Skylar Windholz
Professor Mills
US History Since 1876-History 1632
10 December 2017
General William Sherman Special Order 15
In the primary source, it states that near the end of the Civil War in 1865, and also after the 13th amendment that abolished slavery was implemented, General William Sherman, who represented the military and government, was faced with a huge issue that needed to be solved. Since he was given ownership of “the islands from Charleston, south, the abandoned rice fields along..and the country bordering the St. Johns river, Florida,” which mostly contained newly freed slaves, Sherman had to execute a plan of where to place these individuals (Sherman). As a result, Sherman wrote and proposed, Special Field Order 15, that
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set aside these areas for freed slaves to settle. Each family was offered 40 acres and military mules, leading to the phrase, “40 acres and a mule,” which became a symbol of the economic independence gained by former slaves and like “other Americans, believed essential to genuine freedom (Foner 555). Interestingly enough, Sherman spent a few more weeks having meetings with local black leaders. During the meetings, Sherman “asked the group's leader..Rev. Garrison Frazier, a series of questions,” one of them asking if they would rather live “among the whites, or in colonies” by themselves (McCammon). To which Frazier admitted that they would rather live by themselves, due to the continuous prejudice in the South against African Americans, so Sherman ordered that “no white person, unless military officers and soldiers detailed for duty, will be permitted to reside” (Sherman). Resultantly, Sherman included all of his requests and suggestions, while also setting aside “400,000 acres of confiscated Confederate land for freed slaves” (McCammon). As a consequence, Congress was delighted by Sherman’s Special Order 15, since they originally wanted to confiscate the Confederate armies property and redistribute it permanently to former slaves. Ultimately, after reading through the primary source, it is apparent that social, political, economic, and cultural conditions resulted in the Civil War and eventually, towards the end of the war, thus causing the source to be produced. One of the cultural conditions and social differences being the cause of the Civil War was slavery since it has been labeled a war against slavery. Although slavery was banished from the North by 1787, the South refused to abolish slavery, despite the Constitution stating that America was based on liberty, freedom, and all men being treated equally. To African Americans, “Freedom meant escaping the numerous injustices of slavery” such as, “punishment of the lash, the separation of families, denial of access to education,-and sharing the rights and opportunities..of American citizens” (Foner 557). Based on historical texts, the treatment of slaves was mostly characterized by brutality, through beatings, executions, and rapings. However, certain “slaves were treated differently according to their value or skill sets” including, artisans, skilled laborers, medical practitioners, and technical experts (Boundless). Even though they were treated slightly better than field hands, it was not a lifestyle anyone would like to endure. Additional unfair treatment that slaves experienced was laws that forbade slaves to read, write, associate with free African Americans, “or leave the plantation without their master’s written consent” (Boundless). Even freed African Americans “were forbidden from voting or holding public office,” carrying firearms, and drinking liquor (Boundless). With the poor treatment of African Americans and slavery contradicting the values of freedom and liberty that the Constitution discussed, it caused tension between the North and South, which became clear when the war began. Then, in the end, a sliver of justice was served to the former slaves, even though it was short lived on behalf of “Andrew Johnson, who..quickly reintegrated the rebellious Confederate States” (Lecture 8/24). To further deepen the analysis, it is important to know that the social and cultural conditions also led to the reversal of the Special Order 15.
After Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, “President Andrew Johnson...ordered nearly all land in federal hands returned to its former owners” (Foner 562). The reversal resulted in confrontations by former slaves promised the land, and many insisted that land “was essential to the meaning of freedom” (Foner 562). In the end, the Freedman received and owned no land, so many had to work for their former owners again. Soon after, “sharecropping...arose as a compromise between” African Americans and whites, in which “former slaves-farmed land in exchange for farm supplies and a share of the crop” (Foner 564). However, sharecropping was still considered oppressive with its similarities to slavery. According to most scholars, the repeal of the Special Order 15 is one of the most unfair decisions in American history. It was almost saying ‘Here, we will give this land to you, but it doesn't actually belong to us, so when the Confederates come back home it is theirs again’. Although their freedom was temporary, former slaves believed they received everything but …show more content…
freedom. Furthermore, slavery also extended into the political and economic reasons of the war beginning. For example, in 1857, the supreme court decision in the Dred Scott case, ruled that no state had the authority to own slaves or condone slavery. which Abraham Lincoln had made the public aware of his support towards the abolition of slavery, during his presidential campaign. Yet, the South wanted to preserve their rights to own slaves, due to slaves working the plantations (Fontanilla). This struggle between the South's stubbornness and the Federal government’s effort to prohibit slavery formed into States’ Rights vs Federal rights. Debates were sparked on whether or not the federal government could abolish slavery within those individual states. As time went on, the tension between the Union and the Confederates widened. Ultimately, the nations were even more divided through “the North being economically dominant over the South” (Fontanilla).
