstacles the blacks faced were inequality, severe discrimination and racism, and the “Black Codes.” After the Civil War had ended in 1865, Southern whites organized new state governments, supposedly ratified the 13th Amendment, and passed legislation called the Black Codes that restricted the rights of freedmen and women. These people could not serve on juries, testify against white people, travel freely, etc. To make matters worse, President Andrew Johnson pardoned thousands of former Confederate leaders, thus allowing them to re-establish their dominance in political affairs once again. As Frederick Douglass stated at the end of the reading assignment, things changed very little in the South, at least on the political and social spectrum. Blacks still occupied the lowest class and were at the mercy of their former plantation owners. The only change, however, was that they would remain relatively poor as sharecroppers, not slaves. This will be discussed more in depth in questions 5 & 6. President Abraham Lincoln, before the Civil War had ended, had proposed sending the blacks back to Africa or to an island off the coast of the US as he realized that many people in the United States would discriminate against blacks and would refuse to hire them – both North and South. Black liberties were restricted as the South refused to enforce the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments.

3)  The Savannah Clergy represented by Brother Frazier believed that the freedmen and women strongly desired to “take care of ourselves and assist the Government in maintaining our freedom… The way we can best take care of ourselves is to have land, and turn it and till it by our own labor--that is, by the labor of the women and children and old men; and we can soon maintain ourselves and have something to spare.  And to assist the Government, the young men should enlist in the service of the Government, and serve in such manner as they may be wanted. We want to be placed on land until we are able to buy it and make it our own… If the prayers that have gone up for the Union army could be read out, you would not get through them these two weeks.” The freed black men and women wanted to start their lives over, with their own land, take care of themselves, live separately from whites, and help assist the Federal Government since it abolished slavery and gave these people the opportunity to experience a new birth of freedom. They trusted the Federal Government and promised to help it whenever possible to maintain their freedom and to support this great experiment of democracy.

4)   “We have served in the US Army faithfully and don our duty to our Country, for which we thank God (that we had the opportunity) but at the same time our family's are suffering at Roanoke Island N.C.

1  When we were enlisted in the service we were prommised that our wifes and family's should receive rations from goverment.  The rations for our wifes and family's have been (and are now cut down) to one half the regular ration.  Consequently three or four days out of every ten days, thee have nothing to eat.  at the same time our ration's are stolen from the ration house by Mr Streeter the Asst Supt at the Island (and others) and sold while our family's are suffering for some thing to eat.

2nd  Mr Steeter the Asst Supt of Negro aff's at Roanoke Island is a througher Cooper head a man who says that he is no part of a Abolitionist. takes no care of the colored people and has no Simpathy with the colored people.  A man who kicks our wives and children out of the ration house or commissary, he takes no notice of their actual suffering and sells the rations and allows it to be sold, and our family's suffer for something to eat.

3rd  Captn James the Suptn in Charge has been told of these facts and has taken no notice of them.  so has Coln Lahaman the Commander in Charge of Roanoke, but no notice is taken of it, because it comes from Contrabands or Freedmen   the cause of much suffering is that Captn James has not paid the Colored people for their work for near a year and at the same time cuts the ration's off to one half so the people have neither provisions or money to buy it with.  There are men on the Island that have been wounded at Dutch Gap Canal, working there, and some discharged soldiers, men that were wounded in the service of the U.S. Army, and returned home to Roanoke that Cannot get any rations and are not able to work,  some soldiers are sick in Hospitals that have never been paid a cent and their familys are suffering and their children going crying without anything to eat.

4th  our familys have no protection   the white soldiers break into our houses act as they please steal our chickens rob our gardens and if any one defends their-Selves against them they are taken to the gard house for it.  so our familys have no protection when Mr Streeter is here to protect them and will not do it.
5th.  Genl we the soldiers of the 36 U.S. Co Troops having familys at Roanoke Island humbly petition you to favour us by removeing Mr Streeter the present Asst Supt at Roanoke Island under Captn James.”

