Educator Guide - Slavery and Freedom in Savannah

Since its founding in 1883, the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences has been a mainstay of

cultural life in Savannah. For generations, students and teachers have benefitted from the

museum’s mission to collect, preserve, and interpret materials relevant to the history of our

city, state, and nation. Today, Telfair Museums strives to create opportunities for the

community to experience the history of urban slavery through the prism of Savannah.

This Teacher’s Guide meets the following criteria: Georgia

Learning Standards for Social Studies

Elementary: SS5H1 b; SS5H2

Middle: SS8H2c; SS8H6 a, b, & c; SS8H7 b;

High: SSUSH7 a, b, & c; SSUSH8; SSUSH9; SSUSH10

Alexander Brook (American, 1898-1980) Savannah Street Corner, n.d.

Contents

Teacher’s Guide

Slavery and Freedom in Savannah: The Book....……… .............................................. 1

Pre-Visit Activities in the Classroom ....................................................................... 1

Chapter 1: The Transatlantic Slave Trade Comes to Georgia……………. .................... 2

Chapter 2: The King of England’s Soldiers…………..… ............................................... 9

Chapter 3: At the Intersection of Cotton and Commerce: Antebellum Savannah

and Its Slaves………………….……………………..………………………………………….………………13

Chapter 4: To Venerate the Spot of Airy Visions: Slavery and the Romantic

Conception of Place in Mary Telfair’s Savannah…………………………………..…….….….18

Chapter 5: Slave Life in Savannah: Geographies of Autonomy and Control……..…22

Chapter 6: Free Black Life in Savannah…………………………………………..……….………..35

Chapter 7: Wartime Workers, Moneymakers: Black Labor in Civil War -Era

Savannah…………………………………………………………………………………………..……….…….43

Chapter 8: We Defy You! : Politics and Violence in Reconstruction

Savannah………………………………………………………………………..…………………………..…..47

Chapter 9: The Fighting Has Not Been in Vain: African American Intellectuals in

Jim Crow Era Savannah…………………………………………………………..……………….………59

Appendix …………………………………………………………………………………..……………………65

1

Slavery and Freedom in Savannah was published in 2014 by the University of Georgia Press

and was made possible by a U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services grant. It

emphasizes the free and enslaved people associated with the Owens-Thomas House and

Telfair mansion but also builds on scholarship in several fields providing an examination of

the history of slavery in the city of Savannah from its founding in 1733 through December of

1864. The study focuses on the continued struggle of African American citizens to gain

economic, political, and social freedoms into the twentieth century.

These classroom materials provide you and your students with an unprecedented opportunity

to study a mostly unfamiliar story in Georgia’s history. This Teacher’s Guide serves as:

1. A guide to the book

2. A resource for teaching about slavery in Savannah

3. A guide for planning a visit to the Owens Thomas House

4. A tool for teaching students how to analyze primary and secondary

documents

Activities in the Classroom

Before you assign the book or plan your visit to the Owens-Thomas House, you should first

prepare your students with a general introduction to the history of slavery. Introduce Africa or

build on what students already know. Use the maps provided in chapter one to orient them to

the continent and to the coastal areas of Central and West Africa, the homeland of many

enslaved peoples who were brought to the Lowcountry, the coastal regions of Georgia, South

Carolina and Upper Florida.

Help students understand something of the experience of Africans who were kidnapped. Ask

them to think about what is most important about home. What intangibles, like feelings of

comfort and safety, matter most? What are their most precious possessions, and why are they

important? What if they had to leave it all behind? What did slaves leave behind when they left

Africa? What were they able to bring with them (memories, language, and culture)?

2

Chapter 1: The Transatlantic Slave Trade Comes to Georgia by James A. McMillin

This Chapter will introduce students to the history of slavery and the introduction of the slave

trade that defined Georgia in the colonial period. It explains how Georgia transformed from a

colony that prohibited slavery into a major port for the import and export of newly enslaved

Africans. It covers the expansion of slavery from 1733 through the Revolutionary War,

including the emergence of the planter class through the colonial era.

