2 10 24 https://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/bff16589a0b31c4e616311c7f7749833.png 55805dfd1b2b0833649a9d7de0b44bc6 https://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/a729cf000eab43738e726fdf1629cd42.png 4f5e585ad9d2e08e5896e427a775d49c https://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/239e048f3cc0f418d6fce121df16b069.png 61f38a7820ad21297d9fedee0a44cae2 https://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/2a2abfcda242813b97f41a39c8fae744.png a44e21b9d82b24d178c15b96c06ec1ae Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Emancipation and Citizenship Subject The topic of the resource The documents in this section remind us that emancipation was a process, not a moment. To approach it as such, this theme is broken down into Wartime, Immediate Postwar, and Reconstruction-era sections. Emancipation during the War: When President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on January 1, 1863, it only freed enslaved peoples in Confederate held territory. But this seemingly limited document would revolutionize the United States in the years that followed. Starting in 1863, enslaved peoples, if they could escape to the Union Army, would no longer be returned to their owners, but rather could stay in what were known as contraband camps where some men joined the Army and women served as cooks and laundresses. The contraband camps were not a panacea of freedom — disease was rampant and bigotry did not end with escape — but 1863 marked a radical shift in Federal policy where Union forces were now directly threatening the institution of slavery in the Confederacy. If you're investigating the process of emancipation during the war, you might look at the June 1862 letter from <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/16">Isaac Applewhite</a> warning Governor Pettus of what Applewhite saw as three key threats to the Confederacy in Marion County: enslaved African-Americans who became "emboldened" by nearby Union forces, potentially disloyal civilians, and Confederate deserters. Site users may also want to examine the <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/51">November 1863 telegram</a> from Confederate President Jefferson Davis to MS Governor Charles Clark about U.S. forces recruiting (or "conscripting," in Davis's words) African-American men into the Union Army or Navy, and efforts Davis wanted the state to take to thwart this. See also the unusual November 1863 account of W. E. Montgomery, Captain of the Herndon Rangers, describing the destruction of white Mississippians' properties in Bolivar County by a former overseer and Confederate deserter named Milford Coe. He lived with escaped African-American men, women, and children on an island in the Mississippi River, from which, according to this document, they launched small raids on Confederate property and traded with Union forces. The CWRGM research team is investigating this story to see if it echoes the more famous wartime case of Newton Knight in Jones County or if it is about something else entirely. If you'd like to join our volunteers and dig through newspaper, census, and military records, we'd love to hear what you find about this case. Emancipation in the Immediate Postwar Period: Scholars often warn against reading history backwards. Just because we know Mississippi surrendered in May 1865 does not mean that Mississippians knew the war was about to end that spring. Individuals also did not know what changes would follow — How would emancipation unfold? What rights did free and freed Blacks have, would those be respected or protected, and by whom? What rights and freedoms did former Confederates and Unionists have as Mississippi rejoined the Union? Would slaveholders be compensated for their slaves? Would freed peoples receive land or funds in compensation for their years of unpaid labor? In the sample documents relating to emancipation and the immediate postwar period, several letters spotlights the speed with which some freed peoples asserted themselves as citizens and businessmen. See, for example, <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/87">the case of Lambert Moore</a>. The formerly enslaved man <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1865/08/07/archives/mississippi-taxes-imposed-by-gov-sharkey.html">challenged the idea that he should pay taxes on his wartime earnings</a> and argued, through his attorneys, that he earned that money while hiring himself out as an enslaved man. Since Moore paid a portion of his earnings to the man who owned him (who confirmed that in the same document), Moore had, in essence, already been taxed. You may want to explore a related case made by <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/80">Frank Spruell</a>, a formerly enslaved man who argued directly to Governor Sharkey that he made far too little selling melons to pay $25 in taxes. There are also a series of letters that reveal former slaveholders' questions about their rights and responsibilities under the emancipation policies that went into effect throughout the state with its surrender in May 1865. The following month, <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/69">George T. Swann wrote to Governor William Sharkey </a>from Jackson, MS, describing the lack of clear information he had received on emancipation, a concern echoed by <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/71">S. R. Frierson</a> in Columbus the following month who asked if it would be an immediate or gradual process. In late July, Methodist minister Alex J. Smith from Neshoba County asked for similar clarification for his campaign as a "Union" political candidate facing strong <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/79">"Secession party" opposition</a>. Racial Tensions: Racial tensions increased significantly between moderates and conservatives, blacks and whites, and military and civilian Mississippians in the summer and fall of 1865. As early as July, documents reveal white Mississippians' desire to handle cases in civilian courts, while most African-Americans and U.S. military occupiers saw the need for military oversight. One of these cases involved a <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/75">4th of July shooting</a> where Joseph L. Jackson killed an African-American man (frustratingly unnamed in the document) the Jackson family had once enslaved and who worked as a hired laborer on a Jackson plantation in Washington County. The CWRGM research team is investigating this case to see if Freedmen's Bureau Colonel Samuel Thomas succeeded in his desire to keep the case in military courts, if Governor Sharkey, per the document's authors' advice, contacted President Andrew Johnson to win his support for transfer to civilian court and what Johnson's reaction was (if any), the court's final decision, and what happened to the two families involved after the trial. Another case emerged that fall as Captain S. D. Cooper with the 50th United States Colored Infantry (USCI) investigated charges of theft <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/84">filed by a Rankin County man</a> against one of his former slaves (again unnamed in the record), while another document reveals a request by the <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/90">mayor of Clinton, Mississippi</a> for clarification on how to interpret and enforce labor contracts. Both documents reflect a sharp spike in labor disputes as white and black Mississippians asserted their power and independence. Site visitors may also want to explore the case of Captain Peck, Provost Marshal of the Freedmen's Bureau. He arrested the former sheriff of Copiah County, Colonel Drury Brown, in the fall of 1865 on charges of violence against a freedman. When Governor Sharkey lobbied to have Brown transferred to a civilian court, it appears that Brown won his case and then Peck went to jail rather than pay bail for his appearances in court (though this part is unclear). At that point, U.S. Maj. Gen. Peter J. Osterhaus intervened, sending 300 U.S. Colored Troops (USCTs) to force the release of Peck from a Copiah County jail. This document spells out some of that case, and this <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1865/11/04/archives/from-the-south-and-west-petition-for-the-pardon-of-jacob.html">New York Times article</a> and along with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1865/11/12/archives/southern-items-trouble-in-mississippi-a-county-under-military.html">this one</a> offers a bit more context. This is another case the CWRGM research team is investigating. We welcome help from the public. Emancipation and African-American Citizenship during Reconstruction: The Emancipation Proclamation led to the passage and ratification of three constitutional amendments: the 13th Amendment in 1865 (abolition of slavery throughout the U.S. and territories), followed by the 14th Amendment in 1868 (guaranteeing rights of citizenship) and the 15th Amendment in 1870 (extending the right to vote to adult African-American men). Despite this powerful legislation, military and civilian leaders varied greatly in their ability or willingness to enforce the laws that protected the rights of all Mississippians throughout Reconstruction. There is an 1870 document in this sample (also included under the "Civilian" theme) that exemplifies the significant increase in racial violence by the 1870s and efforts taken to combat this by Mississippi Governor James Lusk Alcorn as well as U.S. military forces. <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/94">This documen</a>t shares the report of J. J. Gainey, a Union Army veteran and agent of the Mississippi Secret Service established by Alcorn to investigate and prosecute Ku Klux Klan violence in the state. Gainey's investigation, detailed here, uncovered several assaults on African-Americans in Lafayette County, MS, including one shooting and possible murders in Arkansas. This is another case that the CWRGM research team is investigating. We welcome help from the public. (Written by Susannah J. Ural, Ph.D.) Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Page 1: Hd Qrs 50, U.S, Col'd, Inft Jackson Miss sept 5th 1865 Lt Col R. S. Donaldson A. A. Commissioner of Bureau of abandoned Lands Refugees, & Freedmen Sir: I regret to report that the papers, containing the testimony in The case of the mule in dispute between Mr Cline of Rankin Co. and a negro man, have while moving from Brandon to this place, been lost or mislaid. and although I have made dilligent search I have failed to find them I will give you however an outline of the testimony on which my decision was based. The mule in dispute was blind in left eye had a scar where the girt pressed, several white spots—the general color being Brown or black—and had a brand upon it. Mr Cline under oath described a mule he had lost about the 12th or 14th of March which description answered to the mule in dispute except that his was not branded. One witness on the part of Mr Cline, Testified Page 2: that the mule lost by him, was brown, was blind in the left eye, and had a scar when the girt pressed. He did not know of any white spots upon it; there was no brand. Five other witnesses knew the mule that was lost, described it as brown and and blind in the lef eye: did not remember any other marks; was not at all certain that the mule in question was the one lost On the part of the Defence Mr Proctor testified that the mule in dispute had been brought to his farm by the negro man about the 1st of May, and that it then had the brand of the fig, 8 upon ^it^ which brand had an old apperance, was entirely healed and had no apperance of having been recently done, He said that the colored man, within two or three day from that time attempted to obliterate the brand, by burning with a hot iron: the scar produced by the latter buring was not entirely healed although more than two months had elapsed 2d witness (colored man) testified that he had been the slave of Mr Cline and was aquainted Page 3: with the appearance of the mule that was lost by Mr Cline, that it was blind in the left eye but that the eye ball was entire, the substance not being wasted or absorbed, while with the mule in question the eye was nearly half gone. The mule that was lost had rec'd an injury of the left fore foot which caused the old hoof to come off the new hoof yet carried evidence of the injury, having a longitudinal scar or ridge extending from the upper to lower part of the hoof. This ridge was quite prrominent at the time the mule was lost or stolen and the foot was tender, causing the mule to limp when it [tread?] upon hard substances, The scar was visible on the mule in question & then was no limping. The testimony of other witnesses was unimportant as regarded the identity of the mule except that one testified to the fullness of the eye The above is substantially the evidence adduced, in regard to the case. and on which I decided in favor of the claim of the colored man I remain with respect, obediently yours S D Cooper Capt 50th U.S.C.I Comdg Detachment Page 4: Hd. Qrd. 50th U.S.C.I. Jackson Miss. Sept. 5. 1865 Cooper S. D. Capt. Report of Evidence in Case of a Mule in dispute betwen Mr. Cline of Rankin Co. and a Negro man Office Act. Asst. Comr. Freedmens Bureau Jackson Miss. Sept 6/65 Respectfully forwarded R, S. Donaldson Lt. Col. Actg. Asst. Commissioner Hd Qrs North Dist Miss Jackson Miss Sept 7th 65 Respectfully returned to Hon W. S. Sharkey Pro Govr Mississippi P Jos Osterhaus Maj Gen Vols by N. A. Gordon Maj. AAG Vols Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Letter from Captain S. D. Cooper to Lieutenant Colonel R. S. Donaldson; September 5, 1865 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context mdah_776-960-01-22 Subject The topic of the resource Mississippi. Governor; Sharkey, William Lewis, 1798-1873; Slavery.; United States. Army.; United States. Colored Troops Description An account of the resource From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Sharkey Collection. Letter from Captain S. D. Cooper, an officer in the 50th United States Colored Infantry, to Lieutenant Colonel R. S. Donaldson concerning a dispute over ownership of a mule between Mr. Cline and a formerly enslaved person. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Cooper, S. D. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Mississippi Department of Archives and History. (electronic version); Mississippi Digital Library. (electronic version) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1865-09-05 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Funding for this project provided by The Dale Center for Study of War and Society-USM, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, the Mississippi Digital Library, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the University of Southern Mississippi, and the Watson-Brown Foundation Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource NO COPYRIGHT - UNITED STATES; http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/ Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1865 https://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/ae83d1d4855eef492975ad69d15dcd42.png 4c2e075042c8520ec658188b88dd90fb https://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/22ad2035dff12ca1ce753a2bc9e59599.png ef3d0580124baf58ea64e919b17471df https://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/c9b5ebfac5ed36a830c29d97540625da.png 4270caaef38d27b3e94e0d88fbbcfc65 https://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/aae24d2eb9d2b236a71bb00783440933.png 41ea8a22c294ab02f73d3b99ba4b2e07 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Emancipation and Citizenship Subject The topic of the resource The documents in this section remind us that emancipation was a process, not a moment. To approach it as such, this theme is broken down into Wartime, Immediate Postwar, and Reconstruction-era sections. Emancipation during the War: When President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on January 1, 1863, it only freed enslaved peoples in Confederate held territory. But this seemingly limited document would revolutionize the United States in the years that followed. Starting in 1863, enslaved peoples, if they could escape to the Union Army, would no longer be returned to their owners, but rather could stay in what were known as contraband camps where some men joined the Army and women served as cooks and laundresses. The contraband camps were not a panacea of freedom — disease was rampant and bigotry did not end with escape — but 1863 marked a radical shift in Federal policy where Union forces were now directly threatening the institution of slavery in the Confederacy. If you're investigating the process of emancipation during the war, you might look at the June 1862 letter from <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/16">Isaac Applewhite</a> warning Governor Pettus of what Applewhite saw as three key threats to the Confederacy in Marion County: enslaved African-Americans who became "emboldened" by nearby Union forces, potentially disloyal civilians, and Confederate deserters. Site users may