North Carolina Black Soldiers to the Freedmen's Bureau Commissioner

After the war was over a time of opportunity arose for the African Americans of the south. These times were filled with black men taking office and voting for the republican party. It was a time of great change and diversity mixed with the brutal hatred from the southern white men who felt like they were getting the short end of the stick. However, like we have discussed in class not all was fine and dandy for the black men. In this document we hear from  a black soldier who was stationed in Roanoke island complaining about the harsh conditions after the war.

                When the war started these black soldiers were promised that their wives and children would be fed, but towards the end of the war they were only receiving half rations. This was not because of southern hatred towards the blacks but rather union officers betraying them. The men in this petition describe that an officer from the Roanoke occupation is going into the houses and stealing food and beating the black men’s children and wives. They also describe that they are not being paid for their work, stating, “Captn James the Suptn in Charge has been told of these facts and has taken no notice of them.  so has Coln Lahaman the Commander in Charge of Roanoke, but no notice is taken of it, because it comes from Contrabands or Freedmen   the cause of much suffering is that Captn James has not paid the Colored people for their work for near a year and at the same time cuts the ration's off to one half so the people have neither provisions or money to buy it with.”

                This unfortunate treatment goes off the basis that I discussed in class. How were these black men supposed to take advantage of this opportunity they had when they had hatred coming from both sides. There was no chance for the men to get passed the hatred of the south, and how could they when generations had looked at the black men and women as slaves to their dominant race? To top that, they were not receiving fair treatment from the northern occupiers which was their only hope. An opportunity by force is one thing but an opportunity from a force that treats you just as poorly cannot be that at all.

                This goes to show and prove my thought that there was no true opportunity for the blacks of America during this time period. Yes, some obtained offices in Washington but for the vast majority it was a time of mass hatred from a bitter south.

 

 

http://www.history.umd.edu/Freedmen/roanoke.htm