Carried Forward By Hope (59 page)

“How?” Jeremy asked.

“Congress passed a law in March of this year that gave the Freedmen’s Bureau the mandate to redistribute these lands. Now this is where it becomes totally frustrating,” Matthew explained. “When President Johnson issued his amnesty proclamation in May, it included political immunity as well as return of confiscated property, but it did not include landowners with property worth more than twenty thousand dollars.”

“Which would be all the plantation owners,” Thomas observed. “I happen to be one of those, which makes me even more grateful Cromwell was not taken.”

“Yes,” Matthew replied. “After Johnson’s proclamation, the head of the Freedmen’s Bureau, General Howard, asked Attorney General James Speed how this affected the bureau’s mandate to distribute land to the freed slaves.” Matthew reached for his notebook and flipped through it until he found what he was looking for. “Howard got a response back in June. ‘
The
Bureau Commissioner has authority, under the direction of the President, to set apart for the use of loyal refugees and freedmen the lands in question; and he is required to assign to every male of that class of persons, not more than forty acres of such lands
.’ ”

“That’s a bad thing?” Abby asked, confusion shadowing her eyes.

“Definitely not. General Howard acted quickly to make it happen. He ordered an inventory of lands available for redistribution and resisted the plantation owners’ attempts to reclaim property. Until very recently, the Freedmen’s Bureau controlled eight to nine hundred thousand acres of plantation lands previously belonging to slave owners. Then he created a directive within the bureau.”

“I believe that’s the Circular Thirteen I heard about,” Thomas said. “It raised quite an uproar here in Virginia.”

“I imagine it would have,” Matthew answered. “Based on the attorney general’s authorization, Circular Thirteen explicitly instructed bureau agents to prioritize the congressional mandate for land distribution over Johnston’s amnesty declaration. In the final section it was very clear. It said that the pardon of the president will not be understood to extend to the surrender of abandoned or confiscated property, which by law has been set apart for refugees and freedmen. General Howard made land distribution the official policy for the entire South.”

“I know that must be so difficult for the plantation owners,” Abby said sympathetically, “but it does seem a fair consequence to the war.” She reached over and squeezed Thomas’s hand. “I’m sorry, dear. I’m sure we disagree on that.”

Thomas sighed and shook his head. “I hate it,” he agreed, “but I also realize we
lost
this war, and it’s also true that something has to be done to help more than two million slaves that are not free. There are simply no easy answers.”

“It gets more confusing,” Matthew said wryly. “Right after General Howard issued Circular Thirteen, he went on vacation in Maine. While he was gone, our President Johnson began to counteract the order almost immediately by restoring land to an estate owner in Tennessee.”

“His home state,” Jeremy observed.

Matthew nodded. “It seems the president and the attorney general don’t see eye to eye. Two days ago, Circular Fifteen came out. It has Howard’s name on it, but my sources assure me it was written by Johnson himself.” He sighed. “The bottom line is that it was rewritten to support Johnson’s policy of land restoration. In many places it has ended the policy of land redistribution entirely.”

“What does that mean exactly?” Abby asked slowly.

“Like I said, it depends on what day you are asking,” Matthew answered, “but right now it means that our president is going to go back on all the promises made to the freedmen. Most of the lands are held by freed slaves down in Georgia. My understanding is that they will be able to harvest their crops, but then they must relinquish their right to the land because the government will give it back to the original owners. They must either agree to work for the former owners, or be evicted.”

“They can do that?” Carrie asked in a shocked tone. “Give it to them and then just take it back?”

“It seems our President Johnson does whatever he wants,” Matthew answered.

“What about the Congress?” Jeremy asked.

“Until they come back into session in January, their hands are tied,” Matthew said wearily. “Many of them are out of their minds with rage and worry, but Johnson is using this time to press his agenda as strongly as he can.”

Abby frowned. “Doesn’t he realize his agenda will be overthrown once Congress is back in session? I cannot imagine them letting this continue. There are too many congressmen who fought for the slaves. They’re not just going to sit back.”

Matthew shrugged again. “I wish I could sit inside our president’s head for a day. Perhaps then I could understand him. Unfortunately, I can’t. And whether his agenda is overturned in four months or not, it will have already done a tremendous amount of damage. President Johnson is no friend of the black person, and based on what I’m seeing, I don’t believe he is a friend of the United States either. I’m afraid his actions are going to reverberate through history for generations to come.”

A heavy silence fell on the room.

“At least things are a little better here in Richmond for the freed slaves,” Jeremy said, finally breaking the silence.

Carrie looked up, almost desperate for words of hope. “How?”

“You heard about blacks being deported out of the city and of all the vagrancy laws?” Jeremy asked.

Carrie nodded, feeling her anger rise again.

“Over three thousand blacks filled The First African Baptist church here in the city back in June to approve a formal complaint to the president. Then several of them wrote a letter to the
New York
Tribune
.” Jeremy reached down beside him. “I have a copy of the paper here.” He flipped pages until he found what he was looking for. “Here it is. In part of the letter they complain of the ‘
mounted patrol, with their sabers drawn, whose business is the hunting of colored people.’
” He put the paper aside. “You can read it all later. The most important part is that the letter and the formal complaint drawn up at the church were delivered to President Johnson by a delegation headed by Fields Cook.”

Carrie looked thoughtful. “I know that name. Isn’t he a black barber in town?”

“Yes,” Jeremy replied. “He’s also a local church leader. He has gotten very involved in politics here in Richmond.”

“You said it helped?” Robert asked.

Jeremy nodded. “The complaint was part of the reason General Ord was replaced as the head of the Army of Occupation here in Richmond. General Alfred Terry, who took his place, struck down the city’s discriminatory vagrancy laws and announced the army would treat all inhabitants as equal before the law. Then Secretary of War Stanton stepped up in July and instructed Southern commanders to discontinue pass requirements and forbade the army to hinder blacks’ freedom of movement.”

