Experience of Emancipation

            The primary source I chose to evaluate concerning the consequences of emancipation was a story told by an ex-save named Henry Adams. Adams had been chosen to testify about his experiences dealing with freedom in front of the U.S. Senate fifteen years after it happened. Adams begins his description by explaining that his previous master had told the slaves they were free, but offered them protection from the whites who would, “kill them for fun”. By intimidating his former slaves, the plantation owner was able to convince almost all of the slaves to stay and work as sharecroppers on his plantation. Adams discusses how they were all forced to sign contracts that gave them a portion of what they grew, but the portions were just small enough to survive on. These contracts also specifically said that the previous master had no right to whip the new sharecroppers. This aspect of the contract was quickly overlooked when a young girl was almost beaten to death by the lady of the house and her husband. The beating of this young girl caused a major upset among the former slaves who had chosen to remain on the planation. Therefore, on September 18 many of these former slaves decided they would leave the plantation because the contracts had been broken by the beating and they were free to do so. These emancipated slaves were quickly stopped by a group of around 40 armed white men who informed them that they were, “going to kill ever' nigger they found leaving their masters”. The men robbed the slaves, but allowed them to return to their former master without killing them. Adams goes on to explain the many other ways they were intimidated into remaining with their former masters as sharecroppers. From Henry Adams’ report it is clear that the time after the Civil War was not all about freedom and rebuilding the nation, but intimidation and violence. This intimidation would continue long after the war and influence the emancipated slaves to stay with their abusive previous owners. Henry Adams’ account of emancipation clearly shows that freedom did not come easy.