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Reconstruction Era of the United States and African American Community

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Reconstruction Era of the United States and African American Community
92. In 1865 an appointment was held between representatives of an African American community in Savannah, Georgia and Edwin Staunton, Secretary of War, and Major General Sherman concerning topics of the freedman in Georgia. Land was set aside, 40 acres, and a mule that could no longer be used by the Army to establish a community of their own. 1. Black leaders believed that owning land was essential to freedom because by them owning their own land they would be able to support themselves by themselves. 2. Blacks understand their relationship to the national government as the Civil War drew to a close as being dependent upon their freedom. Q: Why 40 acres and a broken down mule? Do you believe they deserved more/less land? Did they not deserve a more useful mule?
93. The committee on behalf of the freedmen sent a letter to Andrew Johnson in 1865 concerning keeping the land, which had been set aside for them after the war, which had been rumored to be given back to the previous owner. 1. It was important for the petitioners to obtain the land on Edisto Island as opposed to land elsewhere in the country because there was a legal agreement made that should be adhered to. 2. The relationship between owning land and freedom to them is not having to rely on anyone else and being able to feel equal to the white men. Q: What similarities does this have to the Native Americans?
94. The Mississippi black code of 1865 was rules and regulations on which African Americans had to adhere to. 1. I think that the state of Mississippi required all black persons to sign yearly labor contracts but not white citizens because the vagrant law only applied to freedmen and it was a way of regulating work for the plantations. 2. The basic rights that were granted to the fomer slaves were the right to marriage, ownership of land, and involvement in the court system but only if it was not dealing in all white cases. The basic rights that were denied to them by the black code

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