The Black soldiers were complaining about starvation, not being paid, white soldiers breaking into their families’ houses and stealing their possessions and food, and no consideration for colored people. These men blamed Mr. Streeter for all of these problems and wanted him reprimanded and/or removed from his position. They were fighting alongside the Union Army but were being discriminated against and were even allowed to starve for days at a time. Captain James refused to pay colored people and did not care about them or their suffering. This must have truly been a nightmare for all colored people involved. They volunteered to fight for a great cause and were being treated terribly by the men they fought alongside. Although the Freedmen’s Bureau had accomplished much for the blacks, it was also corrupt as blacks were being mistreated, starved, and discriminated against. General Howard should have addressed these issues as soon as he received word about the maltreatment of blacks. This should have been closely supervised to make sure things like this did not occur. The corruption and abuses described in this letter were uncalled for, immoral, and unconstitutional. Oliver Howard tried to find honest, reputable, and capable agents to help run the Bureau. The results were mixed and that would ultimately hinder the results of the organization. 

5) & 6) “His dismay is palpable:

. . . today, in most of the Southern States, the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments are virtually nullified.
The rights which they were intended to guarantee are denied and held in contempt. The citizenship granted in the fourteenth amendment is practically a mockery, and the right to vote, provided for in the fifteenth amendment, is literally stamped out in face of government. The old master class is to-day triumphant, and the newly-enfranchised class in a condition but little above that in which they were found before the rebellion.
Do you ask me how, after all that has been done, this state of things has been made possible? I will tell you. Our reconstruction measures were radically defective. They left the former slave completely in the power of the old master, the loyal citizen in the hands of the disloyal rebel against the government. Wise, grand, and comprehensive in scope and desire as were the reconstruction measures, high and honorable as were the intentions of the statesmen by whom they were framed and adopted, time and experience, which try all things, have demonstrated that they did not successfully meet the case.

In the hurry and confusion of the hour, and the eager desire to have the Union restored, there was more care for the sublime superstructure of the republic than for the solid foundation upon which it could alone be upheld. . . . The old master class was not deprived of the power of life and death, which was the soul of the relation of master and slave. They could not, of course, sell their former slaves, but they retained the power to starve them to death, and wherever this power is held there is the power of slavery. He who can say to his fellow-man, "You shall serve me or starve," is a master and his subject is a slave. . . .”

The former slave had truly been left in the power of the old master. The reason was because Johnson pardoned the Confederate leaders, allowing them to resume control over Southern affairs once again. Frederick Douglass pointed out that reconstruction was “radically defective.” Johnson did not carry out Lincoln’s wishes as he had claimed to be doing. The problem was that even though slavery had been abolished, racism and discrimination precluded blacks from getting jobs with decent pay. As a result, they had to work as sharecroppers on their former master’s land. In essence, it seemed that the Civil War did not bring much change to the Southern way of life with the exception of abolishing the institution of slavery, at least in theory. The former master paid the blacks with minimal pay – just enough to stay alive. Unfortunately for the freedmen and women, advancing up the social pyramid appeared virtually impossible. Nast’s alternative nightmare illustration coincided with Douglass’ analysis. Life would only get worse for the Negro as whites feared and displayed ever more hatred towards the freedmen and women. Nathan Bedford Forrest would found the KKK, a group dedicated to lynching blacks to re-establish the old way of the South.

The solid foundation missing in Reconstruction could arguably have been Abraham Lincoln and his ideas of re-fusing the Union in a “new nation conceived in liberty.” Lincoln had been a political genius and forgiving man. In his Second Inaugural Address he talked about displaying “charity towards all and malice towards none.” The Emancipation Proclamation had been simply a step in establishing freedom and equality for African Americans. He might have figured out the best way to restore the Union, but no one will ever know as he had been assassinated only days following Lee’s surrender to Grant. But, President Johnson was clearly not the solid foundation as he pardoned the rebels and allowed them to resume command in the South. He did not have the right idea or attitude in bringing back the South into the United States. He constantly fought with the Republican Congress and did not achieve much, with the exception of pardoning the traitors and abolishing slavery. It doesn’t seem that he was too keen in enforcing the 14th and 15th Amendments.