also want to examine the <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/51">November 1863 telegram</a> from Confederate President Jefferson Davis to MS Governor Charles Clark about U.S. forces recruiting (or "conscripting," in Davis's words) African-American men into the Union Army or Navy, and efforts Davis wanted the state to take to thwart this. See also the unusual November 1863 account of W. E. Montgomery, Captain of the Herndon Rangers, describing the destruction of white Mississippians' properties in Bolivar County by a former overseer and Confederate deserter named Milford Coe. He lived with escaped African-American men, women, and children on an island in the Mississippi River, from which, according to this document, they launched small raids on Confederate property and traded with Union forces. The CWRGM research team is investigating this story to see if it echoes the more famous wartime case of Newton Knight in Jones County or if it is about something else entirely. If you'd like to join our volunteers and dig through newspaper, census, and military records, we'd love to hear what you find about this case. Emancipation in the Immediate Postwar Period: Scholars often warn against reading history backwards. Just because we know Mississippi surrendered in May 1865 does not mean that Mississippians knew the war was about to end that spring. Individuals also did not know what changes would follow — How would emancipation unfold? What rights did free and freed Blacks have, would those be respected or protected, and by whom? What rights and freedoms did former Confederates and Unionists have as Mississippi rejoined the Union? Would slaveholders be compensated for their slaves? Would freed peoples receive land or funds in compensation for their years of unpaid labor? In the sample documents relating to emancipation and the immediate postwar period, several letters spotlights the speed with which some freed peoples asserted themselves as citizens and businessmen. See, for example, <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/87">the case of Lambert Moore</a>. The formerly enslaved man <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1865/08/07/archives/mississippi-taxes-imposed-by-gov-sharkey.html">challenged the idea that he should pay taxes on his wartime earnings</a> and argued, through his attorneys, that he earned that money while hiring himself out as an enslaved man. Since Moore paid a portion of his earnings to the man who owned him (who confirmed that in the same document), Moore had, in essence, already been taxed. You may want to explore a related case made by <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/80">Frank Spruell</a>, a formerly enslaved man who argued directly to Governor Sharkey that he made far too little selling melons to pay $25 in taxes. There are also a series of letters that reveal former slaveholders' questions about their rights and responsibilities under the emancipation policies that went into effect throughout the state with its surrender in May 1865. The following month, <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/69">George T. Swann wrote to Governor William Sharkey </a>from Jackson, MS, describing the lack of clear information he had received on emancipation, a concern echoed by <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/71">S. R. Frierson</a> in Columbus the following month who asked if it would be an immediate or gradual process. In late July, Methodist minister Alex J. Smith from Neshoba County asked for similar clarification for his campaign as a "Union" political candidate facing strong <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/79">"Secession party" opposition</a>. Racial Tensions: Racial tensions increased significantly between moderates and conservatives, blacks and whites, and military and civilian Mississippians in the summer and fall of 1865. As early as July, documents reveal white Mississippians' desire to handle cases in civilian courts, while most African-Americans and U.S. military occupiers saw the need for military oversight. One of these cases involved a <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/75">4th of July shooting</a> where Joseph L. Jackson killed an African-American man (frustratingly unnamed in the document) the Jackson family had once enslaved and who worked as a hired laborer on a Jackson plantation in Washington County. The CWRGM research team is investigating this case to see if Freedmen's Bureau Colonel Samuel Thomas succeeded in his desire to keep the case in military courts, if Governor Sharkey, per the document's authors' advice, contacted President Andrew Johnson to win his support for transfer to civilian court and what Johnson's reaction was (if any), the court's final decision, and what happened to the two families involved after the trial. Another case emerged that fall as Captain S. D. Cooper with the 50th United States Colored Infantry (USCI) investigated charges of theft <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/84">filed by a Rankin County man</a> against one of his former slaves (again unnamed in the record), while another document reveals a request by the <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/90">mayor of Clinton, Mississippi</a> for clarification on how to interpret and enforce labor contracts. Both documents reflect a sharp spike in labor disputes as white and black Mississippians asserted their power and independence. Site visitors may also want to explore the case of Captain Peck, Provost Marshal of the Freedmen's Bureau. He arrested the former sheriff of Copiah County, Colonel Drury Brown, in the fall of 1865 on charges of violence against a freedman. When Governor Sharkey lobbied to have Brown transferred to a civilian court, it appears that Brown won his case and then Peck went to jail rather than pay bail for his appearances in court (though this part is unclear). At that point, U.S. Maj. Gen. Peter J. Osterhaus intervened, sending 300 U.S. Colored Troops (USCTs) to force the release of Peck from a Copiah County jail. This document spells out some of that case, and this <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1865/11/04/archives/from-the-south-and-west-petition-for-the-pardon-of-jacob.html">New York Times article</a> and along with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1865/11/12/archives/southern-items-trouble-in-mississippi-a-county-under-military.html">this one</a> offers a bit more context. This is another case the CWRGM research team is investigating. We welcome help from the public. Emancipation and African-American Citizenship during Reconstruction: The Emancipation Proclamation led to the passage and ratification of three constitutional amendments: the 13th Amendment in 1865 (abolition of slavery throughout the U.S. and territories), followed by the 14th Amendment in 1868 (guaranteeing rights of citizenship) and the 15th Amendment in 1870 (extending the right to vote to adult African-American men). Despite this powerful legislation, military and civilian leaders varied greatly in their ability or willingness to enforce the laws that protected the rights of all Mississippians throughout Reconstruction. There is an 1870 document in this sample (also included under the "Civilian" theme) that exemplifies the significant increase in racial violence by the 1870s and efforts taken to combat this by Mississippi Governor James Lusk Alcorn as well as U.S. military forces. <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/94">This documen</a>t shares the report of J. J. Gainey, a Union Army veteran and agent of the Mississippi Secret Service established by Alcorn to investigate and prosecute Ku Klux Klan violence in the state. Gainey's investigation, detailed here, uncovered several assaults on African-Americans in Lafayette County, MS, including one shooting and possible murders in Arkansas. This is another case that the CWRGM research team is investigating. We welcome help from the public. (Written by Susannah J. Ural, Ph.D.) Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Page 1: Raleigh—No. Carolina, Aug: 21 st—1865, His Excellency W. L. Sharkey Provisional Governor [&c?] Dear Sir Although not known to you personally—yet I have so long, and so favorebly known you by character; that I feel I need have no hesitetion in addressing you, on any question; in which the public good may be in=volved. I flatter myself that I may not be entirely unknown to you by chacter, also. I feel the deep=est interest, in a question which I have reflected on a great deal letterly—out of which I think practical benefit may accend to the South. I mean, the obtaining payment in small part from the genl. government for slave property,—lost under the emancipation programme. This idea had no doubt presented itself, to the northern mind during the war. It seems, that Mr. Horace Greely's plan, (as lately published in the correspondence between him & Mess. Clay & Thompson) was to pay the southern people $400.000.000 in government 5 per cent. bonds, for their slaves. We learn, on reliable authority, that of the Fortress Monroe correspondence, Mr. Lincoln said that whilst he could give no pledges yet he believed, there would be a strong disposition even among the members of the "Republican" party; to pay three or four hundred millions of dollars to the losers of slave property—provided the South would abandon the contest & make peace. My idea is as fol=lows. First, the south must act in accord & harmony, [on?] the subject, It must be a unit. Page 2: Any bickering among ourselves, on the subject, would destroy all the moral power and infulence on which the movement must rely, for success. Let every state convention in the South, by ordinance or some other equally solemn and dignified proced=ure, appeal to the Justice, the generosity, the magnanimity, of the general government of northern people, and the Northern States; in favor of the slight compensation of, say $400.000.000 to the losers of slave property. Or if thought best, no ^special^ sum need be mentioned. I doubt, whether it could be carried through Congress, in a shorter period than three or four years. But if the Southern States will all act in concert in this matter, first in the conventions to be holden this Fall, and after that, press it from year to year in their Legislatures; I feel confident, that in a few years , it would pass triumphantly. The idea itself will not startle the Nothern mind, for it is one, which has been thought of, and considered, as a basis of peace during the progress of the war. The proposition would start, with ever member from the South, and the members from the North, that are known to have friendly feelings for us—in its favor. Let the South press it from session to session—as the great appeal to the justice and human=ity of the nation. The moral strength and power of the movement, would soon gain for it, political power. It would carry with it the entire vote of the South as so much practical capital, in a presidential election. In a few years, it would pass—and it would to some extent, save thousands ^of our people^ from ruin. Page 3: My opinion is, it should not be put forth as a de=mand—it should not pressed as a claim, even; but it should be addressed to the sense of jus=tice—of generosity—of magnanimity—of humanity—on the part of a victorious conqueror.—My decided conviction is, that we of the South must adapt ourselves to our situation—we must bow to destiny—we must try and direct, to the promotion of the public good, events, that we can not control. And we should do so, not grudgingly, but calmly and resignedly. As to perpetuatuing slavery, or resurecting it, under a different name, the idea is utopian. It never can be done. And I am equally sure that all idea of obtaining terms for gradual emancipation, is equally vain. Even if it were practicable (which I do not believe) the Federal government would not allow it to be done. Our only hope of obtaining any thing for the immense amount of property we have lost—is in the scheme I have suggested. If the south is true to herself, this scheme is practicable, I feel sure. I regret that I had not ad=dressed you on the subject, before this. I fear your convention may have adjourned before this reaches you. If it has not, I shall to be pleased to hear, that you deem it compatible with your views of duty, and of the public good—to address a commu=nication to the convention, advising such action in the premises, by ordinance, or otherwise, as will carry out the object aimed at.—Let Mississippi inaugurate the movement, to be followed up by the other Southern state conventions—let Page 4: your convention direct you (as governor [&c?],) to transmit a copy of the ordinance, to all the other provisional governors in the south, to be laid before their respective conventions. I should be glad to lay before your Excellency, at length, the many arguments in favor of the project—and the many bles=sings that would result from the distribu=tion of $400.000.000 of capital (for it would be tantamount to that) throughout the Southern States. But in the narrow lim=its of a letter, I can not go into the consideration of those [strikethrough][subjects][strikethrough] views. I hope, my dear sir, you will pardon the liberty, I have thus taken in addressing you on this subject. The deep interest I feel in this question, as promis=ing some relief to our poor unfortunate suffering South—and my conviction that success is certain, of our people will be prudent, energetic, and harmonious-—consti=tute my apology for troubling you. I shall be much gratified to hear from you—and to learn your views on this subject. I doubt not, it may meet with ^some^ opposition from certain quar=ters, even here in the South; but time & discussion among the people are all that is wanting to thoroughly unite the South in its favor. The man, who may identify his name with the measure of relief will be regarded as a public benefac=tor.— Yours most respectfully, K. Rayner Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Letter from K. Rayner to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey; August 21, 1865 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context mdah_776-960-01-21 Subject The topic of the resource Freedmen.; Mississippi. Governor; Sharkey, William Lewis, 1798-1873; Slavery.; Slaves--Emancipation--United States. Description An account of the resource From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Sharkey Collection. Letter from K. Rayner in Raleigh, North Carolina, to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey concerning a plan to have the federal government pay Southerners for the enslaved people whose labor they lost due to emancipation. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rayner, K. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Mississippi Department of Archives and History. (electronic version); Mississippi Digital Library. (electronic version) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1865-08-21 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Funding for this project provided by The Dale Center for Study of War and Society-USM, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, the Mississippi Digital Library, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the University of Southern Mississippi, and the Watson-Brown Foundation Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource NO COPYRIGHT - UNITED STATES; http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/ Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1865 https://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/fa7df3d6e1807fa684ffc0222ad8e085.png f0f2effe30ad893a16258a309e7e9f92 https://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/64053b220cc6d536d708ed32a8027da2.png 1af26b4a613e400791455731102ccc58 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Emancipation and Citizenship Subject The topic of the resource The documents in this section remind us that emancipation was a process, not a moment. To approach it as such, this theme is broken down into Wartime, Immediate Postwar, and Reconstruction-era sections. Emancipation during the War: When President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on January 1, 1863, it only freed enslaved peoples in Confederate held territory. But this seemingly limited document would revolutionize the United States in the years that followed. Starting in 1863, enslaved peoples, if they could escape to the Union Army, would no longer be returned to their owners, but rather could stay in what were known as contraband camps where some men joined the Army and women served as cooks and laundresses. The contraband camps were not a panacea of freedom — disease was rampant and bigotry did not end with escape — but 1863 marked a radical shift in Federal policy where Union forces were now directly threatening the institution of slavery in the Confederacy. If you're investigating the process of emancipation during the war, you might look at the June 1862 letter from <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/16">Isaac Applewhite</a> warning Governor Pettus of what Applewhite saw as three key threats to the Confederacy in Marion County: enslaved African-Americans who became "emboldened" by nearby Union forces, potentially disloyal civilians, and Confederate deserters. Site users may also want to examine the <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/51">November 1863 telegram</a> from Confederate President Jefferson Davis to MS Governor Charles Clark about U.S. forces recruiting (or "conscripting," in Davis's words) African-American men into the Union Army or Navy, and efforts Davis wanted the state to take to thwart this. See also the unusual November 1863 account of W. E. Montgomery, Captain of the Herndon Rangers, describing the destruction of white Mississippians' properties in Bolivar County by a former overseer and Confederate deserter named Milford Coe. He lived with escaped African-American men, women, and children on an island in the Mississippi River, from which, according to this document, they launched small raids on Confederate property and traded with Union forces. The CWRGM research team is investigating this story to see if it echoes the more famous wartime case of Newton Knight in Jones County or if it is about something else entirely. If you'd like to join our volunteers and dig through newspaper, census, and military records, we'd love to hear what you find about this case. Emancipation in the Immediate Postwar Period: Scholars often warn against reading history backwards. Just because we know Mississippi surrendered in May 1865 does not mean that Mississippians knew the war was about to end that spring. Individuals also did not know what changes would follow — How would emancipation unfold? What rights did free and freed Blacks have, would those be respected or protected, and by whom? What rights and freedoms did former Confederates and Unionists have as Mississippi rejoined the Union? Would slaveholders be compensated for their slaves? Would freed peoples receive land or funds in compensation for their years of unpaid labor? In the sample documents relating to emancipation and the immediate postwar period, several letters spotlights the speed with which some freed peoples asserted themselves as citizens and businessmen. See, for example, <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/87">the case of Lambert Moore</a>. The formerly enslaved man <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1865/08/07/archives/mississippi-taxes-imposed-by-gov-sharkey.html">challenged the idea that he should pay taxes on his wartime earnings</a> and argued, through his attorneys, that he earned that money while hiring himself out as an enslaved man. Since Moore paid a portion of his earnings to the man who owned him (who confirmed that in the same document), Moore had, in essence, already been taxed. You may want to explore a related case made by <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/80">Frank Spruell</a>, a formerly enslaved man who argued directly to Governor Sharkey that he made far too little selling melons to pay $25 in taxes. There are also a series of letters that reveal former slaveholders' questions about their rights and responsibilities under the emancipation policies that went into effect throughout the state with its surrender in May 1865. The following month, <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/69">George T. Swann wrote to Governor William Sharkey </a>from Jackson, MS, describing the lack of clear information he had received on emancipation, a concern echoed by <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/71">S. R. Frierson</a> in Columbus the following month who asked if it would be an immediate or gradual process. In late July, Methodist minister Alex J. Smith from Neshoba County asked for similar clarification for his campaign as a "Union" political candidate facing strong <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/79">"Secession party" opposition</a>. Racial Tensions: Racial tensions increased significantly between moderates and conservatives, blacks and whites, and military and civilian Mississippians in the summer and fall of 1865. As early as July, documents reveal white Mississippians' desire to handle cases in civilian courts, while most African-Americans and U.S. military occupiers saw the need for military oversight. One of these cases involved a <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/75">4th of July shooting</a> where Joseph L. Jackson killed an African-American man (frustratingly unnamed in the document) the Jackson family had once enslaved and who worked as a hired laborer on a Jackson plantation in Washington County. The CWRGM research team is investigating this case to see if Freedmen's Bureau Colonel Samuel Thomas succeeded in his desire to keep the case in military courts, if Governor Sharkey, per the document's authors' advice, contacted President Andrew Johnson to win his support for transfer to civilian court and what Johnson's reaction was (if any), the court's final decision, and what happened to the two families involved after the trial. Another case emerged that fall as Captain S. D. Cooper with the 50th United States Colored Infantry (USCI) investigated charges of theft <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/84">filed by a Rankin County man</a> against one of his former slaves (again unnamed in the record), while another document reveals a request by the <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/90">mayor of Clinton, Mississippi</a> for clarification on how to interpret and enforce labor contracts. Both documents reflect a sharp spike in labor disputes as white and black Mississippians asserted their power and independence. Site visitors may also want to explore the case of Captain Peck, Provost Marshal of the Freedmen's Bureau. He arrested the former sheriff of Copiah County, Colonel Drury Brown, in the fall of 1865 on charges of violence against a freedman. When Governor Sharkey lobbied to have Brown transferred to a civilian court, it appears that Brown won his case and then Peck went to jail rather than pay bail for his appearances in court (though this part is unclear). At that point, U.S. Maj. Gen. Peter J. Osterhaus intervened, sending 300 U.S. Colored Troops (USCTs) to force the release of Peck from a Copiah County jail. This document spells out some of that case, and this <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1865/11/04/archives/from-the-south-and-west-petition-for-the-pardon-of-jacob.html">New York Times article</a> and along with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1865/11/12/archives/southern-items-trouble-in-mississippi-a-county-under-military.html">this one</a> offers a bit more context. This is another case the CWRGM research team is investigating. We welcome help from the public. Emancipation and African-American Citizenship during Reconstruction: The Emancipation Proclamation led to the passage and ratification of three constitutional amendments: the 13th Amendment in 1865 (abolition of slavery throughout the U.S. and territories), followed by the 14th Amendment in 1868 (guaranteeing rights of citizenship) and the 15th Amendment in 1870 (extending the right to vote to adult African-American men). Despite this powerful legislation, military and civilian leaders varied greatly in their ability or willingness to enforce the laws that protected the rights of all Mississippians throughout Reconstruction. There is an 1870 document in this sample (also included under the "Civilian" theme) that exemplifies the significant increase in racial violence by the 1870s and efforts taken to combat this by Mississippi Governor James Lusk Alcorn as well as U.S. military forces. <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/94">This documen</a>t shares the report of J. J. Gainey, a Union Army veteran and agent of the Mississippi Secret Service established by Alcorn to investigate and prosecute Ku Klux Klan violence in the state. Gainey's investigation, detailed here, uncovered several assaults on African-Americans in Lafayette County, MS, including one shooting and possible murders in Arkansas. This is another case that the CWRGM research team is investigating. We welcome help from the public. (Written by Susannah J. Ural, Ph.D.) Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Page 1: Grenada August 1st 1865 His Excellency W L Sharkey Sir—I hope you will pardon me for again troubling you, but these are times when the wisest are lost in the fog—negroes are troubling us constantly by committing depredations of various kinds—stealing—breaches of the [?] &c and I know not what to do with them unless I can try them under the Slave Code; particularly [embraced?] in Sections 12 for the organization of the court—and two or three sections following, taking it for granted that the negroes are all free—the code provides the same mode of trial for free negroes as is [strikethrough]if[strikethrough] for slaves—seee articles 90—section 13—I desire the information solely for the purpose of discharging my duty as a civil officer—I have been practising law for twenty five years but still need advice— Yours very respectfully, R D McLean Mayor of Grenada Page 2: A D McLene Asking Information in regard to negroes committing offences Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Letter from Mayor R. D. McLean to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey; August 1, 1865 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context mdah_771-956-01-03 Subject The topic of the resource Mississippi. Governor; Sharkey, William Lewis, 1798-1873; Slavery.; Trials Description An account of the resource From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Sharkey Collection. Letter from R. D. McLean, the mayor of Grenada, Mississippi, to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey asking if African Americans who are allegedly stealing in the community can be tried under the old codes that applied to enslaved people. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource McLean, R. D. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Mississippi Department of Archives and History. (electronic version); Mississippi Digital Library. (electronic version) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1865-08-01 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Funding for this project provided by The Dale Center for Study of War and Society-USM, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, the Mississippi Digital Library, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the University of Southern Mississippi, and the Watson-Brown Foundation Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource NO COPYRIGHT - UNITED STATES; http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/ Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1865 https://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/3a1917f08e218e3f4f686dea37c483b6.png 31a912fe52bb1091839c3ce27efa00c2 https://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/c6521aeb7e9704a2cf9f54dd44ce9eeb.png 5a6b05ec455ac842ef67b7675b060f37 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Emancipation and Citizenship Subject The topic of the resource The documents in this section remind us that emancipation was a process, not a moment. To approach it as such, this theme is broken down into Wartime, Immediate Postwar, and Reconstruction-era sections. Emancipation during the War: When President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on January 1, 1863, it only freed enslaved peoples in Confederate held territory. But this seemingly limited document would revolutionize the United States in the years that followed. Starting in 1863, enslaved peoples, if they could escape to the Union Army, would no longer be returned to their owners, but rather could stay in what were known as contraband camps where some men joined the Army and women served as cooks and laundresses. The contraband camps were not a panacea of freedom — disease was rampant and bigotry did not end with escape — but 1863 marked a radical shift in Federal policy where Union forces were now directly threatening the institution of slavery in the Confederacy. If you're investigating the process of emancipation during the war, you might look at the June 1862 letter from <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/16">Isaac Applewhite</a> warning Governor Pettus of what Applewhite saw as three key threats to the Confederacy in Marion County: enslaved African-Americans who became "emboldened" by nearby Union forces, potentially disloyal civilians, and Confederate deserters. Site users may also want to examine the <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/51">November 1863 telegram</a> from Confederate President Jefferson Davis to MS Governor Charles Clark about U.S. forces recruiting (or "conscripting," in Davis's words) African-American men into the Union Army or Navy, and efforts Davis wanted the state to take to thwart this. See also the unusual November 1863 account of W. E. Montgomery, Captain of the Herndon Rangers, describing the destruction of white Mississippians' properties in Bolivar County by a former overseer and Confederate deserter named Milford Coe. He lived with escaped African-American men, women, and children on an island in the Mississippi River, from which, according to this document, they launched small raids on Confederate property and traded with Union forces. The CWRGM research team is investigating this story to see if it echoes the more famous wartime case of Newton Knight in Jones County or if it is about something else entirely. If you'd like to join our volunteers and dig through newspaper, census, and military records, we'd love to hear what you find about this case. Emancipation in the Immediate Postwar Period: Scholars often warn against reading history backwards. Just because we know Mississippi surrendered in May 1865 does not mean that Mississippians knew the war was about to end that spring. Individuals also did not know what changes would follow — How would emancipation unfold? What rights did free and freed Blacks have, would those be respected or protected, and by whom? What rights and freedoms did former Confederates and Unionists have as Mississippi rejoined the Union? Would slaveholders be compensated for their slaves? Would freed peoples receive land or funds in compensation for their years of unpaid labor? In the sample documents relating to emancipation and the immediate postwar period, several letters spotlights the speed with which some freed peoples asserted themselves as citizens and businessmen. See, for example, <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/87">the case of Lambert Moore</a>. The formerly enslaved man <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1865/08/07/archives/mississippi-taxes-imposed-by-gov-sharkey.html">challenged the idea that he should pay taxes on his wartime earnings</a> and argued, through his attorneys, that he earned that money while hiring himself out as an enslaved man. Since Moore paid a portion of his earnings to the man who owned him (who confirmed that in the same document), Moore had, in essence, already been taxed. You may want to explore a related case made by <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/80">Frank Spruell</a>, a formerly enslaved man who argued directly to Governor Sharkey that he made far too little selling melons to pay $25 in taxes. There are also a series of letters that reveal former slaveholders' questions about their rights and responsibilities under the emancipation policies that went into effect throughout the state with its surrender in May 1865. The following month, <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/69">George T. Swann wrote to Governor William Sharkey </a>from Jackson, MS, describing the lack of clear information he had received on emancipation, a concern echoed by <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/71">S. R. Frierson</a> in Columbus the following month who asked if it would be an immediate or gradual process. In late July, Methodist minister Alex J. Smith from Neshoba County asked for similar clarification for his campaign as a "Union" political candidate facing strong <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/79">"Secession party" opposition</a>. Racial Tensions: Racial tensions increased significantly between moderates and conservatives, blacks and whites, and military and civilian Mississippians in the summer and fall of 1865. As early as July, documents reveal white Mississippians' desire to handle cases in civilian courts, while most African-Americans and U.S. military occupiers saw the need for military oversight. One of these cases involved a <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/75">4th of July shooting</a> where Joseph L. Jackson killed an African-American man (frustratingly unnamed in the document) the Jackson family had once enslaved and who worked as a hired laborer on a Jackson plantation in Washington County. The CWRGM research team is investigating this case to see if Freedmen's Bureau Colonel Samuel Thomas succeeded in his desire to keep the case in military courts, if Governor Sharkey, per the document's authors' advice, contacted