Episodes Nearest to October 1, 1865 to October 31, 1865: 1 through 25 of 25

  1. The Freedmen’s Record Reports on the Prosperity of Freedmen
    date October, 1865 to 1865map SUFFOLK, Massachusettstags African-Americans, Economy, Race-Relations, Slavery

    According to the Freedmen’s Record report, many southerners perceived freedmen as “a hopelessly lazy, sensual creature who, if he has enough to satisfy the lowest animal wants, will be content.” They feared that freedmen would resort to theft instead of working to fulfill their needs.  The Record attempted to change these perceptions by exposing the tremendous success of...

  2. The Pardon of Basil Manly
    date September 12, 1865 to October 19, 1865map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Church/Religious-Activity, Government, Slavery, War

    On September 12, 1865 President Andrew Johnson signed a full pardon of offenses committed under rebellion for Basil Manly, Sr. of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Included in Manly's offenses was the prayer at Jefferson Davis' inauguration to the presidency of the confederacy in February 1861. As part of a special group of ex-confederates who could not sign the typical oath of allegiance, Manly needed...

  3. The Arrest of Senator Clay in the Assasination of Lincoln
    date May 22, 1865 to April 17, 1866map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Crime/Violence, Politics, War, Women

    When Mrs. Virginia Clay, the wife of Senator Clay of Alabama, received news of her husband's arrest, she was immediately enraged. Up to this point in 1865, she had been enjoying the life of a socialite in Washington, DC, while Mr. Clay had taken on the role of Senator for the Confederacy. President Johnson had Clay arrested, alongside Jefferson Davis for allegedly conspiring in the assassination...

  4. Orphaned to Cloud Nine
    date November 8, 1865map NORTHAMPTON, Virginiatags Arts/Leisure, Economy, Education, Migration/Transportation, Urban-Life/Boosterism, Women

    November 8, 1865, Miss Mary West Jenkins wed Dr. John F. Boynton in a hot air balloon above the clouds. The bride was an orphan, born in Northampton County, Virginia, and adopted by Mrs. J.L. West of St. Louis as an infant. With over 6,000 spectators present, the bridal party left the Fifth Avenue Hotel for Central Park. His sister and the owner of the balloon accompanied the young bride and her...

  5. The Execution of Captain Henry Wirz
    date November 10, 1865map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Crime/Violence, Health/Death

    Captain Henry Wirz came to America from Switzerland in 1849. He settled in Louisiana and worked as a doctor to slaves on a plantation. At the beginning of the Civil War, he joined the Fourth Louisiana Infantry and fought for about a year before he was wounded and lost most of the use of his right arm. Since he could not fight, the army reassigned him to work at a couple of prisons and he eventually...

  6. Southern Religion
    date November 13, 1865map WASHINGTON, Mississippitags African-Americans, Church/Religious-Activity, Race-Relations

    In an attempt to legitimatize the institution of slavery, many white slave owners sought justification for their dominating actions within the Bible. They believed they had found it in the Old Testament with the Curse of Ham in Genesis 9:25-27. Cursed be Canaan The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers...Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem May Canaan be the slave of Shem. These southerners...

  7. Freedmen's Bureau: Simply Welfare? Or Something More?
    date March 3, 1865 to 1866map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Freedmen's Bureau, Freed Slaves, Political Cartoons, Freedmen

    The Civil War left the freedmen with no place to live, no food to put on their plates, and no opportunity for jobs. Responding to this problem, the government established The Freedmen’s Bureau. Launched on March 3, 1865, the Bureau provided relief to freed slaves, including giving out clothing, food, and medicine. The Bureau also confiscated land in some of the former confederate states to give...

  8. Freedman's Bureau Labor Contracts
    date December 1, 1865map HALIFAX, Virginiatags African-Americans, Law, Race-Relations

    In the year 1865, Samuel Wilson signed a Freedman's Bureau document that concerned two of his younger slaves. The document proclaimed Edmund and Farrel free boys of color. The document went on to say that the boys were age 13 and 11 and became Samuel's apprentices till the age of 21. The two boys had to faithfully serve and obey their master until their apprenticeship with Samuel came to...