Amanda

1.) They attempted to make new lives for themselves by locating husbands, wives, parents, children, siblings who had been sold away. They needed shelter, food, health care, education. They needed to find jobs so they could provide for these families.

2.) The Savanah clergy pushed upon Secretary Stanton and General Sherman was that the newly freed slaves needed land. Therefore, the Special Field Order 15 was ordered and it set aside part of coastal South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida for occupation by blacks.

3.) The main concern of the freed slaves was that after they had faithfully served the army, their families were not being taken care of the right way. This is what they argued for:

" 1  When we were enlisted in the service we were prommised that our wifes and family's should receive rations from goverment.  The rations for our wifes and family's have been (and are now cut down) to one half the regular ration.  Consequently three or four days out of every ten days, thee have nothing to eat.  at the same time our ration's are stolen from the ration house by Mr Streeter the Asst Supt at the Island (and others) and sold while our family's are suffering for some thing to eat.

2nd  Mr Steeter the Asst Supt of Negro aff's at Roanoke Island is a througher Cooper head a man who says that he is no part of a Abolitionist. takes no care of the colored people and has no Simpathy with the colored people.  A man who kicks our wives and children out of the ration house or commissary, he takes no notice of their actual suffering and sells the rations and allows it to be sold, and our family's suffer for something to eat.

3rd  Captn James the Suptn in Charge has been told of these facts and has taken no notice of them.  so has Coln Lahaman the Commander in Charge of Roanoke, but no notice is taken of it, because it comes from Contrabands or Freedmen   the cause of much suffering is that Captn James has not paid the Colored people for their work for near a year and at the same time cuts the ration's off to one half so the people have neither provisions or money to buy it with.  There are men on the Island that have been wounded at Dutch Gap Canal, working there, and some discharged soldiers, men that were wounded in the service of the U.S. Army, and returned home to Roanoke that Cannot get any rations and are not able to work,  some soldiers are sick in Hospitals that have never been paid a cent and their familys are suffering and their children going crying without anything to eat.

4th  our familys have no protection   the white soldiers break into our houses act as they please steal our chickens rob our gardens and if any one defends their-Selves against them they are taken to the gard house for it.  so our familys have no protection when Mr Streeter is here to protect them and will not do it.

5th.  Genl we the soldiers of the 36 U.S. Co Troops having familys at Roanoke Island humbly petition you to favour us by removeing Mr Streeter the present Asst Supt at Roanoke Island under Captn James."

4.) If anything, I would say that their masters were still in charge of their slaves because he [Douglass] states that "they could not, of course, sell their former slaves, but they retained the power to starve them to death, and wherever this power is held there is the power of slavery. He who can say to his fellow-man, "You shall serve me or starve," is a master and his subject is a slave. . . ."

5.) A solid foundation would be that they were promised these things and they were written out. They had been freed so there is no reason that they should not have these rights anymore. These are something that were promised to them and it was a written law.

Kevin

1.  They tried to build lives for themselves by volunteering for military service in regiments like the First South Carolina Volunteers.  Others became teamsters and stevedores, providing needed labor. Upon the creation of the Freedmen's Bureau, some helped set up schools and reunite families.  Bureau chaplains solemnized marriages, baptized children, and buried the dead.

2.  The principal obstacles they faced were the lack of food, shelter and being separated from their families.  Many of them probably also lacked an identity and had no place to go and call home.

3.  The Savannah clergy pressed the idea to provide the former slaves with land upon Secretary Stanton and General Sherman as the most important desires of the newly freed men and women.  They felt the best way to take care of themselves was to have land, and turn it and till it by their own labor, that is, by the labor of the women and children and old men.  That way they could soon maintain themselves and have something to spare.