Especially since the South had 11 states within its territory, compared to the North containing 23 states. While the North’s “industrialists invested in the expansion of railroads and textile mills, ” the South’s economy relied heavily on cotton farming (Lecture 8/29). But when taxes on imported and exported goods began, this negatively affected the Southern economy and improved the Northern economy. In consideration of the South depending on selling cotton overseas and the North being increasingly industrialized, the South’s profits began to decrease, through the encouragement that America should trade within sections of the country. To further the economic cause of the civil war, it was apparent that “the trade balance was in favor of the North” (Fontanilla). With cotton being the backbone of the Southern economic strength, many feared that without slavery, every aspect of Southern would go down and life would turn into shambles. All of the South felt threatened by the abolition of slavery and the fading economy in their states, which added more fuel for Confederates and Unionists to go to
war. In all, Works Cited Boundless. “Slave Culture and Rebellion.” Slave Culture and Rebellion | Boundless US History. Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty!: an American History. 4th ed., vol. 2, W.W. Norton, 2017. Fontanilla, Conrado. “Political and Economic Causes of the American Civil War.”Owlcation, Owlcation, 28 June 2016. McCammon, Sarah. “The Story Behind '40 Acres And A Mule'.” NPR, NPR, 12 Jan. 2015.
The economies of the North and South were vastly different leading up to the Civil War. Money was equivalent to power in both regions. For the North, the economy was based on industry as they were more modern and self-aware. They realized that industrialization was progress and it could help rid the country of slave labor as it was wrong. The North’s population had a class system but citizens could move within the system, provided they made the money that would allow them to move up in class. The class system was not as rigid as it was in the South. By comparison, the South wanted to hold on to its economic policy. In doing so, the practice of slavery kept the social order firmly in place. The economic factors, social issues and a growing animosity between the two regions helped to induce the Civil War.
Even though the Amendments were enacted, things still weren’t exactly fair. Black families rented land from wealthy white families on which to live and grow crops. White landowners took advantage of a loophole in the 13th amendment to force the black families to pay 2/3 of their profit or crop as rent. This process was called sharecroppin...
In the South, however, the economy was predominantly agricultural. Cotton and tobacco plantations relied heavily on the free labor of slaves for their economic prosperity. They saw the urbanization and industrialization of the North, and the economic connection between the North a...
Throughout the early parts of the century the North had heavily concentrated on industrial improvement while the South had mostly concentrated on agricultural means. This proved to be of great significance, as the two sides would find themselves in a high cost and high demand war. During the onset of the war the "North contained 80% of total U.S. industry" (Rivera pg.1), and many of these production facilities were quickly and easily transformed in order to support the demands of the military. The South on the other hand had very few production facilities and most of them lay along the contested Border States, and they lost most of these facilities when West Virginia, Kentucky, Maryland, and Delaware opted to...
Though the issue of slavery was solved, racism continues and Southerners that stayed after the war passed Black Codes which subverted the ideas of freedom including the actions of state legislatures (Hakim 19). Black Codes were a set of laws that discriminated blacks and limited their freedom (Jordan 388). Such restrictions included: “No negro shall be permitted to rent or keep a house within said parish...No public meetings or congregations of negroes shall be allowed within said parish after sunset…” (Louisiana Black Codes 1865). A solution to this was the 14th Amendment. It meant now all people born in America were citizens and it “Prohibited states from revoking one’s life, liberty, or property without due process of law.” This meant all states had to...
Within the economy a great development had been achieved when the upper south handed its power to the lower south all due to the rise of an agricultural production. This expansion was led by the excessive growth of cotton in the southern areas. It spread rapidly throughout America and especially in the South. During these times it gave another reason to keep the slavery at its all time high. Many wealthy planters started a ‘business’ by having their slaves work the cotton plantations, which this was one of a few ways slavery was still in full effect. Not only were there wealthy planters, at this time even if you were a small slave-holder you were still making money. While all of this had been put into the works, Americans had approximately 410,000 slaves move from the upper south to the ‘cotton states’. This in turn created a sale of slaves in the economy to boom throughout the Southwest. If there is a question as to ‘why’, then lets break it d...
