Garrison Frazier's Freedom and Land Reforms

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Questions and Answers

How did Garrison Frazier define freedom for African-Americans during his January 1865 conversation with General Sherman and Secretary of War Stanton?

renting land on the plantations on which they had been formerly enslaved

working for wages for an employer

having and owning their own land (correct)

maintaining a state of mind that was untethered from material circumstances

leaving the United States for Canada

Which statement is true about "Sherman land"?

Sherman set aside lands for settlement of black families on forty-acre plots. (correct)

The Freedman's Bureau distributed hundreds of thousands of forty-acre plots of Sherman land in every southern state.

The Sherman lands replaced the sharecropping system.

General Sherman established a wage labor system on the Sea Islands.

President Andrew Johnson supported and expanded the Sherman land reform.

General William T. Sherman's Special Field Order 15

set aside land to distribute among black families. (correct)

conferred honors on the soldiers who had fought beside him.

offered black soldiers' widows survivors' pensions.

gave freed slaves the right to settle in New York.

allowed emancipated slaves to roam freely across U.S. territory.

Which of the following best describes the black response to the ending of the Civil War and the coming of freedom?

Blacks adopted different ways of testing their freedom, including moving about, seeking kin, and rejecting older forms of deferential behavior. Signup and view all the answers

What effect did emancipation have on the structure of the black family?

Black families increasingly adopted the nineteenth-century idea that men and women held different responsibilities. Signup and view all the answers

Which denominations had the largest followings among blacks after the Civil War?

Methodist and Baptist Signup and view all the answers

Howard University is well known as

a black university in Washington, D.C. Signup and view all the answers

In which way did the black church change during Reconstruction?

It started to play a central role as blacks abandoned white-controlled religious institutions. Signup and view all the answers

How did Reconstruction leave an enduring legacy?

The nation's first African-American colleges were established. Signup and view all the answers

What was one of the ways in which black education evolved during Reconstruction?

The first black colleges were established. Signup and view all the answers

For most former slaves, freedom first and foremost meant

landownership. Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following was true according to Frederick Douglass?

Slavery was not going to be truly abolished until black men held the ballot. Signup and view all the answers

Anything less than ______ for African-Americans would betray the Civil War's meaning, black spokesmen insisted.

full citizenship Signup and view all the answers

In terms of employment, blacks most avidly searched for

the possibility to work their own land. Signup and view all the answers

How did the Civil War affect planter families?

For the first time, some of them had to do physical labor. Signup and view all the answers

What was the northern vision for the Reconstruction-era southern economy?

to give free blacks the same employment opportunities as northern workers Signup and view all the answers

In the Republican free labor vision of a reconstructed South,

Southern black and northern white workers would enjoy the same opportunities, and the South would become more like the North. Signup and view all the answers

How did southern leaders tend to react to black freedom after the Civil War?

They tended to view it as a privilege and not a right. Signup and view all the answers

The Freedmen's Bureau's greatest accomplishments were in

education and health care. Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following statements accurately describes the Freedmen's Bureau?

It assisted northern societies committed to black education. Signup and view all the answers

During Reconstruction, the majority of southern African-Americans

remained poor and without property. Signup and view all the answers

What did the ex-slaves see as key to significantly improving their condition?

receiving free land as their own property Signup and view all the answers

What did Andrew Johnson do with the land of plantation owners seized during the Civil War?

He returned it to the original owners. Signup and view all the answers

According to the petitions that freedmen sent to President Andrew Johnson, what had the government promised them?

homesteads Signup and view all the answers

Because President Johnson ended land reform and no land distribution took place,

the vast majority of rural African-Americans remained poor and without property. Signup and view all the answers

Sharecropping

was preferred by African-Americans to gang labor, because they were less subject to supervision. Signup and view all the answers

The crop-lien system

kept many sharecroppers in a state of constant debt and poverty. Signup and view all the answers

White farmers in the late nineteenth-century South

included many sharecroppers involved in the crop-lien system. Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following statements accurately describes the sharecropping system?

