Voices from the Reconstruction Years 1865-1877

The American Civil War is arguably the worst war that has ever taken place on American soil. After President Lincoln’s assassination that shook the nation, it was up to President Johnson and Ulysses S. Grant to rebuild a troubled and segregated Nation.

            In Glenn M. Linden’s book Voices from the Reconstruction Years 1865-1877, he recounts several different stories from the northern and southern perspectives on the issue of reconstruction and the horrors and discrimination that plagued the colored. There are was one chapter in Linden’s book that really stuck out to me was the chapter about how the south was seen by the black southerners in the years 1865-1867. The chapter takes into account the stories of Peter Randolph, a colored Connecticut minister, and John Lynch, a former slave who was freed in 1863.

            Peter Randolph decided to return to his home state of Virginia to help out the newly freed blacks. The changed conditions in the South affected the colored people differently than the southern whites. Upon arrival, Peter Randolph recalled that colored people from all over the state were crowded around the capital in Richmond, praising God that freedom had finally come at last. Richmond was smoke and ash when he arrived. The rebels had burned the city because they would rather see the city burned to the ground instead of in the hands of the Union. Armies were a constant sight in Richmond, marching day and night through the city carrying their wounded soldiers with them. According to Randolph, the colored people were not the only ones that were happy and relieved that the war was finally over, but the armies were too. There were so many freed colored people in the city that accommodations were few and far between. There were however camps that were set up , one of which Randolph happened to stay at. His camp called, Schinnborazzo, is where he spent his first Sunday preaching to large crowds. Randolph points out a common fear among the white population, they are afraid that the colored people were going to kill and murder them now that they were free. Nowadays we know that these fears are unrealistic, but back then that ideology was so strong whites in general were terrified. In reality, back then all the colored people were doing was rejoicing that they were finally free. There was several problems still present, one of which Randolph noted was that former slave owners refused to give up their servants and allow them to be free. Southern whites did not want to face facts that the war was over and slavery was abolished forever.

            John Lynch was a slave until 1863 when he became a freedman when the Union troops occupied Natchez, Mississippi. After finding his mother after a long search for her, he attempted to begin his new life as a free man but society refused to accept him. His main concern was to find a job to support his mother and other family members. Lynch had no education and the only thing that he had going for him was that he was young, had his health and a determination to win at life. He acquired a job as a waiter at a boarding house being paid only $5 a month. His mother had a well paying job but the job was not permanent and so the money was reliable. John was only satisfied with his waiter job for month before he decided to move on. When he went to collect his pay, he was only given four dollars because some silverware had gone missing and he blamed because of the color of his skin. Lynch did not complain though because he was just happy to get paid for services as many colored people were.

            Reading through the chapter, I just cannot believe that blacks were treated in this way. Its hard to grasp that the white population were so set in their ideologies of blacks they were willing to do whatever it took to make sure they stayed superior.

-Linden, Glenn M. Voices from the Reconstruction Years, 1865-1877. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace, 1999. Print.