“That’s wonderful!” Carrie exclaimed. “At least
something
positive is happening.” She paused when she looked closely at Jeremy’s face. “Tell me the rest,” she said quietly.

Jeremy sighed. “Those are indeed positive steps, but I’m afraid it doesn’t change the basic assumption underpinning military policy.”

“And that would be?” Robert asked.

“The Freedmen’s Bureau believes that the interests of the South, the nation, and the freedmen themselves would best be served by all the freed slaves going back to plantation labor. They can be free, but they belong on the plantations.”

“Even if they don’t want to be?” Carrie asked. “And even if the plantation owners don’t pay them correctly or if they abuse them?” She was remembering everything Janie had told her. “How is that any different from slavery?”

“It’s not,” Jeremy said flatly. “It’s also not easy to come up with answers.”

“And you see it from both perspectives?” Matthew asked.

“I do,” Jeremy responded. “I have tremendous empathy for the slaves because of my heritage and because of how wrongly they have been treated. I also understand the financial ramifications of what will happen if labor can’t be found for two million freed slaves, or what will happen if Southern agriculture completely falls apart.”

“The freed slaves don’t want to work on the plantations anymore?” Robert asked. “Not even if they are receiving wages?”

“If only it were that cut and dry,” Jeremy responded. “I’ve talked to so many of the freed slaves since I’ve been back in the city. From everything I have learned, I don’t believe they are against working. The plantation owners are saying the blacks are lazy and must be made to work like they were in slavery.”

“With overseers and whips,” Carrie said with a scowl.

Jeremy nodded. “That’s their basic belief,” he agreed. “The owners want things to pretty much remain the same, and the freed slaves are not willing for that to happen. They are demanding to receive fair pay, and they want the freedom to come and go. If they think they are being treated unfairly, they just walk away.”

“Seems reasonable,” Aunt Abby said, her eyes flashing.

“It is,” Jeremy agreed again. “The problem is that most of the plantation owners don’t have anything to pay them, and they are terrified of losing control, so they are reverting back to their old ways.”

“Like in Louisiana and Texas where they are murdering blacks in order to scare them into compliance,” Carrie said bitterly.

Jeremy nodded heavily. “I wish every plantation owner was like Thomas. If they would treat the workers with respect and share the profits of the harvest with them, everyone could be satisfied. I also believe that in the end, everyone would make more money — even the plantation owners — because their productivity would be so much higher.”

“But that isn’t happening? I don’t know a lot about it, but isn’t that what sharecropping is all about?” Carrie asked.

“In an ideal world, it is the perfect answer,” Jeremy replied. “But we don’t live in an ideal world. No one will know for certain until harvest time whether the sharecropping arrangements are working.”

Carrie watched him closely. “You don’t believe they will.”

Jeremy managed a slight chuckle. “Abby is not the only one who knows how to read others like a book.” He frowned. “No, I don’t believe it will work. Oh, if everyone was like Thomas it would be fabulous, but I suspect most of the owners are going to short the freed slaves and give them barely enough to subsist on so they keep them under their control. Sharecropping will, I’m afraid, become just another word for slavery.”

“So what do we do?” Carrie asked.

“We fight,” Jeremy responded immediately. “We continue to fight for the freedmen’s rights. We continue to fight to rebuild the South into something we can be proud of again.”

“With men like Clifford and his friends, it’s going to be a long uphill battle,” Carrie said quietly.

“It always has been,” Abby responded. “We fought for so long for abolition, but those of us who understood the South knew the battle that would come after would be just as long.”

“It’s not just Southerners who are creating the problem,” Thomas said. “I have a feeling there are just as many prejudiced people in the North. They just didn’t have the opportunity to own slaves. Matthew is right — they may not believe the blacks should be enslaved, but neither do they believe they should be offered equality.”

“You’re right,” Abby said immediately. “I don’t believe prejudice is a Northern or Southern problem. I believe it’s a human nature problem. People always want someone else to look down on. I see it not only between racial groups, but also between ethnic groups.” She paused. “We just have to hold on. The Congress will begin to turn things around when they come back into session. I’ve heard from several of my friends in Washington, DC. They are incensed with President Johnson and believe he is doing the exact opposite of what Lincoln would have done.”

“Does that matter?” Robert asked. “He is president now.”

“Yes, it matters,” Abby replied. “Thank goodness in a democratic government it is not possible for one man to call all the shots. Johnson is taking bold steps now, but he is fighting a losing political battle. He doesn’t have the votes or the support to keep pressing his agenda in January. Lincoln knew how to work with people and pull them to his way of seeing things. He garnered true support — the reason he was able to pass the amendment to abolish slavery. Johnson, on the other hand, just plows his way through and runs over anyone in his way. I’d heard he was rather a loner.”

“Which is not the formula for an effective president,” Matthew observed ruefully.

“It most certainly is not,” Abby said forcefully. “I believe Congress will stop him, but he will certainly do damage in the meantime.” She took a deep breath. “I’m going to have to believe Congress will do their job. I’m going to focus on mine.”

“Which is building the factory,” Thomas said. “The building starts going up in two weeks. Then the equipment will arrive. We’ll start training people on it even before the building is ready so that we can get a advantage on any competition.”

Abby nodded. “We’ll all do our part. Matthew will tell the stories and make sure people know the truth. Jeremy will run the factory and make sure the blacks are treated equally and with respect. Robert, you are starting a whole new string of fine Virginia Thoroughbreds, and Carrie, you are going to start a new medical clinic. We are all doing our part to rebuild a South we can be proud of.”