4.  There complaints were that their families were not receiving the government rations that they were promised.  They complained that they just were not being taken care of by the Bureau.  Those in charge had even been told of these facts and took no notice of them.  Also, the colored people were not being paid for their work for near a year and at the same time were having their rations cut off to one half so the people have neither provisions or money to buy it with.  

There were men on the Island that had been wounded at Dutch Gap Canal, working there, and some discharged soldiers, men that were wounded in the service of the U.S. Army, and returned home to Roanoke that cannot get any rations and were not able to work.  Some soldiers were sick in Hospitals that had never been paid a cent and their families were suffering and their children crying without anything to eat.  Also, their families had no protection.  The white soldiers would break into their houses, act as they please, steal their chickens, rob their gardens and if any one defended themelves against them, they were taken to the gard house for it.  They were unhappy with the leadership in the Bureau and they wanted a change.

5.  Yes he certainly was because the former slave was left completely in the power of the old master, the loyal citizen in the hands of the disloyal rebel against the government.  The old master class was not deprived of the power of life and death, which was the soul of the relation of master and slave. They could not, of course, sell their former slaves, but they retained the power to starve them to death, and wherever this power is held there is the power of slavery. He who can say to his fellow man, "You shall serve me or starve," is a master and his subject is a slave.

6.  The solid foundation was a more effective reconstruction and a larger presence of the Federal Government that could have ensured the citizenship, granted in the fourteenth amendment, and the right to vote, provided for in the fifteenth amendment.

Rebecca M

How did they attempt to build lives for themselves?

They tried to locate housing for themselves. They also tried to find their family members, who had been sold away. The Freedman Bureau helped assist them.

What were the principal obstacles they faced?

The obstacles faced were that when the volunteer black soldiers returned from the war, they were displaced. “And these freed African Americans turned to the Bureau. They too needed to locate husbands, wives, parents, children, siblings who had been sold away. They too needed shelter, food, health care, education. They needed to find jobs.”

 

What did the Savannah clergy press upon Secretary Stanton and General Sherman as the most important desires of the newly freed men and women?

Answer: “The way we can best take care of ourselves is to have land, and turn it and till it by our own labor--that is, by the labor of the women and children and old men; and we can soon maintain ourselves and have something to spare. And to assist the Government, the young men should enlist in the service of the Government, and serve in such manner as they may be wanted. (The Rebels told us that they piled them up and made batteries of them, and sold them to Cuba; but we don't believe that.) We want to be placed on land until we are able to buy it and make it our own.

Fourth: State in what manner you would rather live--whether scattered among the whites or in colonies by yourselves.

Answer: I would prefer to live by ourselves, for there is a prejudice against us in the South that will take years to get over; but I do not know that I can answer for my brethren. [Mr. Lynch says he thinks they should not be separated, but live together. All the other persons present, being questioned one by one, answer that they agree with Brother Frazier.]”

 

The black soldiers' petition to Freedmen's Bureau chief Oliver Howard demonstrates the potential for corruption and abuse within the Bureau. What were their complaints?

“We have served in the US Army faithfully and don our duty to our Country, for which we thank God (that we had the opportunity) but at the same time our family's are suffering at Roanoke Island N.C.

1 When we were enlisted in the service we were prommised that our wifes and family's should receive rations from goverment. The rations for our wifes and family's have been (and are now cut down) to one half the regular ration. Consequently three or four days out of every ten days, thee have nothing to eat. at the same time our ration's are stolen from the ration house by Mr Streeter at the Island (and others) and sold while our family's are suffering for some thing to eat.

4th our familys have no protection”

Lisa

How did they attempt to build lives for themselves?
“Some of these former slaves volunteered for military service in regiments like the First South Carolina Volunteers. Others became teamsters and stevedores, providing needed labor. Still others remained refugees, dependent upon the military for food and shelter.”

I think it’s good that a majority of the slaves either joined the military or provided needed labor, both of which made them become a part of our country and culture right away.  I could imagine that it would be tough to do such a thing and not be one of those who remained a refugee.