  9. Freedmen Renew Fears of Rebellion
    date December 4, 1865map MATHEWS, Virginiatags African-Americans, Agriculture, Crime/Violence, Race-Relations, Slavery

    In December 1865, The Sun in Baltimore reported on a story from the Norfolk Virginian concerning the formation of a militia in Matthews County, Virginia. The war had ended months before, but the men of Matthews County still felt the need to protect themselves. The possibility of an insurrection of the newly autonomous group of freedmen in their area terrified the white men of Matthews...

  10. Black Codes and Racism in South Carolina Prevent Migration to the State by Northerners
    date December 8, 1865map CHARLESTON, South Carolina, NEW YORK, New Yorktags Migration, Politics, Race-Relations, Black Codes, South Carolina, Reconstruction

    At the close of the Civil War, wealthy northerners were interested in acquiring new farmland to develop. To do so, they needed to relocate to areas that were less populated than the North. Despite their admiration for South Carolina’s “lands and climate,” northerners feared living in the state, because of the potential violence. During this time, South Carolina began enacting black codes to...

  11. A Sunday Snub
    date August 22, 1865map MONTGOMERY, Alabamatags African-Americans, Church/Religious-Activity, Government, Law, Race-Relations, Urban-Life/Boosterism, War

    On an August morning in Montgomery, Alabama, an elderly African-American woman found a seat in one of Montgomery's principal churches and waited for the service to begin. While she waited, however, she was...politely told that accommodations were prepared for her in another part of the building. The lady moved off quietly and took her place in the gallery. In an article in the Montgomery Advertiser...

  12. Black Code in Mississippi
    date December 11, 1865map ADAMS, Mississippitags African-Americans, Government, Law, Race-Relations

    A small article on the front page of The Natchez Democrat on December 11, 1865, described a conflict between state militia and black freedmen almost two weeks earlier. The incident occurred as the militia attempted to search for arms in the black community Grenada, Mississippi. The militia seized "a large number of muskets, ammunition…from the negroes."

    This event was the...

  13. Cholera Outbreak Anticipated
    date December 13, 1865map NANSEMOND, Virginiatags Government, Health/Death

    The people of Norfolk were worried. According to the Norfolk Virginian, the Board of Health expected Asiatic cholera to spread to North America soon. The United States had seen cholera before. In 1832, it spread through New York and parts of Canada. It killed over ten thousand in New York, New Orleans, and St. Louis in 1849. Several thousands more were lost in Chicago in the 1850s....

  14. An Oath of Pretending
    date August 14, 1865map GREENVILLE, South Carolinatags Confederacy, Civil War

    Four months after the end of the Civil War, Edwin Ware leaned down and signed an oath of loyalty to the United States government, swearing his support and protection of the constitution and union of the states, including the recently emancipated slaves. The former slave owner was the 2,560th person in Greenville, South Carolina to complete such an oath. Ware had effectively signed over...

  15. The Constant Threat of Disease
    date August 8, 1865map MONTGOMERY, Alabamatags African-Americans, Health/Death, Urban-Life/Boosterism

    On August 8, 1865, the Montgomery Advertiser warned its readers to look out for cholera. The article went on to say that it is reported in a state paper, that several well defined cases of cholera have appeared in New York City, and that each resulted fatally. We are no alarmists, but what can prevent terrible fatality, if disease in epidemic form should appear in our beautiful city? The houses...

  16. Admiral Semmes Charged With Treason
    date December 25, 1865map NANSEMOND, Virginiatags Government, Law, War

    The Civil War was over, and it was time for those who led the South to be punished. The Norfolk Virginian reported on Monday, December 25, 1865, that the Union arrested "Raphael Semmes, late Admiral in the Confederate navy, and commander of the celebrated cruiser Alabama," with "a profound feeling of shame." The people of the South lamented the "unexpected arrest and immediate transfer...