President Andrew Johnson to win his support for transfer to civilian court and what Johnson's reaction was (if any), the court's final decision, and what happened to the two families involved after the trial. Another case emerged that fall as Captain S. D. Cooper with the 50th United States Colored Infantry (USCI) investigated charges of theft <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/84">filed by a Rankin County man</a> against one of his former slaves (again unnamed in the record), while another document reveals a request by the <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/90">mayor of Clinton, Mississippi</a> for clarification on how to interpret and enforce labor contracts. Both documents reflect a sharp spike in labor disputes as white and black Mississippians asserted their power and independence. Site visitors may also want to explore the case of Captain Peck, Provost Marshal of the Freedmen's Bureau. He arrested the former sheriff of Copiah County, Colonel Drury Brown, in the fall of 1865 on charges of violence against a freedman. When Governor Sharkey lobbied to have Brown transferred to a civilian court, it appears that Brown won his case and then Peck went to jail rather than pay bail for his appearances in court (though this part is unclear). At that point, U.S. Maj. Gen. Peter J. Osterhaus intervened, sending 300 U.S. Colored Troops (USCTs) to force the release of Peck from a Copiah County jail. This document spells out some of that case, and this <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1865/11/04/archives/from-the-south-and-west-petition-for-the-pardon-of-jacob.html">New York Times article</a> and along with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1865/11/12/archives/southern-items-trouble-in-mississippi-a-county-under-military.html">this one</a> offers a bit more context. This is another case the CWRGM research team is investigating. We welcome help from the public. Emancipation and African-American Citizenship during Reconstruction: The Emancipation Proclamation led to the passage and ratification of three constitutional amendments: the 13th Amendment in 1865 (abolition of slavery throughout the U.S. and territories), followed by the 14th Amendment in 1868 (guaranteeing rights of citizenship) and the 15th Amendment in 1870 (extending the right to vote to adult African-American men). Despite this powerful legislation, military and civilian leaders varied greatly in their ability or willingness to enforce the laws that protected the rights of all Mississippians throughout Reconstruction. There is an 1870 document in this sample (also included under the "Civilian" theme) that exemplifies the significant increase in racial violence by the 1870s and efforts taken to combat this by Mississippi Governor James Lusk Alcorn as well as U.S. military forces. <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/94">This documen</a>t shares the report of J. J. Gainey, a Union Army veteran and agent of the Mississippi Secret Service established by Alcorn to investigate and prosecute Ku Klux Klan violence in the state. Gainey's investigation, detailed here, uncovered several assaults on African-Americans in Lafayette County, MS, including one shooting and possible murders in Arkansas. This is another case that the CWRGM research team is investigating. We welcome help from the public. (Written by Susannah J. Ural, Ph.D.) Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Page 1: Columbus. Miss. Aug the 1st 1865 Governor Sharkey, Dear [SiS?]. as I come under the tax Law of your proclimation of July 17th I think it not justice to tax me the full amount. as I have been a poor Slave all the days of my life. I am Selling and buying produce on a Small Scale my Sales does not amount to 25 dollars per month if fact I have only got a few mellons on hands at this time, I commenced with only two dollars and fifty cents. Frank Spruell Page 2: A negro wants relief from the Tax, Commenced on Two dollars & a half. Sells only Watermellons Please let me know in a few days as the Sheriff is after his pay Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Letter from Frank Spruell to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey; August 1, 1865 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context mdah_771-956-01-10 Subject The topic of the resource African American businesspeople; Freedmen.; Mississippi. Governor; Sharkey, William Lewis, 1798-1873;; Slavery.; Taxation. Description An account of the resource From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Sharkey Collection. Letter from Frank Spruell, a formerly enslaved person, to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey asking that the tax on his business be waived. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Spruell, Frank Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Mississippi Department of Archives and History. (electronic version); Mississippi Digital Library. (electronic version) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1865-08-01 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Funding for this project provided by The Dale Center for Study of War and Society-USM, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, the Mississippi Digital Library, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the University of Southern Mississippi, and the Watson-Brown Foundation Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource NO COPYRIGHT - UNITED STATES; http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/ Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1865 https://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/99ff2c38918c8c67433e8d7d668dff7c.png 2a9d15cd45d8b8e6277c4f46c503882c https://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/e37c815ba102b6082cfebf54cb8305e5.png 84a3da858beeab1ebb8ad880837b4601 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Emancipation and Citizenship Subject The topic of the resource The documents in this section remind us that emancipation was a process, not a moment. To approach it as such, this theme is broken down into Wartime, Immediate Postwar, and Reconstruction-era sections. Emancipation during the War: When President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on January 1, 1863, it only freed enslaved peoples in Confederate held territory. But this seemingly limited document would revolutionize the United States in the years that followed. Starting in 1863, enslaved peoples, if they could escape to the Union Army, would no longer be returned to their owners, but rather could stay in what were known as contraband camps where some men joined the Army and women served as cooks and laundresses. The contraband camps were not a panacea of freedom — disease was rampant and bigotry did not end with escape — but 1863 marked a radical shift in Federal policy where Union forces were now directly threatening the institution of slavery in the Confederacy. If you're investigating the process of emancipation during the war, you might look at the June 1862 letter from <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/16">Isaac Applewhite</a> warning Governor Pettus of what Applewhite saw as three key threats to the Confederacy in Marion County: enslaved African-Americans who became "emboldened" by nearby Union forces, potentially disloyal civilians, and Confederate deserters. Site users may also want to examine the <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/51">November 1863 telegram</a> from Confederate President Jefferson Davis to MS Governor Charles Clark about U.S. forces recruiting (or "conscripting," in Davis's words) African-American men into the Union Army or Navy, and efforts Davis wanted the state to take to thwart this. See also the unusual November 1863 account of W. E. Montgomery, Captain of the Herndon Rangers, describing the destruction of white Mississippians' properties in Bolivar County by a former overseer and Confederate deserter named Milford Coe. He lived with escaped African-American men, women, and children on an island in the Mississippi River, from which, according to this document, they launched small raids on Confederate property and traded with Union forces. The CWRGM research team is investigating this story to see if it echoes the more famous wartime case of Newton Knight in Jones County or if it is about something else entirely. If you'd like to join our volunteers and dig through newspaper, census, and military records, we'd love to hear what you find about this case. Emancipation in the Immediate Postwar Period: Scholars often warn against reading history backwards. Just because we know Mississippi surrendered in May 1865 does not mean that Mississippians knew the war was about to end that spring. Individuals also did not know what changes would follow — How would emancipation unfold? What rights did free and freed Blacks have, would those be respected or protected, and by whom? What rights and freedoms did former Confederates and Unionists have as Mississippi rejoined the Union? Would slaveholders be compensated for their slaves? Would freed peoples receive land or funds in compensation for their years of unpaid labor? In the sample documents relating to emancipation and the immediate postwar period, several letters spotlights the speed with which some freed peoples asserted themselves as citizens and businessmen. See, for example, <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/87">the case of Lambert Moore</a>. The formerly enslaved man <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1865/08/07/archives/mississippi-taxes-imposed-by-gov-sharkey.html">challenged the idea that he should pay taxes on his wartime earnings</a> and argued, through his attorneys, that he earned that money while hiring himself out as an enslaved man. Since Moore paid a portion of his earnings to the man who owned him (who confirmed that in the same document), Moore had, in essence, already been taxed. You may want to explore a related case made by <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/80">Frank Spruell</a>, a formerly enslaved man who argued directly to Governor Sharkey that he made far too little selling melons to pay $25 in taxes. There are also a series of letters that reveal former slaveholders' questions about their rights and responsibilities under the emancipation policies that went into effect throughout the state with its surrender in May 1865. The following month, <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/69">George T. Swann wrote to Governor William Sharkey </a>from Jackson, MS, describing the lack of clear information he had received on emancipation, a concern echoed by <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/71">S. R. Frierson</a> in Columbus the following month who asked if it would be an immediate or gradual process. In late July, Methodist minister Alex J. Smith from Neshoba County asked for similar clarification for his campaign as a "Union" political candidate facing strong <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/79">"Secession party" opposition</a>. Racial Tensions: Racial tensions increased significantly between moderates and conservatives, blacks and whites, and military and civilian Mississippians in the summer and fall of 1865. As early as July, documents reveal white Mississippians' desire to handle cases in civilian courts, while most African-Americans and U.S. military occupiers saw the need for military oversight. One of these cases involved a <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/75">4th of July shooting</a> where Joseph L. Jackson killed an African-American man (frustratingly unnamed in the document) the Jackson family had once enslaved and who worked as a hired laborer on a Jackson plantation in Washington County. The CWRGM research team is investigating this case to see if Freedmen's Bureau Colonel Samuel Thomas succeeded in his desire to keep the case in military courts, if Governor Sharkey, per the document's authors' advice, contacted President Andrew Johnson to win his support for transfer to civilian court and what Johnson's reaction was (if any), the court's final decision, and what happened to the two families involved after the trial. Another case emerged that fall as Captain S. D. Cooper with the 50th United States Colored Infantry (USCI) investigated charges of theft <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/84">filed by a Rankin County man</a> against one of his former slaves (again unnamed in the record), while another document reveals a request by the <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/90">mayor of Clinton, Mississippi</a> for clarification on how to interpret and enforce labor contracts. Both documents reflect a sharp spike in labor disputes as white and black Mississippians asserted their power and independence. Site visitors may also want to explore the case of Captain Peck, Provost Marshal of the Freedmen's Bureau. He arrested the former sheriff of Copiah County, Colonel Drury Brown, in the fall of 1865 on charges of violence against a freedman. When Governor Sharkey lobbied to have Brown transferred to a civilian court, it appears that Brown won his case and then Peck went to jail rather than pay bail for his appearances in court (though this part is unclear). At that point, U.S. Maj. Gen. Peter J. Osterhaus intervened, sending 300 U.S. Colored Troops (USCTs) to force the release of Peck from a Copiah County jail. This document spells out some of that case, and this <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1865/11/04/archives/from-the-south-and-west-petition-for-the-pardon-of-jacob.html">New York Times article</a> and along with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1865/11/12/archives/southern-items-trouble-in-mississippi-a-county-under-military.html">this one</a> offers a bit more context. This is another case the CWRGM research team is investigating. We welcome help from the public. Emancipation and African-American Citizenship during Reconstruction: The Emancipation Proclamation led to the passage and ratification of three constitutional amendments: the 13th Amendment in 1865 (abolition of slavery throughout the U.S. and territories), followed by the 14th Amendment in 1868 (guaranteeing rights of citizenship) and the 15th Amendment in 1870 (extending the right to vote to adult African-American men). Despite this powerful legislation, military and civilian leaders varied greatly in their ability or willingness to enforce the laws that protected the rights of all Mississippians throughout Reconstruction. There is an 1870 document in this sample (also included under the "Civilian" theme) that exemplifies the significant increase in racial violence by the 1870s and efforts taken to combat this by Mississippi Governor James Lusk Alcorn as well as U.S. military forces. <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/94">This documen</a>t shares the report of J. J. Gainey, a Union Army veteran and agent of the Mississippi Secret Service established by Alcorn to investigate and prosecute Ku Klux Klan violence in the state. Gainey's investigation, detailed here, uncovered several assaults on African-Americans in Lafayette County, MS, including one shooting and possible murders in Arkansas. This is another case that the CWRGM research team is investigating. We welcome help from the public. (Written by Susannah J. Ural, Ph.D.) Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Page 1: Neshoba Co, Miss, July 28th" 1865 His excellency Governor W. L. Sharkey, Honored Sir, I hope you will be pleased to give me an anser to a few Short questions, 1. Has the Constitution of the United States been altered or amended, so as to recognize the right of property in slaves, 2. If not, has it been changed or amended at all on the subject, of Slavery during the past war, Honored sir, I address you as the Union candidate for the office of representing Neshoba County in the apporoaching State Convention, I have no experience as an election-eering trickster, but claim to be an humble minister in the Methodist E. Church South, Nearly the entire strength of the Secession party in this county are against me [strikethrough]in this county[strikethrough], I mean, such as have not met Truly represented and been soundly converted, Please answer The above questions honoured sir, and accept a tender of my highest regards., Alex, J, Smith, P,S, I hope you will hasten a reply and ob-lige your humble servant, Alex, J, Smith, Page 2: Alex J Smith Asking some question in regard to slavery The constitution has not yet been altered but will be, as the amend ment lacks only one State, which it will get in Tennessee Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Letter from Alex J. Smith to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey; July 28, 1865 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context mdah_771-955-07-26 Subject The topic of the resource Mississippi. Governor; Sharkey, William Lewis, 1798-1873; Slavery.; United States. Constitution. 