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George Washington to New Hampshire, 29 December 1777
(Detail, GLC03706)
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Reconstruction:
The Disappointment of Presidential Reconstruction
by Brian Cohen
Highland Park High School, Highland Park, IL
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October 21, 1865
THE CHRISTIAN RECORDER
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
(acquired through Accessible Archives)
The official religious weekly newspaper of the African
Methodist Episcopal Church during and after Reconstruction,
the Christian Recorder can offer historians and
students insight into the mindset of African Americans
following the conclusion of the Civil War. Although written
by free blacks in the North, the newspaper sheds light
on the expectations and hopes that African Americans all
over the country held after the surrender at Appomattox.
Here, students can see the discontent blacks had for Presidential
Reconstruction, and their newly forming attitude towards
the federal government.
Many former slaveholders, whether rightfully or not, consider themselves relieved of the responsibility of caring for their liberated bondmen. We have been credibly informed that many of these masters are heartlessly indifferent even to the sufferings of the freedmen - do nothing for them even when they might - refuse them employment when they actually need their services - endeavor to extend over them a slavish "apprenticeship" system - maltreat their persons - desecrate their churches - and take a malicious satisfaction in proving their own statements of the colored man's natural incapacity, by hedging up his path, and then pointing to his forlorn condition...
Our own colored church members are suffering under depressing disabilities. Many of hem are destitute of homes, churches, schools, means, employment, education, experience, and influence. The extravagances of their religious worship, which are purely the result of defective instruction, are ridiculed when they should be kindly reformed.
It is evidently too soon to expect every minister to accept properly his changed relationship to overcome his prejudices, to yield at once his emoluments and resentments, to grant the freedman his inalienable rights, to be generous as well as just, to provide still for the wants of those who are so unexpectedly thrown on their own limited resources. But we, too, are partially at fault for the former enslavement and present degradation of the freedmen. We insisted upon and were privileged to share in their emancipation. We absolutely must, therefore, now devote ourselves to their regeneration. As we brought about the present state of affairs by our words, by our votes, by our boycotts, we are morally bound manfully to accept the ultimate results of our principles. We must make good our promises. We must vindicate our assertions. We cannot do less than contribute to the fulfillment of our own prophecies. Having violently separated the freedmen from those who made a tolerable provision for their necessities, consistency, honor, duty, bind us to do even more for them than their former masters could or would.
The National Government is setting us an example in this matter. The State Legislatures will find it to their interest to care for this portion of the population. The Freedmen's Bureau, to the extent of its ability, is watching over the rights, and ameliorating the condition of the blacks. Voluntary associations, outside of the Church, are organizing and consolidating to supplement the efforts of the Government...
1. Once they were free from slavery,
what expectations did blacks have of former slaveholders
toward their former slaves?
2. What complaints did African Americans
have of previous slave owners during Presidential Reconstruction?
3. How might the actions of former slave
owners toward freedmen have convinced many Northerners
that Johnson's plan for Reconstruction was unsatisfactory?
4. What social institutions did African
Americans most rely on during Reconstruction to help them
adjust to freedom? How did they benefit from these institutions?
5. Looking back on the role of the Federal
government toward African Americans before 1900, why is
it significant and unprecedented that African Americans
are now looking toward Washington, D.C. as a source of
protection from encroachment upon their basic rights?
Compare Federal government policies towards African Americans
and Native Americans before 1900. Explain how the Federal
government serves as a "protector" of minority
rights today.
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