  17. Art of Great Amusement: Life of Confederate States of America Prisoners of War
    date December 29, 1865map ROCK ISLAND, Illinoistags Rock Island, Ft. Armstrong, Prisoners of war, Civil War

    On December 29th 1865, Lafayette Rogan ventured out of the shoddily constructed prison barracks onto the frozen Mississippi River in the bitter cold. In the prison that December, Rogan had seen a side of the Civil War few remember now. He experienced almost a month of weather he described as miserable and intensely cold. To compound matters, adequate clothing and blankets were in short...

  18. Sharecropping Labor Contract
    date January 5, 1866map JACKSON, Mississippitags African-Americans, Agriculture, Race-Relations

    On January 5, 1866, a sharecropping contract was made between W. R. Bath, a white land owner, and Ned Littlepage, a freedman. As seen in The Montgomery Advertiser, the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands put out a series of regulations to govern the contracts made between a land owner and a sharecropper. By these rules, a contract for the labor in question had to be produced in writing...

  19. Scalawag Shares Feelings on Reconstruction
    date January 7, 1866map FULTON, Georgiatags African American Sufferage

    Scalawag, a pejorative term not commonly used, became a commonly spoken slur used to describe Union sympathizers living in the South before, during, and after the Civil War. Some politicians, such as the one interviewed in an article in the January 7, 1866 edition of The New York Times, believed that Reconstruction...

  20. Ex-Mistresses and Ex-Slaves
    date January 7, 1866 to January 13, 1866map ALBEMARLE, Virginiatags African-Americans, Race-Relations, Slavery, Women

    Louisa Minor's life was changing all the time. More and more of her former slaves left her land as 1866 began. She felt sad to see people go whom she had known all her life. Louisa Minor mentioned in her diary the change in everyday life as the ex-slaves departed. She stated that though ice was available outside, no one brought it inside, because there were no servants left to do the work. She...

  21. An Editorial on the End of the Civil War in Charleston
    date July 22, 1865map CHARLESTON, South Carolinatags African-Americans, Agriculture, Economy, Slavery, War

    On July 22, 1865, in Charleston, South Carolina, a man by the pen-name of Juhl wrote an editorial in the Charleston Courier describing many elements of city life in the post-Civil War period. The writer's real name was Reverend Julius J. Fleming, a prominent and outspoken citizen of Charleston widely respected for his roles as a preparatory school principal, a Methodist preacher,...

  22. George Boutwell Fights for Black Rights in D.C.
    date January 18, 1866map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Politics, African-Americans, Law, Government

    With the conclusion of the Civil War, came the question of what to do about the rights of the freedmen who were now considered men instead of property. George Boutwell gave a speech to the House of Representatives, he rationalized why African...

  23. Trial Finds a White Man Innocent of Shooting a Black Man
    date January 19, 1866map Washington City, District of Columbiatags African-Americans, Crime/Violence, Health/Death, Law, Race-Relations, Slavery

    After the death of John Anderson, a black man who had been shot by an unknown white man, a trial was being held with eye-witnesses. Of the three witnesses who testified, two of them were black and one of them was white. The first black witness, known as Henry Barret, testified that the assailant had been a white man who he believed may have been dressed in grey and wearing a hat. The following white...

  24. Washington's Rejection of Black Suffrage
    date January 20, 1866map Washington City, District of Columbiatags African-Americans, Government, Law, Politics, Race-Relations

    An unknown editor for the National Intelligencer in the District of Columbia complained in his article of the recent decision passed by the House of Representatives that allowed for black suffrage. He pointed out that, in a republican government, important legislation being passed and affecting the people should be reflective of the interests of at least majority of the people. He claimed, however,...

  25. Thieving Soldiers Lead to Gunbattle
    date July 9, 1865map TWIGGS, Georgiatags African-Americans, Crime/Violence, Health/Death, Government, Urban-Life/Boosterism

    On a Georgia night in June of 1865, three federal soldiers sought out treasure and ended up wounded or dead. The soldiers had heard rumors of the great wealth of Georgia cotton planters. Now, with a freedman guide leading them to the house of Robert Paul where the ex-slave insisted they would find 15,000 in gold and silver, the soldiers hoped to seize a piece of that fortune for themselves.

    The...