Teacher Background

By the time that Georgia was founded in 1733, slavery was already deeply entrenched in

American culture. During the late 1600s, South Carolina settlers began importing Africans to

meet the demand for workers to farm thousands of acres of land on Sea Island plantations.

Although some of the workers were Native Americans, most were enslaved Africans. South

Carolina provided some of the main ports for the European ships that carried people from

West Africa and the West Indies, in what became known as the Triangle Trade. Gradually, this

transatlantic trade route came to define the Atlantic World—ships departed from Europe,

sailed to western Africa to trade, embarked to the Caribbean and South America to sell slaves,

and then returned to Europe laden with New World commodities.

White plantation owners purchased slaves from various parts of Africa, but they greatly

preferred slaves from what they called the "Rice Coast" or "Windward Coast." These areas

include modern Senegal, the Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, and

Ghana, which were the traditional rice growing regions of West Africa (see maps). Plantation

owners wanted people from these regions for their experience farming crops such as indigo,

rice, and cotton. By 1700, rice became a major export from the Sea Islands.

Georgians, witnessing the growing wealth of their neighboring colonists, began demanding

slaves to provide the labor. Although General Oglethorpe and the Trustees who founded

Georgia outlawed slavery in the colony, the settlers believed that its introduction was vital to

the economic success of Georgia. By 1750, the ban on slavery was lifted, and slavery rapidly

replaced indentured servitude as the preferred labor system.

Gullah and Geechee People

Africans brought skills like farming, as well as their cultural heritage, from their homelands.

Overtime, a unique blend of West African cultures, combined with European and Native

American influences, resulted in the distinct culture known as Gullah in South Carolina and

Geechee in Georgia.

3

After the Civil War ended in 1865, slaves were freed. Since most plantation owners were not

able to produce crops without slave labor, some of the land was sold to plantation workers.

Most of those who remained on the islands made a living by farming and fishing. They had little

contact with the mainland because the only way to travel off the island was by boat. As a result

of this geographic isolation, descendants of some enslaved Africans maintained their own

customs and language.

4

Document #1

5

Document # 2

6

Document #3

7

Written Document Analysis Worksheet

1.

TYPE OF DOCUMENT (Check one):

Newspaper Map Advertisement

Letter Telegram Congressional record Patent Press release Census report

Memorandum Report Other

2. UNIQUE PHYSICAL QUALITIES OF THE DOCUMENT (Check one or more):

Interesting letterhead Notations Handwritten "RECEIVED" stamp

Typed Other

Seals

3. DATE(S) OF DOCUMENT:

4.

AUTHOR (OR CREATOR) OF THE DOCUMENT:

POSITION (TITLE):

5.

FOR WHAT AUDIENCE WAS THE DOCUMENT WRITTEN?

6. DOCUMENT INFORMATION (There are many possible ways to answer.)

A. List three things in document #1 that you think are important:

B. Why do you think this document was written?

C. What evidence in the document helps you know why it was written? Quote from the document.

D. List two things the document tells you about life in the United States at the time it was written:

E. Write a question to the author that is left unanswered by the document:

8

F. Who were Telfair and Cowpers?

G. What kind of businessmen were they?

H. What was Richard Wylly selling?

I. Why was he selling?

J. Analyze document #2. What parts of Africa did Savannah slaveholders import from?

_

K. Why did they prefer slaves from these regions?

L. How did the slaves brought to the Lowcountry cope with their captivity?

M. List 5 things that we still have in Savannah today that are part of the Gullah and Geechee

cultures.