What were the principal obstacles they faced?
A main obstacle was the fact that many whites were still opposed to their freedom and therefore they did not receive much respect or legitimate freedom.  As history has depicted, this went on for many years, and discrimination still exists today.

At that time, it was a challenge to also reunite with their family and friends
“They too needed to locate husbands, wives, parents, children, siblings who had been sold away. They too needed shelter, food, health care, education. They needed to find jobs.”

Kayla

1.  I think that they were really pushing that the freed men and women need to be given their own land so that they can farm and pay taxes to the government just as all white people of the time had.

"The way we can best take care of ourselves is to have land, and turn it and till it by our own labor--that is, by the labor of the women and children and old men; and we can soon maintain ourselves and have something to spare.  And to assist the Government, the young men should enlist in the service of the Government, and serve in such manner as they may be wanted.  (The Rebels told us that they piled them up and made batteries of them, and sold them to Cuba; but we don't believe that.)  We want to be placed on land until we are able to buy it and make it our own. "
 
2.  " It is my opinion that there is not a man in this city that could be started to help the Rebels one inch, for that would be suicide.  There were two black men left with the Rebels because they had taken an active part for the Rebels, and thought something might befall them if they stayed behind; but there is not another man.  If the prayers that have gone up for the Union army could be read out, you would not get through them these two weeks".  
 
3. The blacks did not even get fair voting privledges.  I also kind of see it the other way.  The former slaves wanted the plantations to be broken up so that they could recieve land, but that is not their land to do that with.  They should have to work and then buy land like the plantation owners had to do at one time or another.  

Mindy

Perhaps some of them took advantage of the Militia Act and found themselves jobs in the military or navy. This would not only guarantee their own freedom, but that of their families as well. Also, under General Sherman’s Special Field Order 15, parts of coastal Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina were set aside exclusively for black inhabitants. All in all, they were trying to work with the government to set themselves up to eventually become independent.

They would first need to get a job and find somewhere to live. If their only previous occupation had been slavery though, it would be difficult for them to find a job that did not require additional skills. African Americans would have faced a lot of discrimination in both of those areas from both the North and the South. Even many Northerners resented the war and thus African Americans, making it difficult for them to set up a life outside of the plantation. Also, even though blacks were now technically “free,” they had limited rights and had to deal with restrictions like those outlined by the “Black Code.”

The most important desires of the newly freed men and women were to be self-sufficient. However, this would not be possible without the government helping them a little in the beginning. Savannah clergy paint a picture to General Sherman that giving the newly freed men and women land that they can work and eventually buy would be the best course of action.

They first petitioned the Bureau because they were afraid that their families were not receiving the rations promised to them. They contended that not only was the ration amount cut, but that the man who runs the ration house in NC steals the food and sells it to others. They also complained that the man who runs it, Mr. Holland Streeter, does not care about the welfare of the black families and as such does nothing to help them. This shows a problem with the Bureau that men are being hired who clearly should not be responsible for feeding black families because they simply do not care whether or not the family is starving.  Also, the commanding officers do not care about the black men and their families. They have not been paid in a year despite the fact that they were still working. Lastly, their families are not being protected from theft and break ins.   

I believe that he was in large part still until the power of the old master. Fredrick Douglas states that this is because of the unstable foundation for reconstruction. He believed that instead of thinking everything through, the government was so eager to get the union back together that they put power in the hands of the oppressors once again. There is most definitely some truth to that statement. After the southern confederate states ratified the 13th amendment and the new constitution abolishing slavery, they could once again pass state laws and participate in congressional meetings. (Jackson said that if they signed then reconstruction would be over.) Thus the southern states passed laws like the “black code” that infringed upon the newly awarded freedom on blacks, prohibiting them from testifying against whites, owning weapons, and even applying for jobs without the consent of their previous owners! Clearly, the newly freed men and women were still under the control of their former masters.

Perhaps making federal laws had prohibit the southern states from creating things like the “Black Codes,” would help create a more solid foundation. Also, not giving the south a say in the new lives of the blacks would prevent them from further discriminating.