Sharecroppers rented land and split the crops with the plantation owner. Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following statements accurately describes white yeoman (small) farmers?

After the war, many white yeoman farmers went into debt, lost their farms, and became sharecroppers as a result. Signup and view all the answers

After the Civil War, cotton prices

dropped. Signup and view all the answers

During Reconstruction, southern cities

enjoyed newfound prosperity as merchants traded more frequently with the North. Signup and view all the answers

Other societies experienced the transition from slavery to freedom around the same time as the United States. What type of labor did plantation owners in the British Caribbean use to continue their operations?

indentured servants from India and China Signup and view all the answers

During Reconstruction, what new southern class arose due to the building of new railroads?

an urban middle class Signup and view all the answers

What did the freedmen request in their "Petition of Committee in Behalf of the Freedmen to Andrew Johnson" in 1865?

the right to purchase a homestead Signup and view all the answers

The petitioners argued that they had a right to the land because they were loyal to the Confederacy during the Civil War.

False Signup and view all the answers

What can be determined through analyzing the “Sharecropping Contract”?

The contract was a type of economic slavery. Signup and view all the answers

What benefit did Abraham Lincoln see in having Andrew Johnson on his ticket?

Lincoln's party hoped to build a Republican base in the South. Signup and view all the answers

What was ironic about the election of Andrew Johnson?

A man from a state that had seceded was now president. Signup and view all the answers

Johnson grew up in poverty in the South and saw the planter class as a “bloated, corrupted aristocracy.

True Signup and view all the answers

Andrew Johnson

lacked Lincoln's political skills and keen sense of public opinion. Signup and view all the answers

How can Andrew Johnson be compared to Abraham Lincoln?

Johnson was more stubborn and less willing to compromise than Lincoln. Signup and view all the answers

What did Andrew Johnson focus on with his Reconstruction plan?

issuing presidential pardons Signup and view all the answers

Why specifically did Andrew Johnson's Reconstruction plan fail?

Ex-Confederates and pre-Civil War elite returned to power. Signup and view all the answers

The southern Black Codes

allowed the arrest on vagrancy charges of former slaves who failed to sign yearly labor contracts. Signup and view all the answers

President Andrew Johnson appointed provisional governors to southern states. How were they supposed to rule local affairs?

by managing local affairs as they pleased Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following statements accurately describes the Radical Republicans?

They promoted the ideal of a strong federal government able to protect the rights of all Americans. Signup and view all the answers

The Black Codes

violated free labor principles so celebrated by the North at the time. Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Garrison Frazier's Definition of Freedom

Garrison Frazier, during a 1865 conversation, defined freedom for African-Americans as land ownership and a state of mind detached from material concerns.

Sherman Land

General William T. Sherman set aside land for black families on forty-acre plots.
President Andrew Johnson did not support or expand Sherman's land reform.
This land didn't replace the sharecropping system.

Special Field Order 15

General William T. Sherman issued Special Field Order 15, allocating land to formerly enslaved people.
This order allowed formerly enslaved people to settle in the new land, offering them a chance to establish independent lives.

Black Response to Freedom

Initially, most African Americans remained with their former masters, but many sought family members and moved around, testing their freedom in various ways.
Some moved to northern cities for factory work or other opportunities.
They attempted to build new lives, create families, and secure their independence, often facing discrimination and hardship.

Effect of Emancipation on Black Families

Black families adjusted their roles and responsibilities following the Civil War, often taking on new responsibilities related to financial matters and labor.
Increased emphasis on matrilineal family structures among black families emerged as women took on leadership roles.
Black families were more focused on earnings and economic stability following emancipation.

Religious Denominations After the Civil War

Methodist and Baptist churches had the most prominent black memberships, providing crucial support networks and community centers.

Howard University

Howard University is a historically black university in Washington, D.C., and is considered one of the oldest in the nation.

