,
By Ro rt Francia Eng
• .0 , of Hlftory .t
the Un/w,.1ty 01 Pem"ylven/ ..
Bureau istant ub-commis ioner
for the Ninth Di trict 0 Virginia in
June 1865. He understood the new
agency in the terms conveyed by its
ho rte ned. informal title. "Freed­
men' Bureau." Mo t of the more
than forty tbousam Blacks in hi dis­
trict were refugee freedmelb He in­
itiaily aw himself primarily as
advocate" for th e freedmen; the
abandoned Ian within his jurisdic­
tion were to be used to sist them in
becoming productive, responsible
members of free ociety.
/\ THE GRAND visions of the
I . freedmen's future conceived by
. Wilder. the Blacks, and the mission-
aries were short-lived. Bureau
agen in the South soon found them­
selv cautht between the orders of
the president am the intent of Con­
S . If they obeyed Johnson' di-
recttves on la <1 t on d
treatment of ex- laves, clearly
violated the purpose of Congress in
creating the Bureau. If they at­
tempted to procrastinate in hope that
Congress could reverse Johnsonian
policies, they were disobeying direct
orders from the commander-in­
chief. the president. Since mo t were
army officers, such disobedience
could r rult in military courtmartial.
For Bureau agents on the lower
Peninsula, the requirement to obey
presidential directives was espe­
cially repugnant.
Many of these officials, particu ..
larly C. B. Wilder, had strong ties to
the abolitionist movement aM mis­
sionary groups. They had entered the
anny specifically to aid the freedmen
ard were more nearly missionaries
� in uniform than officers assigned to
the not always welcomed duty of
Bureau agent.
These officers faced a hopeless
dilemma. Under Johnsonian Recon­
struction, they were required to carry
out three major policies: restoration
of rebel property to its owners, es tab-
. From Fr. edom'. First Gen­
eration: Black Hampton, V1r�
gin/a, 18 1·1890 by Robert
Francl En . Pub' hed 1171. by
the University of Penn.ytvan PN_.
3133 Walnut Sti .. t, Phil d 'ph • PA
11104
Reprint d below are extract
from Chapter SIx.·Th Fre d­
min' Bureau Ind John onlan
ReconstructloA 1885-1866·
When tbe war ended, Hampton' •
Blacks proclaimed their faith in God,
the national Republican party, am
the American political p . Tbe
will of the first of these three de­
meats is unfatlx>mable but tile be­
havior of the econd two, by the fall
of 1S65, certainly weakened Black
faith in both.
Blacks were not the only ones
wh aith was being ted. The
new president, Andrew Johnson,
seemed to be deliberately defying
the intent of Congress and the wishes
of most Northerners in his Recon­
struction program. Before its ad­
journment in May of 1865, Congress
provided for the disfranchise­
m t of prominent rebels, tbe eonfis­
cation of their property, and its
redistribution among the freedmen
as family farms.!Fhe PfCSea· ident's 1-
icy of granting pardons tInt
rebels, which he insisted . ed with
them the restoration of property, was
undermining congressional plans for
reconstructing the South. Moreover,
the president seemed to be encourag­
ing the white South s efforts to re­
duce Blacks to a condition that w
slavery in everything but name
through Black codes and vagrancy
laws.'
Freedmen's Bureau Circular
-13 laying out procedures for the
distribution of confiscated land
to ex-slaves was rescinded ...
The new order directed those
lands be returned to pardoned
rebels and encoura those
same rebels to permit small
plots to th Black laborers they
employed.
.'
It was to avoid exactly uch mis­
treatment of freedmen that Congress
had created, in May '1865, a Bureau
of Refugees, Freedmen, and Aban­
doned Lands in th War Department.
The Bureau was to oversee the well­
being of the freedmen and to' carry'
out th distribution of land to them.
Of the agenci created- to erve
the freedmen during the Civil War
and Reconstruction, th lower Pen­
irsula's Blacks and their missionary
allies greeted the Bureau with great­
e t enthusiasm and expectation.
Here was an agency . hich would
protect the freedmen in their rights,
.:' oversee their education, and fo ter
their development as a fI1 , eco-
.nornically elf- upporting people."
The original agents the Bureau in
Hampton Roads red this enthusi­
asm. C. B. Wilder was appointed
lishment of a contract labor y tern
between white landowners and
Black workers, aoo removal of the
excess Black population from the
lower Peninsula
In each instance they thereby vio­
lated the best interests of the Blacks,
the desir of the freedmen' North­
ern allies. and in many em their
own consciences as well. The true
stalwarts of the Blackman's cause in
the Bureau did not remain to carry
out the Johnsonian program but it
was implemented nonethel ,and
the high hopes of the area' freed­
men were dashed a consequence.