Slavery had a big impact on the market, but most of it was centered on the main slave crop, cotton. Primarily, the south regulated the cotton distribution because it was the main source of income in the south and conditions were nearly perfect for growing it. Cheap slave labor made it that much more profitable and it grew quickly as well. Since the development in textile industry in the north and in Britain, cotton became high in demand all over the world. The south at one point, was responsible for producing “eighty percent of the world’s cotton”. Even though the South had a “labor force of eighty-four percent working, it only produced nine percent of the nations manufactured goods”, (Davidson 246). This statistic shows that the South had an complete advantage in manpower since slavery wasn’t prohibited. In the rural South, it was easy for plantation owners to hire slaves to gather cotton be...
This same year General Sherman issued the Special Field Order 15, in attempt to provide land for the ex-slaves. There was 40 acres of land and a mule waiting for the emancipated slaves, this gave hope for an economic development among black communities. The Special Field Order 15 put all the land under federal control acquired by the government during the war to use for the homestead of the blacks. Even with the offer of land, some slaves fled the South into the North for a better life.... ... middle of paper ...
A Major cause of the Civil War was the economic tensions between the northern states that wanted to outlaw slavery, and the southern states that wanted to expand and allow slavery to prosper. One example of the economic strain between the North and the South was in Documents 2 and 3. Document 2 shows pie graphs, that represent the population between the North and the South. The pie graphs also show the amount of total population, slave population, industrial worker population, amount of yearly manufactured value, amount of railroad mileage, amount of cotton bales, and the amount of bushels of corn. Document 2 is comparing the strong and weak sides of both the northern and southern economy. In addition, the document also represents what each economy depends on. For example, the North has produced 59% of all the corn in the country, while the South only produced 41% of the corn. This shows that the North was able to grow most of the corn, while the South was able to produce all of the cotton in the count...
During the time of reconstruction, the 13th amendment abolished slavery. As the Nation was attempting to pick up their broken pieces and mend the brokenness of the states, former slaves were getting the opportunity to start their new, free lives. This however, created tension between the Northerners and the Southerners once again. The Southerners hated the fact that their slaves were being freed and did not belong to them anymore. The plantations were suffering without the slaves laboring and the owners were running out of solutions. This created tension between the Southern planation owners and the now freed African Americans. There were many laws throughout the North and the South that were made purposely to discriminate the African Americans.
The ending of the civil war marked the greatest culture shift in the United States since they became independent of Britain. Through Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and the passing of the 13th Amendment, all slaves became free upon the conclusion of the war. This was a momentous moment for these new freedmen; however, the switch from a society which for two hundred has relied on slavery to one where blacks and whites are “equal”, caused quite a bit of distress among Southerners. The Radical Republicans of the North were bitter over the last four years of war, and the Southern states secession of the Union. They wanted to punish the Southern plantation owners for the rebellion they incited, but realized they needed to act
Slavery today is a large concern to many people, just as it always has been. Any type of slavery is considered immoral and unjust in today’s society and standards. However, before the Civil War, slavery was as common as owning a dog today. Many in the United States, particularly in the South, viewed slavery as a “positive good” and owned slaves that were crucial to their business and income. However, the Civil War then changed the lifestyle of many southerners in a negative way.
Northerners had a moral hatred for slavery and hoped to abolish it completely in the South. By passing the 13th Amendment, Congress was finally able to end slavery, freeing slaves. For the first time, African Americans were able to leave their plantations. Some were anxious and couldn’t bring themselves to leave their plantations due to the fact that they didn’t know where to go. Others were jubilant, and took advantage of this opportunity – they traveled around the nation and some even re-united with their families. Meanwhile, Southern state conventions were being held to try and limit their freedom by adopting the “Black Codes.” This contract took away the right’s of African Americans, and put slavery under a new name. Giving the slaves freedom was just too over-whelming for the South – they had depended on slavery for decades; socially, politically, and most importantly, economically. Letting go of slavery could not have been such an easy process, especially for the
The Union victory in the Civil War in 1865 may have given about 4 million slaves their freedom, but the process of rebuilding the South during the Reconstruction period 1865-1877 introduced a new set of significant challenges. Under the administration of President Andrew Johnson in 1865 and 1866, new southern state legislatures passed restrictive “black codes” to control the labor and behavior of former slaves and other African Americans. Outrage in the North over these codes eroded support for the approach
As the southern economy grew larger and larger, they relied heavily on “King Cotton”, which was the economic importance of cotton pre-Civil War. It would only work with a certain system and that system was forced labor. Northerners were becoming irritated with Congress as they did not seem to object slavery, but they did hate how it interfered with