13th Amendment. Description An account of the resource From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Sharkey Collection. Letter from Alex J. Smith to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey asking if the constitution of the United States has been altered on the subject of slavery. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Smith, Alex J. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Mississippi Department of Archives and History. (electronic version); Mississippi Digital Library. (electronic version) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1865-07-28 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Funding for this project provided by The Dale Center for Study of War and Society-USM, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, the Mississippi Digital Library, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the University of Southern Mississippi, and the Watson-Brown Foundation Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource NO COPYRIGHT - UNITED STATES; http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/ Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1865 https://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/9db3e78f45b08b4f887c2e47c9e335da.png c568b80a11b75e76bff382cf8c391bdd https://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/cdbe009c30b971e8fdecafa9295f02f0.png 45375739794d2b5a5d8520a6bc48ccfa https://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/ae331ac70b618c2375c79efe492ca4dd.png f9242430db39c4afd2760cbe09304197 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Emancipation and Citizenship Subject The topic of the resource The documents in this section remind us that emancipation was a process, not a moment. To approach it as such, this theme is broken down into Wartime, Immediate Postwar, and Reconstruction-era sections. Emancipation during the War: When President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on January 1, 1863, it only freed enslaved peoples in Confederate held territory. But this seemingly limited document would revolutionize the United States in the years that followed. Starting in 1863, enslaved peoples, if they could escape to the Union Army, would no longer be returned to their owners, but rather could stay in what were known as contraband camps where some men joined the Army and women served as cooks and laundresses. The contraband camps were not a panacea of freedom — disease was rampant and bigotry did not end with escape — but 1863 marked a radical shift in Federal policy where Union forces were now directly threatening the institution of slavery in the Confederacy. If you're investigating the process of emancipation during the war, you might look at the June 1862 letter from <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/16">Isaac Applewhite</a> warning Governor Pettus of what Applewhite saw as three key threats to the Confederacy in Marion County: enslaved African-Americans who became "emboldened" by nearby Union forces, potentially disloyal civilians, and Confederate deserters. Site users may also want to examine the <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/51">November 1863 telegram</a> from Confederate President Jefferson Davis to MS Governor Charles Clark about U.S. forces recruiting (or "conscripting," in Davis's words) African-American men into the Union Army or Navy, and efforts Davis wanted the state to take to thwart this. See also the unusual November 1863 account of W. E. Montgomery, Captain of the Herndon Rangers, describing the destruction of white Mississippians' properties in Bolivar County by a former overseer and Confederate deserter named Milford Coe. He lived with escaped African-American men, women, and children on an island in the Mississippi River, from which, according to this document, they launched small raids on Confederate property and traded with Union forces. The CWRGM research team is investigating this story to see if it echoes the more famous wartime case of Newton Knight in Jones County or if it is about something else entirely. If you'd like to join our volunteers and dig through newspaper, census, and military records, we'd love to hear what you find about this case. Emancipation in the Immediate Postwar Period: Scholars often warn against reading history backwards. Just because we know Mississippi surrendered in May 1865 does not mean that Mississippians knew the war was about to end that spring. Individuals also did not know what changes would follow — How would emancipation unfold? What rights did free and freed Blacks have, would those be respected or protected, and by whom? What rights and freedoms did former Confederates and Unionists have as Mississippi rejoined the Union? Would slaveholders be compensated for their slaves? Would freed peoples receive land or funds in compensation for their years of unpaid labor? In the sample documents relating to emancipation and the immediate postwar period, several letters spotlights the speed with which some freed peoples asserted themselves as citizens and businessmen. See, for example, <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/87">the case of Lambert Moore</a>. The formerly enslaved man <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1865/08/07/archives/mississippi-taxes-imposed-by-gov-sharkey.html">challenged the idea that he should pay taxes on his wartime earnings</a> and argued, through his attorneys, that he earned that money while hiring himself out as an enslaved man. Since Moore paid a portion of his earnings to the man who owned him (who confirmed that in the same document), Moore had, in essence, already been taxed. You may want to explore a related case made by <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/80">Frank Spruell</a>, a formerly enslaved man who argued directly to Governor Sharkey that he made far too little selling melons to pay $25 in taxes. There are also a series of letters that reveal former slaveholders' questions about their rights and responsibilities under the emancipation policies that went into effect throughout the state with its surrender in May 1865. The following month, <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/69">George T. Swann wrote to Governor William Sharkey </a>from Jackson, MS, describing the lack of clear information he had received on emancipation, a concern echoed by <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/71">S. R. Frierson</a> in Columbus the following month who asked if it would be an immediate or gradual process. In late July, Methodist minister Alex J. Smith from Neshoba County asked for similar clarification for his campaign as a "Union" political candidate facing strong <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/79">"Secession party" opposition</a>. Racial Tensions: Racial tensions increased significantly between moderates and conservatives, blacks and whites, and military and civilian Mississippians in the summer and fall of 1865. As early as July, documents reveal white Mississippians' desire to handle cases in civilian courts, while most African-Americans and U.S. military occupiers saw the need for military oversight. One of these cases involved a <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/75">4th of July shooting</a> where Joseph L. Jackson killed an African-American man (frustratingly unnamed in the document) the Jackson family had once enslaved and who worked as a hired laborer on a Jackson plantation in Washington County. The CWRGM research team is investigating this case to see if Freedmen's Bureau Colonel Samuel Thomas succeeded in his desire to keep the case in military courts, if Governor Sharkey, per the document's authors' advice, contacted President Andrew Johnson to win his support for transfer to civilian court and what Johnson's reaction was (if any), the court's final decision, and what happened to the two families involved after the trial. Another case emerged that fall as Captain S. D. Cooper with the 50th United States Colored Infantry (USCI) investigated charges of theft <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/84">filed by a Rankin County man</a> against one of his former slaves (again unnamed in the record), while another document reveals a request by the <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/90">mayor of Clinton, Mississippi</a> for clarification on how to interpret and enforce labor contracts. Both documents reflect a sharp spike in labor disputes as white and black Mississippians asserted their power and independence. Site visitors may also want to explore the case of Captain Peck, Provost Marshal of the Freedmen's Bureau. He arrested the former sheriff of Copiah County, Colonel Drury Brown, in the fall of 1865 on charges of violence against a freedman. When Governor Sharkey lobbied to have Brown transferred to a civilian court, it appears that Brown won his case and then Peck went to jail rather than pay bail for his appearances in court (though this part is unclear). At that point, U.S. Maj. Gen. Peter J. Osterhaus intervened, sending 300 U.S. Colored Troops (USCTs) to force the release of Peck from a Copiah County jail. This document spells out some of that case, and this <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1865/11/04/archives/from-the-south-and-west-petition-for-the-pardon-of-jacob.html">New York Times article</a> and along with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1865/11/12/archives/southern-items-trouble-in-mississippi-a-county-under-military.html">this one</a> offers a bit more context. This is another case the CWRGM research team is investigating. We welcome help from the public. Emancipation and African-American Citizenship during Reconstruction: The Emancipation Proclamation led to the passage and ratification of three constitutional amendments: the 13th Amendment in 1865 (abolition of slavery throughout the U.S. and territories), followed by the 14th Amendment in 1868 (guaranteeing rights of citizenship) and the 15th Amendment in 1870 (extending the right to vote to adult African-American men). Despite this powerful legislation, military and civilian leaders varied greatly in their ability or willingness to enforce the laws that protected the rights of all Mississippians throughout Reconstruction. There is an 1870 document in this sample (also included under the "Civilian" theme) that exemplifies the significant increase in racial violence by the 1870s and efforts taken to combat this by Mississippi Governor James Lusk Alcorn as well as U.S. military forces. <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/94">This documen</a>t shares the report of J. J. Gainey, a Union Army veteran and agent of the Mississippi Secret Service established by Alcorn to investigate and prosecute Ku Klux Klan violence in the state. Gainey's investigation, detailed here, uncovered several assaults on African-Americans in Lafayette County, MS, including one shooting and possible murders in Arkansas. This is another case that the CWRGM research team is investigating. We welcome help from the public. (Written by Susannah J. Ural, Ph.D.) Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Page 1: Vicksburg—Miss—July 15th" 1865 Gov. Wm" L. Sharkey, Dear Sir, We have a case involving one of the most ^important^ questions that can arise in our State, or in any State, and upon the proper solution of which the lives and liberties of many of our people may depend, And we desire, if it so agreeable to you, to get your aid in settling the matter, if possible, without conflict or collision between the Civil and military authorities of the Country—The facts, out of which the question arises, are Substantially these—viz—On the 4th" day of this month, Mr. Joseph L. Jackson, son of Mrs. Halsey family Mrs Stephen M. Jackson, on his, [strikethrough]on his[strikethrough] mother’s plantation in Washington County, in defence of his own life as he insists, shot and killed one of the laborers on the place, formly his own, [strikethrough]or his mother’s[strikethrough] slave and working Page 2: this ^year^ under a special Contract—A few days ago an officer, sent from this place, arrested Mr. Jackson at his home in Washington County, and brought him here by order of the Assistant Provost Marshal at this post—And handed him over to the “Assistant Commissioner of the Freedmen’s Bureau” for this State to be tried by a Commission to be organized by him, for murder—Failing in our efforts to induce the Assistant Commissioner of the Freedman’s Bureau (Col. Samuel Thomas) to remand him to the Civil au=thorities of Washington County—we ob=tained from Judge [Mimin?] a writ of habeas corpus—but did not succeed in getting it [served?] on Col. Thomas who has either accidentally or designedly been absent from his office ever since—In the mean time some one here has telegraphed to the Secretary of War, as we understand for instructions and this morning Genl. Slo-cum (who arrived here day before yesterday and who would be very glad to get rid of all such cases—and of all cases not coming strictly within military jurisdiction) informed Mr. Brooke that he is instructed (by Mr. Stanton we suppose) to have Mr. Jackson tried before a military Commission to be organized by him— Neither Mr. Jackson nor the negro man he Killed belonged to, or has in any manner ever connected with any military Command or Organization of the United States—And we feel very confident Mr. Jackson is entitled, under the Constitu=tion and laws of this State and of the United States, to a public trial by a jury of Washington County—and can not be legally tried in any other way—We would be glad to avoid resorting to the remedy of habeas Corpus—if possible— The military might and we have very little doubt would refuse to obey the writ or the judgement rendered by Judge [Mimin?] on it—And would of course dis-regard any attachment he might order for Page 3: contempt—In that contingency we suppose he would feel bound to report the facts to you and you would probably appeal to the Presi-dent—Our desire therefore now is to [request?] you to present the case, by telegraph, and mail also if you think proper, to the President without waiting to force the conflict of jurisdiction. and induce him, if he thinks it right, as we suppose he certainly must or would, to order Mr. Jackson to be turned over to the Courts or Civil tri=bunals—and proceeded against according to law—The strong probability is that the only reason why the authorities here did not do so at once, was that the wit=nesses against Mr. Jackson, as well as some of those for him are negros—and conse=quently not Competent before a Civil Court—We offered, however, (tho' we were clearly not bound to do so) to waive all objections to witnesses on account of Color and permit all to testify—But the offer was not accepted— If you will be Kind enough to pre-sent this case to President Johnson as ear-ly as practicable—You will not only [very?] greatly oblige Mr. Jackson and ourselves—but save us all, yourself included,—an unpleseant and imbarrassing case —we may otherwise have to make— Your friends Very respectfully & truly T. A. Marshall & W. Brooke— Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Letter from T. A. Marshall and W. Brooke to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey; July 15, 1865 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context mdah_771-955-04-02 Subject The topic of the resource Freedmen.; Mississippi. Governor; Sharkey, William Lewis, 1798-1873; Slaveholders.; Slavery.; Trials (Murder) Description An account of the resource From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Sharkey Collection. Letter from T. A. Marshall and W. Brooke to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey concerning the shooting of a freedman by Joseph L. Jackson, his former enslaver. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Brooke, W.; Marshall, T. A. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Mississippi Department of Archives and History. (electronic version); Mississippi Digital Library. (electronic version) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1865-07-15 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Funding for this project provided by The Dale Center for Study of War and Society-USM, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, the Mississippi Digital Library, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the University of Southern Mississippi, and the Watson-Brown Foundation Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource NO COPYRIGHT - UNITED STATES; http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/ Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1865 https://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/0926238bf704c6162181aea99544e64a.png d45ff132bb1c9a0048086bd899d5c657 https://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/d6ac9f69dedaa186328958fab7bd1444.png 082485e6bd4e4cfd6c8d9892edef9f63 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Emancipation and Citizenship Subject The topic of the resource The documents in this section remind us that emancipation was a process, not a moment. To approach it as such, this theme is broken down into Wartime, Immediate Postwar, and Reconstruction-era sections. Emancipation during the War: When President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on January 1, 1863, it only freed enslaved peoples in Confederate held territory. But this seemingly limited document would revolutionize the United States in the years that followed. Starting in 1863, enslaved peoples, if they could escape to the Union Army, would no longer be returned to their owners, but rather could stay in what were known as contraband camps where some men joined the Army and women served as cooks and laundresses. The contraband camps were not a panacea of freedom — disease was rampant and bigotry did not end with escape — but 1863 marked a radical shift in Federal policy where Union forces were now directly threatening the institution of slavery in the Confederacy. If you're investigating the process of emancipation during the war, you might look at the June 1862 letter from <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/16">Isaac Applewhite</a> warning Governor Pettus of what Applewhite saw as three key threats to the Confederacy in Marion County: enslaved African-Americans who became "emboldened" by nearby Union forces, potentially disloyal civilians, and Confederate deserters. Site users may also want to examine the <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/51">November 1863 telegram</a> from Confederate President Jefferson Davis to MS Governor Charles Clark about U.S. forces recruiting (or "conscripting," in Davis's words) African-American men into the Union Army or Navy, and efforts Davis wanted the state to take to thwart this. See also the unusual November 1863 account of W. E. Montgomery, Captain of the Herndon Rangers, describing the destruction of white Mississippians' properties in Bolivar County by a former overseer and Confederate deserter named Milford Coe. He lived with escaped African-American men, women, and children on an island in the Mississippi River, from which, according to this document, they launched small raids on Confederate property and traded with Union forces. The CWRGM research team is investigating this story to see if it echoes the more famous wartime case of Newton Knight in Jones County or if it is about something else entirely. If you'd like to join our volunteers and dig through newspaper, census, and military records, we'd love to hear what you find about this case. Emancipation in the Immediate Postwar Period: Scholars often warn against reading history backwards. Just because we know Mississippi surrendered in May 1865 does not mean that Mississippians knew the war was about to end that spring. Individuals also did not know what changes would follow — How would emancipation unfold? What rights did free and freed Blacks have, would those be respected or protected, and by whom? What rights and freedoms did former Confederates and Unionists have as Mississippi rejoined the Union? Would slaveholders be compensated for their slaves? Would freed peoples receive land or funds in compensation for their years of unpaid labor? In the sample documents relating to emancipation and the immediate postwar period, several letters spotlights the speed with which some freed peoples asserted themselves as citizens and businessmen. See, for example, <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/87">the case of Lambert Moore</a>. The formerly enslaved man <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1865/08/07/archives/mississippi-taxes-imposed-by-gov-sharkey.html">challenged the idea that he should pay taxes on his wartime earnings</a> and argued, through his attorneys, that he earned that money while hiring himself out as an enslaved man. Since Moore paid a portion of his earnings to the man who owned him (who confirmed that in the same document), Moore had, in essence, already been taxed. You may want to explore a related case made by <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/80">Frank Spruell</a>, a formerly enslaved man who argued directly to Governor Sharkey that he made far too little selling melons to pay $25 in taxes. There are also a series of letters that reveal former slaveholders' questions about their rights and responsibilities under the emancipation policies that went into effect throughout the state with its surrender in May 1865. The following month, <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/69">George T. Swann wrote to Governor William Sharkey </a>from Jackson, MS, describing the lack of clear information he had received on emancipation, a concern echoed by <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/71">S. R. Frierson</a> in Columbus the following month who asked if it would be an immediate or gradual process. In late July, Methodist minister Alex J. Smith from Neshoba County asked for similar clarification for his campaign as a "Union" political candidate facing strong <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/79">"Secession party" opposition</a>. Racial Tensions: Racial tensions increased significantly between moderates and conservatives, blacks and whites, and military and civilian Mississippians in the summer and fall of 1865. As early as July, documents reveal white Mississippians' desire to handle cases in civilian courts, while most African-Americans and U.S. military occupiers saw the need for military oversight. One of these cases involved a <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/75">4th of July shooting</a> where Joseph L. Jackson killed an African-American man (frustratingly unnamed in the document) the Jackson family had once enslaved and who worked as a hired laborer on a Jackson plantation in Washington County. The CWRGM research team is investigating this case to see if Freedmen's Bureau Colonel Samuel Thomas succeeded in his desire to keep the case in military courts, if Governor Sharkey, per the document's authors' advice, contacted President Andrew Johnson to win his support for transfer to civilian court and what Johnson's reaction was (if any), the court's final decision, and what happened to the two families involved after the trial. Another case emerged that fall as Captain S. D. Cooper with the 50th United States Colored Infantry (USCI) investigated charges of theft <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/84">filed by a Rankin County man</a> against one of his former slaves (again unnamed in the record), while another document reveals a request by the <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/90">mayor of Clinton, Mississippi</a> for clarification on how to interpret and enforce labor contracts. Both documents reflect a sharp spike in labor disputes as white and black Mississippians asserted their power and independence. Site visitors may also want to explore the case of Captain Peck, Provost Marshal of the Freedmen's Bureau. He arrested the former sheriff of Copiah County, Colonel Drury Brown, in the fall of 1865 on charges of violence against a freedman. When Governor Sharkey lobbied to have Brown transferred to a civilian court, it appears that Brown won his case and then Peck went to jail rather than pay bail for his appearances in court (though this part is unclear). At that point, U.S. Maj. Gen. Peter J. Osterhaus intervened, sending 300 U.S. Colored Troops (USCTs) to force the release of Peck from a Copiah County jail. This document spells out some of that case, and this <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1865/11/04/archives/from-the-south-and-west-petition-for-the-pardon-of-jacob.html">New York Times article</a> and along with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1865/11/12/archives/southern-items-trouble-in-mississippi-a-county-under-military.html">this one</a> offers a bit more context. This is another case the CWRGM research team is investigating. We welcome help from the public. Emancipation and African-American Citizenship during Reconstruction: The Emancipation Proclamation led to the passage and ratification of three constitutional amendments: the 13th Amendment in 1865 (abolition of slavery throughout the U.S. and territories), followed by the 14th Amendment in 1868 (guaranteeing rights of citizenship) and the 15th Amendment in 1870 (extending the right to vote to adult African-American men). Despite this powerful legislation, military and civilian leaders varied greatly in their ability or willingness to enforce the laws that protected the rights of all Mississippians throughout Reconstruction. There is an 1870 document in this sample (also included under the "Civilian" theme) that exemplifies the significant increase in racial violence by the 1870s and efforts taken to combat this by Mississippi Governor James Lusk Alcorn as well as U.S. military forces. <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/94">This documen</a>t shares the report of J. J. Gainey, a Union Army veteran and agent of the Mississippi Secret Service established by Alcorn to investigate and prosecute Ku Klux Klan violence in the state. Gainey's investigation, detailed here, uncovered several assaults on African-Americans in Lafayette County, MS, including one shooting and possible murders in Arkansas. This is another case that the CWRGM research team is investigating. We welcome help from the public. (Written by Susannah J. Ural, Ph.D.) Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Page 1: To his Excellency Hon. Wm. P. Sharkey. Columbus Miss July 5, 1865. Sir: I am aware of the annoyance to which your position must subject you. It is therefore with reluctance I bring myself to address you by this letter. Yet some of my fellow-citizens, and myself are anxious to learn what should be the action of the people touch-ing the [vied?] question of slavery. Believing it to be their duty to shape Their action by the views of the Genl. Govt. and yourself to be in possession of those views, and further-more recognzing you to be the exponent of that large conservative class to which they belong, they would know of you whether they might expect gradual emancipation or no. For these and other obvious reasons, they apply to you. Not to trouble you with my own views, which are of little consequence, I may be permitted to say, that I dread the effect Page 2: to expel a servile race from our soil. However one line from you is worth a thousand such cruder notions as mine. If you will take the trouble to glance at the inclosed you will see I have not been an uninterested spectator of the course things were likely to take in Mississippi. It is a portion of [strikethrough]an address[strikethrough] a sermon delivered in Columbus in 1850—fifteen years ago—when men high in position were urging us to take the fatal step. Pardon this intrusion. [strikethrough]But[strikethrough] I know your cares. Yet I hope you will not think it a hardship to enlighten the humblest of your fellow-citizens. Permit me to express my satisfaction of your appointment, and with the highest esteem of your character to submit myself Your obt. Sevt. S. R. Frierson Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Letter from S.R. Frierson to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey; July 5, 1865 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context mdah_771-955-02-01 Subject The topic of the resource Mississippi. Governor; Sharkey, William Lewis, 1798-1873; Slavery.; Slaves--Emancipation--United States. Description An account of the resource From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Sharkey Collection. Letter from S. R. Frierson to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey asking his view on the emancipation of enslaved people. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Frierson, S. R. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Mississippi Department of Archives and History. (electronic version); Mississippi Digital Library. (electronic version) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1865-07-05 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Funding for this project provided by The Dale Center for Study of War and Society-USM, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, the Mississippi Digital Library, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the University of Southern Mississippi, and the Watson-Brown Foundation Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource NO COPYRIGHT - UNITED STATES; http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/ Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1865 https://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/90df3f3c34d3bf5705111689fc076631.png 569f78d9cd26f88268ac65bb60863c80 https://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/93af515ec2965b8f0957db4b362a27f2.png cc462a0df2a850aecaea11785f92b21e https://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/cd91a1b6baf7e45ce034c5df348eebbf.png c5bd1f7ce2f49372704189c9ce995f9f Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Emancipation and Citizenship Subject The topic of the resource The documents in this section remind us that emancipation was a process, not a moment. To approach it as such, this theme is broken down into Wartime, Immediate Postwar, and Reconstruction-era sections. Emancipation during the War: When President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on January 1, 1863, it only freed enslaved peoples in Confederate held territory. But this seemingly limited document would revolutionize the United States in the years that followed. Starting in 1863, enslaved peoples, if they could escape to the Union Army, would no longer be returned to their owners, but rather could stay in what were known as contraband camps where some men joined the Army and women served as cooks and laundresses. The contraband camps were not a panacea of freedom — disease was rampant and bigotry did not end with escape — but 1863 marked a radical shift in Federal policy where Union forces were now directly threatening the institution of slavery in the Confederacy. If you're investigating the process of emancipation during the war, you might look at the June 1862 letter from <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/16">Isaac Applewhite</a> warning Governor Pettus of what Applewhite saw as three key threats to the Confederacy in Marion County: enslaved African-Americans who became "emboldened" by nearby Union forces, potentially disloyal civilians, and Confederate deserters. Site users may also want to examine the <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/51">November 1863 telegram</a> from Confederate President Jefferson Davis to MS Governor Charles Clark about U.S. forces recruiting (or "conscripting," in Davis's words) African-American men into the Union Army or Navy, and efforts Davis wanted the state to take to thwart this. See also the unusual November 1863 account of W. E. Montgomery, Captain of the Herndon Rangers, describing the destruction of white Mississippians' properties in Bolivar County by a former overseer and Confederate deserter named Milford Coe. He lived with escaped African-American men, women, and children on an island in the Mississippi River, from which, according to this document, they launched small raids on Confederate property and traded with Union forces. The CWRGM research team is investigating this story to see if it echoes the more famous wartime case of Newton Knight in Jones County or if it is about something else entirely. If you'd like to join our volunteers and dig through newspaper, census, and military records, we'd love to hear what you find about this case. Emancipation in the Immediate Postwar Period: Scholars often warn against reading history backwards. Just because we know Mississippi surrendered in May 1865 does not mean that Mississippians knew the war was about to end that spring. Individuals also did not know what changes would follow — How would emancipation unfold? What rights did free and freed Blacks have, would those be respected or protected, and by whom? What rights and freedoms did former Confederates and Unionists have as Mississippi rejoined the Union? Would slaveholders be compensated for their slaves? Would freed peoples receive land or funds in compensation for their years of unpaid labor? In the sample documents relating to emancipation and the immediate postwar period, several letters spotlights the speed with which some freed peoples asserted themselves as citizens and businessmen. See, for example, <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/87">the case of Lambert Moore</a>. The formerly enslaved man <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1865/08/07/archives/mississippi-taxes-imposed-by-gov-sharkey.html">challenged the idea that he should pay taxes on his wartime earnings</a> and argued, through his attorneys, that he earned that money while hiring himself out as an enslaved man. Since Moore paid a portion of his earnings to the man who owned him (who confirmed that in the same document), Moore had, in essence, already been taxed. You may want to explore a related case made by <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/80">Frank Spruell</a>, a formerly enslaved man who argued directly to Governor Sharkey that he made far too little selling melons to pay $25 in taxes. There are also a series of letters that reveal former slaveholders' questions about their rights and