George Washington to New Hampshire, 29 December 1777 (Detail, GLC03706) Reconstruction: Freedmen Land Ownership by George Kohl Messalonskee High School, Oakland, ME Report of the Joint Committee on Reconstruction (Washington, 1866) http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/black_voices/blackvoice_search.cfm?ID=81 The Joint Committee on Reconstruction was formed by both houses of Congress in 1866. Chaired by Sen. William Pitt Fessenden, a moderate Republican from Maine, the Committee's investigations would determine whether conditions in the Southern states warranted the return of Congressional representation. The following is an excerpt from the testimony of Major General Rufus Saxton before the Joint Committee on Reconstruction in 1866. Gen. Saxton commanded an area which included Georgia's Sea Islands and later became an assistant commissioner in the Freedmen's Bureau. He is questioned about Freedmen land ownership. [Question] What is [the freedmen's] disposition in regards to purchasing land, and what is the disposition of the land owners in reference to selling land to Negroes? [Answer] The object which the freedman has most at heart is the purchase of land. They all desire to get small homesteads and to locate themselves upon them, and there is scarcely any sacrifice too great for them to make to accomplish this object. I believe it is the policy of the majority of the farm owners to keep the Negroes landless, and as nearly in a condition of slavery as it is possible for them to do. I think that the former slaveholders know really less about the freedmen than any other class of people. The system of slavery has been one of concealment on the part of the Negro of all his feelings and impulses; and that feeling of concealment is so ingrained with the very constitution of the Negro that he deceives his former master on almost every point. The freedman has no faith in his former master, nor has his former owner any faith in the capacity of the freedman. A mutual distrust exists between them. But the freedman is ready and willing to contract to work for any northern man. One man from the North, a man of capital, who employed large numbers of freedmen, and paid them regularly, told me, as others have, that he desired no better laborers; that he considered them fully as easy to manage as Irish laborers. That was my own experience in employing several thousands of them in cultivating the soil. I have also had considerable experience in employing white labor, having, as quartermaster, frequently had large numbers of laborers under my control. [Question] If the Negro is put in possession of all his rights as a man, do you apprehend any danger of insurrection among them? [Answer] I do not; and I think that is the only thing which will prevent difficulty. I think if the Negro is put in possession of all his rights as a citizen and as a man, he will be peaceful, orderly and self-sustaining as any other man or class of men, and that he will rapidly advance. . . . 1. Why is land ownership so important to the freedmen, and why do Southern landholders want to limit the freedmen's access to the land? 2. Describe the relationship between the freedmen and their former masters. Explain the basis of this relationship. 3. How does the testimony portray the freedmen as contract laborers? Is the portrayal valid? Explain your viewpoint. 4. Evaluate the usefulness of the testimony to the Joint Congressional Committee.