Black Church During Reconstruction

The black church became more central in black communities as they expanded their roles in both religious and social spheres, often serving as community centers.

Reconstruction's Legacy

Reconstruction established the nation's first African American colleges and institutions, which provided much-needed education opportunities and avenues for social mobility.
Many African American families owned land within 50 years of Reconstruction, marking a step toward economic independence and prosperity.

The Evolution of Black Education During Reconstruction

The first black colleges were established, providing educational opportunities for formerly enslaved people.
Black education was supported primarily by the federal government through initiatives like the Freedmen's Bureau.

Black Vision of Freedom

Land ownership was a primary focus for formerly enslaved people, giving them a stake in the land and promoting economic self-sufficiency.
Political freedom and self-determination were key elements of freedom for most formerly enslaved and former slave holders, emphasizing the right to vote, participate in the political process, and hold positions of power.

Frederick Douglass's Perspective

Douglass argued that true freedom required political participation for black men, emphasizing the right to vote and participate in the political process as crucial aspects of freedom.
He argued that the acquisition of full political rights became crucial before other freedoms could be granted or fully realized.

Black Codes

Black Codes were laws enacted in the Southern states following the Civil War aimed at restricting the freedoms of recently freed African Americans. These codes often limited their mobility, economic opportunities, and political rights, in effect creating a system close to indentured servitude.

Southern Land Policies

Southern planters reacted in significantly uneven and varied ways to the freedom of formerly enslaved people, with some accepting it and others resisting.

Freedmen's Bureau

The Freedmen's Bureau, a federal agency, provided education and other assistance including establishing schools, hospitals, and legal aid to recently freed persons after the Civil War.

Presidential Policies Regarding Reconstruction

Andrew Johnson's policies concerning Reconstruction encountered significant opposition from the Republicans in Congress and were deemed insufficient and inadequate for the task of reforming southern society.

Radical Republicans

Radical Republicans pursued sweeping changes in the South to redistribute political and economic power, aiming to challenge the existing power structure rooted in the antebellum South, and support the newly freed men.

Reconstruction Amendments

These amendments (13th, 14th, and 15th) significantly altered the political landscape of the nation by abolishing slavery, granting citizenship and equal protection, and extending the right to vote to African-Americans.

Sharecropping System

Sharecropping is a system of agriculture where farmers worked the land of another while giving the land owner a share of the harvest and any excess profits.
It largely became the primary method of agricultural production in the Southern United States after the Civil War.
African American farmers were frequently used in the sharecropping system.
This system often trapped people in cycles of debt and poverty, creating a persistent cycle of economic hardship.

Civil Rights Bill of 1866

It guaranteed civil rights to all citizens, regardless of race.

Fifteenth Amendment

The Fifteenth Amendment guaranteed voting rights to African-Americans.

Impeachment of Andrew Johnson

Johnson's veto of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and other actions were deemed insufficient and sparked impeachment proceedings.
He was not removed from office during his impeachment trial.

Overthrow of Reconstruction

The "Overthrow of Reconstruction" marked the end of sustained federal efforts to enforce civil rights and protect the newly freed individuals in the South.
Several contributing factors were involved in the end of Reconstruction, including the Compromise of 1877.

Significance of 1877 Election

The election was strongly contested because of disputed election results; the political compromise determined the presidency.

Supreme Court Rulings

Supreme Court decisions, such as the Slaughterhouse Cases, curtailed some of the scope of federal protection for civil rights and transferred more power to the states and affected interpretations of legislation throughout the country.
These decisions limited legislative authority by the federal government.

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Description

Explore the concepts of freedom as defined by Garrison Frazier in 1865 and the impact of General Sherman's land reforms on African Americans. Learn about Special Field Order 15, the responses of black families to freedom, and the challenges they faced in the post-emancipation era. This quiz covers key historical aspects of land ownership and its significance for formerly enslaved people.