TH REED ME , BU-
U carne to Hampton with I
fanfare. than in other areas of the
South. There were no dramatic
chan
; C.B. Wild�r, uperinten-
. ,
dent of egro affairs ince- 1862,
imply took on a new title and a
larger geographic area of ponsi-
bility ...
Peace and the return of the former
rebels mplicated Wilder' respon-
ibilitie considerably. The uncer­
tain distribution of power among
inilitary, Bureau, and civil officials
meant his office became the focal
point for all business relating to free­
dmen.
On the one hand he became chief
adjudicator of the Black community,
resolving uch family problems as
the e of a blind freedwoman none
of whose children wanted th sole
responsibility of caring for her; he
required each child to support ·the
mother for two montbs of the year.
On the other hand, he had to cope
with imperious returnicg rebels, "I'C=
Ie with presidential pardon ,"
manding the re toration of their
land and the rernov of Bl ck
squatters." .
In his attempts to resolve dis­
pute , Wilder invariably placed
more credence in the word of a freed­
man than in that of a rebel planter,
aoo often more than in that of a Un­
ion military officer. He Was in con­
stant conflict with anny officers at
Fortress Monroe over the nonpay­
ment of wages to the freedmen.
He suspected every request from
a fellow Bureau officer upcountry
for the return of a black refugee so
. that "he might properly upport his
family" as a ruse by a a rto force
the return of a valuable worker.
Wilder frequently admonished
his ubordinates, when investigating
charges against th freedmen, to in­
terview not only the white complain­
ant but the accused Bla k as well.
Many of his reports onsuchcases
were forwarded to Richmond with
the notation about the Black in ques­
tion, "this man is known by me to be
an honest and hard working freed­
man." Wilder's hard work and good
intentions did not prevent a rapid
deterioration of relations between
the Bureau and the freedmen.
Northern wartime promises.
The Blacks did not urrender
meekly. They had remained loyal to
the Union when their masters had
rebelled. Thcy'h8d farmed the n­
doned farms throughout the war;
their Blac predecessors had done
the arne for several generations
without pay.
. It w they, not the pardoned re­
bel, who d erved the land. Despite
Union orders, the freedmen on the
lower Peninsula refused to give up
their land voluntarily. Nor would
many of them pay rent for the land to
their former owners.
Instead, they armed themselves
and threatened to respond violently
WILDER, LIKE THE Blacks,
was a helpless victim in the process.
The problem was lam for the freed­
men. He had taken the Bureau's Cir­
cular 0 rder Thi rteen of 28 J uly-l865
quite seriously. It laid out procedures
for the distribgtion of confiscated
land to ex-slaves.
But before Wilder could imple­
ment the Order. O. O. Howard, bureau
commissioner, advised his agents
that Circular TIll rteen was rescinded.
In its place. Circular Order Fifteen,
written at the command of President
Johnson, was is ued.
The new Order directed Bureau
agents to return confiscated land to
pardoned rebel and encouraged
these arne rebels -to .permit mall
plots to the Bl k laborers they em­
ployed.
In hort freedmen would get no
government land; they were to return
to their home plantations and work
for their former owners."
When the freedmen in Wilder's
district were informed of the new
policy, they were at. first unbeliev-
ing, and th n in uriated. They us­
pected that local agents like Wilder
were.lying to them. When Commis­
sioner Howa and Subcommi -
sioner Brown visited Hampton
encouraging fr dmen to return to
th ir former homes and work for
wag , the Blacks began to ·realize
the truth.
It was the president ana ational
government that were defaulting on
m r
to any effort to evict them. In uch
�nstat¥:C:S, white Union troop ,many
of whom had recently fought in the
same sony with tbese Blac Wers,
ere ordered to drive the quatters
off restored lam at gunpoint It is no
wonder that many freedmen began to
wonder who really won the war, the
North or the South? •..
,c
40 ACRES AND A MULE
WERE EVER GIVEN
TO THE FREED SOLA VES
Ple,ae 81gn thl petition and come toget
'-..
•
o
0'
Thl I c II to ctlon in thl election yelr. Since w n ver 9 tour 40 aere and mul, now
I th tim to apply to politician cov tlng our vot 8.,Th y led with th Jap' n 0 and the
N tlve Am rlcan nd r In f vor of giving th r t to the Ru I n - but It' our turn.
I'
o ACRES AND A MULE COMMI - P.O. BOX 5577 • TACO A, WASH 8415
Ray Scott 206�73-4816
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