responsibilities under the emancipation policies that went into effect throughout the state with its surrender in May 1865. The following month, <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/69">George T. Swann wrote to Governor William Sharkey </a>from Jackson, MS, describing the lack of clear information he had received on emancipation, a concern echoed by <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/71">S. R. Frierson</a> in Columbus the following month who asked if it would be an immediate or gradual process. In late July, Methodist minister Alex J. Smith from Neshoba County asked for similar clarification for his campaign as a "Union" political candidate facing strong <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/79">"Secession party" opposition</a>. Racial Tensions: Racial tensions increased significantly between moderates and conservatives, blacks and whites, and military and civilian Mississippians in the summer and fall of 1865. As early as July, documents reveal white Mississippians' desire to handle cases in civilian courts, while most African-Americans and U.S. military occupiers saw the need for military oversight. One of these cases involved a <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/75">4th of July shooting</a> where Joseph L. Jackson killed an African-American man (frustratingly unnamed in the document) the Jackson family had once enslaved and who worked as a hired laborer on a Jackson plantation in Washington County. The CWRGM research team is investigating this case to see if Freedmen's Bureau Colonel Samuel Thomas succeeded in his desire to keep the case in military courts, if Governor Sharkey, per the document's authors' advice, contacted President Andrew Johnson to win his support for transfer to civilian court and what Johnson's reaction was (if any), the court's final decision, and what happened to the two families involved after the trial. Another case emerged that fall as Captain S. D. Cooper with the 50th United States Colored Infantry (USCI) investigated charges of theft <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/84">filed by a Rankin County man</a> against one of his former slaves (again unnamed in the record), while another document reveals a request by the <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/90">mayor of Clinton, Mississippi</a> for clarification on how to interpret and enforce labor contracts. Both documents reflect a sharp spike in labor disputes as white and black Mississippians asserted their power and independence. Site visitors may also want to explore the case of Captain Peck, Provost Marshal of the Freedmen's Bureau. He arrested the former sheriff of Copiah County, Colonel Drury Brown, in the fall of 1865 on charges of violence against a freedman. When Governor Sharkey lobbied to have Brown transferred to a civilian court, it appears that Brown won his case and then Peck went to jail rather than pay bail for his appearances in court (though this part is unclear). At that point, U.S. Maj. Gen. Peter J. Osterhaus intervened, sending 300 U.S. Colored Troops (USCTs) to force the release of Peck from a Copiah County jail. This document spells out some of that case, and this <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1865/11/04/archives/from-the-south-and-west-petition-for-the-pardon-of-jacob.html">New York Times article</a> and along with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1865/11/12/archives/southern-items-trouble-in-mississippi-a-county-under-military.html">this one</a> offers a bit more context. This is another case the CWRGM research team is investigating. We welcome help from the public. Emancipation and African-American Citizenship during Reconstruction: The Emancipation Proclamation led to the passage and ratification of three constitutional amendments: the 13th Amendment in 1865 (abolition of slavery throughout the U.S. and territories), followed by the 14th Amendment in 1868 (guaranteeing rights of citizenship) and the 15th Amendment in 1870 (extending the right to vote to adult African-American men). Despite this powerful legislation, military and civilian leaders varied greatly in their ability or willingness to enforce the laws that protected the rights of all Mississippians throughout Reconstruction. There is an 1870 document in this sample (also included under the "Civilian" theme) that exemplifies the significant increase in racial violence by the 1870s and efforts taken to combat this by Mississippi Governor James Lusk Alcorn as well as U.S. military forces. <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/94">This documen</a>t shares the report of J. J. Gainey, a Union Army veteran and agent of the Mississippi Secret Service established by Alcorn to investigate and prosecute Ku Klux Klan violence in the state. Gainey's investigation, detailed here, uncovered several assaults on African-Americans in Lafayette County, MS, including one shooting and possible murders in Arkansas. This is another case that the CWRGM research team is investigating. We welcome help from the public. (Written by Susannah J. Ural, Ph.D.) Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Page 1: Cambridge Maryland July 4th 1865 Honorable Wm. L. Sharkey Jackson Miss. My Dr Sir I have taken the liberty of adressing you a few times, first to express to you the great pleasure it gave me at seeing it announced in the news papers, of your appointments by the President, Provisional Gover=nor of the State of Mississippi, Secondly, if not incompatable with your office, to let me know the policy which will govern you respecting the negroes. I am anxious to [carry?] [on?] the planting interest in the state and will, provided the negros will be compelled Page 2: to him at fare wages and to remain at their homes for twelve months, This would not only enable the planter to [pitch?], but work and gather his crops. Unless some such policy be inaugurated the planting interest of the state in my judgement ^must^ be intirely destroyed, and bankruptcy and ruin the inevitable result. I had the pleasure of knowing you ^personally^ some thirty years ago, we were then both citizens of Vicksburg, and am happy to say did form a high estimate of your character at that time My Brother W A. Lake was one of your [earnest?] admirers. As my Movements will be much goverened by your reply to this letter, giving me your views respecting be policy to the pursued governing the south, and particularly the state of Mississippi, I shall wait with deep interest for your reply. Hoping to hear for you soon, I am [with?] [much?] [Respect?] yrs truly J B Lake Page 3: J. B. Lake wants to know what the policy will be in this state in regard to the negro Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Letter from J. B. Lake to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey; July 4, 1865 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context mdah_771-955-01-34 Subject The topic of the resource Freedmen.; Mississippi. Governor; Sharkey, William Lewis, 1798-1873; United States--Social conditions--1865-1918. Description An account of the resource From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Sharkey Collection. Letter from J. B. Lake to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey asking what his policy will be regarding African Americans and recommending that they be required to remain at home and work for wages. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Lake, J. B. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Mississippi Department of Archives and History. (electronic version); Mississippi Digital Library. (electronic version) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1865-07-04 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Funding for this project provided by The Dale Center for Study of War and Society-USM, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, the Mississippi Digital Library, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the University of Southern Mississippi, and the Watson-Brown Foundation Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource NO COPYRIGHT - UNITED STATES; http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/ Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1865 https://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/1b5d1fec73424c9884f48f2e17f92562.png 09ec248a14bf0c3d70386a11181b95da https://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/2beaa5a89478d8536061619293780040.png fab9f7b55cb21367fb078c99640671aa Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Emancipation and Citizenship Subject The topic of the resource The documents in this section remind us that emancipation was a process, not a moment. To approach it as such, this theme is broken down into Wartime, Immediate Postwar, and Reconstruction-era sections. Emancipation during the War: When President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on January 1, 1863, it only freed enslaved peoples in Confederate held territory. But this seemingly limited document would revolutionize the United States in the years that followed. Starting in 1863, enslaved peoples, if they could escape to the Union Army, would no longer be returned to their owners, but rather could stay in what were known as contraband camps where some men joined the Army and women served as cooks and laundresses. The contraband camps were not a panacea of freedom — disease was rampant and bigotry did not end with escape — but 1863 marked a radical shift in Federal policy where Union forces were now directly threatening the institution of slavery in the Confederacy. If you're investigating the process of emancipation during the war, you might look at the June 1862 letter from <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/16">Isaac Applewhite</a> warning Governor Pettus of what Applewhite saw as three key threats to the Confederacy in Marion County: enslaved African-Americans who became "emboldened" by nearby Union forces, potentially disloyal civilians, and Confederate deserters. Site users may also want to examine the <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/51">November 1863 telegram</a> from Confederate President Jefferson Davis to MS Governor Charles Clark about U.S. forces recruiting (or "conscripting," in Davis's words) African-American men into the Union Army or Navy, and efforts Davis wanted the state to take to thwart this. See also the unusual November 1863 account of W. E. Montgomery, Captain of the Herndon Rangers, describing the destruction of white Mississippians' properties in Bolivar County by a former overseer and Confederate deserter named Milford Coe. He lived with escaped African-American men, women, and children on an island in the Mississippi River, from which, according to this document, they launched small raids on Confederate property and traded with Union forces. The CWRGM research team is investigating this story to see if it echoes the more famous wartime case of Newton Knight in Jones County or if it is about something else entirely. If you'd like to join our volunteers and dig through newspaper, census, and military records, we'd love to hear what you find about this case. Emancipation in the Immediate Postwar Period: Scholars often warn against reading history backwards. Just because we know Mississippi surrendered in May 1865 does not mean that Mississippians knew the war was about to end that spring. Individuals also did not know what changes would follow — How would emancipation unfold? What rights did free and freed Blacks have, would those be respected or protected, and by whom? What rights and freedoms did former Confederates and Unionists have as Mississippi rejoined the Union? Would slaveholders be compensated for their slaves? Would freed peoples receive land or funds in compensation for their years of unpaid labor? In the sample documents relating to emancipation and the immediate postwar period, several letters spotlights the speed with which some freed peoples asserted themselves as citizens and businessmen. See, for example, <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/87">the case of Lambert Moore</a>. The formerly enslaved man <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1865/08/07/archives/mississippi-taxes-imposed-by-gov-sharkey.html">challenged the idea that he should pay taxes on his wartime earnings</a> and argued, through his attorneys, that he earned that money while hiring himself out as an enslaved man. Since Moore paid a portion of his earnings to the man who owned him (who confirmed that in the same document), Moore had, in essence, already been taxed. You may want to explore a related case made by <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/80">Frank Spruell</a>, a formerly enslaved man who argued directly to Governor Sharkey that he made far too little selling melons to pay $25 in taxes. There are also a series of letters that reveal former slaveholders' questions about their rights and responsibilities under the emancipation policies that went into effect throughout the state with its surrender in May 1865. The following month, <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/69">George T. Swann wrote to Governor William Sharkey </a>from Jackson, MS, describing the lack of clear information he had received on emancipation, a concern echoed by <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/71">S. R. Frierson</a> in Columbus the following month who asked if it would be an immediate or gradual process. In late July, Methodist minister Alex J. Smith from Neshoba County asked for similar clarification for his campaign as a "Union" political candidate facing strong <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/79">"Secession party" opposition</a>. Racial Tensions: Racial tensions increased significantly between moderates and conservatives, blacks and whites, and military and civilian Mississippians in the summer and fall of 1865. As early as July, documents reveal white Mississippians' desire to handle cases in civilian courts, while most African-Americans and U.S. military occupiers saw the need for military oversight. One of these cases involved a <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/75">4th of July shooting</a> where Joseph L. Jackson killed an African-American man (frustratingly unnamed in the document) the Jackson family had once enslaved and who worked as a hired laborer on a Jackson plantation in Washington County. The CWRGM research team is investigating this case to see if Freedmen's Bureau Colonel Samuel Thomas succeeded in his desire to keep the case in military courts, if Governor Sharkey, per the document's authors' advice, contacted President Andrew Johnson to win his support for transfer to civilian court and what Johnson's reaction was (if any), the court's final decision, and what happened to the two families involved after the trial. Another case emerged that fall as Captain S. D. Cooper with the 50th United States Colored Infantry (USCI) investigated charges of theft <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/84">filed by a Rankin County man</a> against one of his former slaves (again unnamed in the record), while another document reveals a request by the <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/90">mayor of Clinton, Mississippi</a> for clarification on how to interpret and enforce labor contracts. Both documents reflect a sharp spike in labor disputes as white and black Mississippians asserted their power and independence. Site visitors may also want to explore the case of Captain Peck, Provost Marshal of the Freedmen's Bureau. He arrested the former sheriff of Copiah County, Colonel Drury Brown, in the fall of 1865 on charges of violence against a freedman. When Governor Sharkey lobbied to have Brown transferred to a civilian court, it appears that Brown won his case and then Peck went to jail rather than pay bail for his appearances in court (though this part is unclear). At that point, U.S. Maj. Gen. Peter J. Osterhaus intervened, sending 300 U.S. Colored Troops (USCTs) to force the release of Peck from a Copiah County jail. This document spells out some of that case, and this <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1865/11/04/archives/from-the-south-and-west-petition-for-the-pardon-of-jacob.html">New York Times article</a> and along with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1865/11/12/archives/southern-items-trouble-in-mississippi-a-county-under-military.html">this one</a> offers a bit more context. This is another case the CWRGM research team is investigating. We welcome help from the public. Emancipation and African-American Citizenship during Reconstruction: The Emancipation Proclamation led to the passage and ratification of three constitutional amendments: the 13th Amendment in 1865 (abolition of slavery throughout the U.S. and territories), followed by the 14th Amendment in 1868 (guaranteeing rights of citizenship) and the 15th Amendment in 1870 (extending the right to vote to adult African-American men). Despite this powerful legislation, military and civilian leaders varied greatly in their ability or willingness to enforce the laws that protected the rights of all Mississippians throughout Reconstruction. There is an 1870 document in this sample (also included under the "Civilian" theme) that exemplifies the significant increase in racial violence by the 1870s and efforts taken to combat this by Mississippi Governor James Lusk Alcorn as well as U.S. military forces. <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/94">This documen</a>t shares the report of J. J. Gainey, a Union Army veteran and agent of the Mississippi Secret Service established by Alcorn to investigate and prosecute Ku Klux Klan violence in the state. Gainey's investigation, detailed here, uncovered several assaults on African-Americans in Lafayette County, MS, including one shooting and possible murders in Arkansas. This is another case that the CWRGM research team is investigating. We welcome help from the public. (Written by Susannah J. Ural, Ph.D.) Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Page 1: Private Jackson Miss June 29th 1865 Hon. W. L. Sharkey Governor &c. My Dear Sir The great purpose upon your time consequent on the anxiety of your friends to congratulate you on the highly honorable and useful position to which you have been assigned, so fortunately for our ruined and disolated state & people, prevents one from an opportunity in person of making a statement and a suggestion, which, I trust, you will excuse me for making in the shape of a note— I speak of my own case which is doubtless that of many thousands of our citizens. Our facilities for obtaining infor-mation as to what has been done by the authorities of the Union during the late revolution have been so limited that I do not know what proclomations have been issued by the President, especially in regard to the emancipation of our slaves. These are the things which we are required by the Proclomation of President Johnson to swear that we will "support and abide by" before we are allowed to vote in the election you are delegated to order, for a Convention of the People of the state to amend or change the Constitu-tion. To swear that we will do this, intelligently and honestly, it is indispensable that we shall know them: I am anxious as a loyal citizen of the United States to do all in my power to restore civil government, and, If Page 2: I can, to vote in the election to be ordered—But you will at once perceive that I could not swear, as a Christian man, without information as to what I am swearing to do. It is not to be supposed for a moment that the President would re-quire the citizen to act in so momentous a matter without an opportunity for a full understanding as to what he is required to swear to, as a condition of his exercise of suffrage. The suggestion which the necessities of my own Con-dition, as will as that of so many others thus situated, have induced me thus to intrude upon your attention now is that in your Proclamation ordering an election you would state or report to the dates or substance of the several Proclamations of the President which are embraced by the terms of the Amnesty Test Oath—The people are most painfully anxious to know what they are expected to do—& as you will desire us to act concientiously, I am sure you will so far as you can enable us to act intelligently, By making this refernce in your Proclamation, or by furnishing to the Press such information as to the Contents, and dates of the several Proclamations as will serve to enlighten the popular mind you will releive what I know now preys most painfully upon many honest minded and loyal men—I hope, my dear sir, you will excuse this intrusion on account of my motive— I am, most respectfully & Truly Yr friend & obt sevt Geo. T. Swann [strikethrough]SWAIN[strikethrough] SWANN Geo T Swann Answer that the Proclomation sets forth his suggestions Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Letter from George T. Swann to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey; June 29, 1865 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context mdah_771-954-05-02 Subject The topic of the resource Johnson, Andrew, 1808-1875; Mississippi. Governor; Sharkey, William Lewis, 1798-1873; Slavery.; Slaves--Emancipation--United States.; United States. President (1865-1869 : Johnson) Description An account of the resource From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Sharkey Collection. Letter from George T. Swann to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey asking Sharkey to explain the president's proclamations in regard to the emancipation of enslaved people. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Swann, George T. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Mississippi Department of Archives and History. (electronic version); Mississippi Digital Library. (electronic version) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1865-06-29 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Funding for this project provided by The Dale Center for Study of War and Society-USM, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, the Mississippi Digital Library, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the University of Southern Mississippi, and the Watson-Brown Foundation Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource NO COPYRIGHT - UNITED STATES; http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/ Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1865 https://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/4834e14739ccfd70a3f908b514340b24.png 5475a152e2601ab20fec05eb63992feb https://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/af38e6c19c7ab4d79fbf7cb50e51476f.png 596754444d49c0a8788d2313989a8a2c Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Emancipation and Citizenship Subject The topic of the resource The documents in this section remind us that emancipation was a process, not a moment. To approach it as such, this theme is broken down into Wartime, Immediate Postwar, and Reconstruction-era sections. Emancipation during the War: When President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on January 1, 1863, it only freed enslaved peoples in Confederate held territory. But this seemingly limited document would revolutionize the United States in the years that followed. Starting in 1863, enslaved peoples, if they could escape to the Union Army, would no longer be returned to their owners, but rather could stay in what were known as contraband camps where some men joined the Army and women served as cooks and laundresses. The contraband camps were not a panacea of freedom — disease was rampant and bigotry did not end with escape — but 1863 marked a radical shift in Federal policy where Union forces were now directly threatening the institution of slavery in the Confederacy. If you're investigating the process of emancipation during the war, you might look at the June 1862 letter from <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/16">Isaac Applewhite</a> warning Governor Pettus of what Applewhite saw as three key threats to the Confederacy in Marion County: enslaved African-Americans who became "emboldened" by nearby Union forces, potentially disloyal civilians, and Confederate deserters. Site users may also want to examine the <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/51">November 1863 telegram</a> from Confederate President Jefferson Davis to MS Governor Charles Clark about U.S. forces recruiting (or "conscripting," in Davis's words) African-American men into the Union Army or Navy, and efforts Davis wanted the state to take to thwart this. See also the unusual November 1863 account of W. E. Montgomery, Captain of the Herndon Rangers, describing the destruction of white Mississippians' properties in Bolivar County by a former overseer and Confederate deserter named Milford Coe. He lived with escaped African-American men, women, and children on an island in the Mississippi River, from which, according to this document, they launched small raids on Confederate property and traded with Union forces. The CWRGM research team is investigating this story to see if it echoes the more famous wartime case of Newton Knight in Jones County or if it is about something else entirely. If you'd like to join our volunteers and dig through newspaper, census, and military records, we'd love to hear what you find about this case. Emancipation in the Immediate Postwar Period: Scholars often warn against reading history backwards. Just because we know Mississippi surrendered in May 1865 does not mean that Mississippians knew the war was about to end that spring. Individuals also did not know what changes would follow — How would emancipation unfold? What rights did free and freed Blacks have, would those be respected or protected, and by whom? What rights and freedoms did former Confederates and Unionists have as Mississippi rejoined the Union? Would slaveholders be compensated for their slaves? Would freed peoples receive land or funds in compensation for their years of unpaid labor? In the sample documents relating to emancipation and the immediate postwar period, several letters spotlights the speed with which some freed peoples asserted themselves as citizens and businessmen. See, for example, <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/87">the case of Lambert Moore</a>. The formerly enslaved man <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1865/08/07/archives/mississippi-taxes-imposed-by-gov-sharkey.html">challenged the idea that he should pay taxes on his wartime earnings</a> and argued, through his attorneys, that he earned that money while hiring himself out as an enslaved man. Since Moore paid a portion of his earnings to the man who owned him (who confirmed that in the same document), Moore had, in essence, already been taxed. You may want to explore a related case made by <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/80">Frank Spruell</a>, a formerly enslaved man who argued directly to Governor Sharkey that he made far too little selling melons to pay $25 in taxes. There are also a series of letters that reveal former slaveholders' questions about their rights and responsibilities under the emancipation policies that went into effect throughout the state with its surrender in May 1865. The following month, <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/69">George T. Swann wrote to Governor William Sharkey </a>from Jackson, MS, describing the lack of clear information he had received on emancipation, a concern echoed by <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/71">S. R. Frierson</a> in Columbus the following month who asked if it would be an immediate or gradual process. In late July, Methodist minister Alex J. Smith from Neshoba County asked for similar clarification for his campaign as a "Union" political candidate facing strong <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/79">"Secession party" opposition</a>. Racial Tensions: Racial tensions increased significantly between moderates and conservatives, blacks and whites, and military and civilian Mississippians in the summer and fall of 1865. As early as July, documents reveal white Mississippians' desire to handle cases in civilian courts, while most African-Americans and U.S. military occupiers saw the need for military oversight. One of these cases involved a <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/75">4th of July shooting</a> where Joseph L. Jackson killed an African-American man (frustratingly unnamed in the document) the Jackson family had once enslaved and who worked as a hired laborer on a Jackson plantation in Washington County. The CWRGM research team is investigating this case to see if Freedmen's Bureau Colonel Samuel Thomas succeeded in his desire to keep the case in military courts, if Governor Sharkey, per the document's authors' advice, contacted President Andrew Johnson to win his support for transfer to civilian court and what Johnson's reaction was (if any), the court's final decision, and what happened to the two families involved after the trial. Another case emerged that fall as Captain S. D. Cooper with the 50th United States Colored Infantry (USCI) investigated charges of theft <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/84">filed by a Rankin County man</a> against one of his former slaves (again unnamed in the record), while another document reveals a request by the <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/90">mayor of Clinton, Mississippi</a> for clarification on how to interpret and enforce labor contracts. Both documents reflect a sharp spike in labor disputes as white and black Mississippians asserted their power and independence. Site visitors may also want to explore the case of Captain Peck, Provost Marshal of the Freedmen's Bureau. He arrested the former sheriff of Copiah County, Colonel Drury Brown, in the fall of 1865 on charges of violence against a freedman. When Governor Sharkey lobbied to have Brown transferred to a civilian court, it appears that Brown won his case and then Peck went to jail rather than pay bail for his appearances in court (though this part is unclear). At that point, U.S. Maj. Gen. Peter J. Osterhaus intervened, sending 300 U.S. Colored Troops (USCTs) to force the release of Peck from a Copiah County jail. This document spells out some of that case, and this <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1865/11/04/archives/from-the-south-and-west-petition-for-the-pardon-of-jacob.html">New York Times article</a> and along with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1865/11/12/archives/southern-items-trouble-in-mississippi-a-county-under-military.html">this one</a> offers a bit more context. This is another case the CWRGM research team is investigating. We welcome help from the public. Emancipation and African-American Citizenship during Reconstruction: The Emancipation Proclamation led to the passage and ratification of three constitutional amendments: the 13th Amendment in 1865 (abolition of slavery throughout the U.S. and territories), followed by the 14th Amendment in 1868 (guaranteeing rights of citizenship) and the 15th Amendment in 1870 (extending the right to vote to adult African-American men). Despite this powerful legislation, military and civilian leaders varied greatly in their ability or willingness to enforce the laws that protected the rights of all Mississippians throughout Reconstruction. There is an 1870 document in this sample (also included under the "Civilian" theme) that exemplifies the significant increase in racial violence by the 1870s and efforts taken to combat this by Mississippi Governor James Lusk Alcorn as well as U.S. military forces. <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/94">This documen</a>t shares the report of J. J. Gainey, a Union Army veteran and agent of the Mississippi Secret Service established by Alcorn to investigate and prosecute Ku Klux Klan violence in the state. Gainey's investigation, detailed here, uncovered several assaults on African-Americans in Lafayette County, MS, including one shooting and possible murders in Arkansas. This is another case that the CWRGM research team is investigating. We welcome help from the public. (Written by Susannah J. Ural, Ph.D.) Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Page 1: On Monday morning 300 Colored troops, under command of some white officers, came to Gal-latin and demanded the keys of the jail for the pur-pose of Setting at liberty Capt Peck, Provost Marshall of Freedmen thence confined The Keys were given up, under [?] and Captain Peck released He immediatly Page 2: issued orders and had arrested [LeS?] & Redus, deputy Sheriff and Col. Redus and Henry Cochran, citizens Summoned by the Sheriff to aid in arresting Captain Peck Col Redus gave bond of two thousand dollars returnable to Captain Peck; to answer Such charges as may be preferred against him, Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Statement; 1865 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context mdah_776-960-02-03 Subject The topic of the resource Mississippi. Governor; Sharkey, William Lewis, 1798-1873; United States. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands. Description An account of the resource From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Sharkey Collection. Undated statement concerning the arrest of Captain Peck, Provost Marshal of the Freedmen's Bureau. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Unknown Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Mississippi Department of Archives and History. (electronic version); Mississippi Digital Library. (electronic version) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1865-?-? Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Funding for this project provided by The Dale Center for Study of War and Society-USM, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, the Mississippi Digital Library, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the University of Southern Mississippi, and the Watson-Brown Foundation Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource NO COPYRIGHT - UNITED STATES; http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/ Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1865