9

Chapter 2: The King of England’s Soldiers: Armed Blacks in Savannah and Its Hinterlands

during the Revolutionary War Era, 1778-1787 by Timothy Lockley

http://gaz.jrshelby.com/zublysferry.htm

This Chapter will introduce students to concepts of slave resistance and white authority in the

Revolutionary War Era. Ask students to discuss their own experiences with authority and

discuss how they might react in the same situations. Discuss the various forms of slave

resistance such as religious worship, escape, feigning illness or injury, and even murder and

suicide.

Teacher Background

Often, the only power that slaves had in shaping their own destinies came in the form of

resistance to and flight from bondage. Enslaved Africans had long used running away and

establishing their own communities, known as maroons, as a form of resistance. This type of

slave resistance intensified as the white colonists fought for their ideals of liberty. In Georgia, a

group of enslaved men, women, and children took advantage of the confusion created by the

Stamp Act to flee to uninhabited islands in the Savannah River and create a settlement.

http://gaz.jrshelby.com/zublysferry.htm

10

During the Siege of Savannah, many slaves fought alongside the British. After the British

evacuated, they determined to retain their autonomous lives in the maroon settlements. A

large group of men and women erected twenty-one houses and planted rice and corn fields in

a clearing near the Savannah River. The site measured 700 yards long and 120 yards wide and

was protected by a four-foot high log-and-cane barrier on the land side and large fallen logs on

the creek side. From this base in the swamps, two former slaves, "Captain Cudjoe" and

"Captain Lewis" led an armed group of 100 men who called themselves "the King of England's

Soldiers," a reference to their time with the British army. The maroon soldiers boldly attacked

plantations and Georgia state troops.

In his 1789 journal, a planter named Major Pierce Butler made several references to bands of

runaway slaves, some on Belle Isle in the Savannah River, whose homes, rice fields, and canoes

Butler and local planters tried to destroy. While most of the Gullah peoples of today are

descended from communities of slaves freed after 1865, some are likely descended from

maroon groups, as well. White Savannahians managed to destroy the settlements by 1787,

and the use of these islands by independent black communities ended. White authorities

succeeded in regaining control over African Americans living in and around Savannah and

maintained that power until the Civil War.

11

Fugitive slaves, known as maroons, gather around a campfire by a river bank. Image is from

Harper's Weekly, c. 1860.

http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE|CX3444700807&v=2.1&u=atla97524&it=r&p=GVRL&

sw=w&a sid=20696e939f24fc0a20ee857e73958171

http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CCX3444700807&v=2.1&u=atla97524&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w&asid=20696e939f24fc0a20ee857e73958171



12

Step 1. Observation

A.

Study the photograph for 2 minutes. Form an overall impression of the photograph

and then examine individual items. Next, divide the photo into quadrants and study

each section.

Step 2. Inference

B. Based on your observations, list three things that you infer from this photo.

1.

2.

3.

C. Step 3. Questions

1. Why might some African Americans have preferred to live in separate communities rather

than join the British?

2. How did they feed themselves? How did they survive in harsh environmental conditions?

3. Which slaves were most likely to flee to a maroon community?

4. What difficulties can you imagine these runaway slaves encountering?

5. In what ways did these maroons pose a threat to white society?

6. Why did some slaves run away, while others never attempted to escape?

7. What would you need to survive in a wilderness community?

8. Besides running away, what other coping mechanisms did slaves develop?

9. How did religion serve as a form of resistance among slaves?

10. What other forms of resistance can you think of?

13

Chapter 3: At the Intersection of Cotton and Commerce: Antebellum Savannah and Its Slaves

by Susan Eva O’Donovan

http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/Slavery/details.php?categorynum=7&categoryName=&theRec

ord=83&r ecordCount=96

This chapter will familiarize students with urban slavery and the types of work that slaves in

cities like Savannah performed in the nineteenth century. It will also discuss the

communication and community development that was possible with a combination of

urban conditions and the surprising mobility that some plantation slaves experienced. The

institution of slavery was fundamentally about work and, specifically, about the decision of

many whites to make money by forcing enslaved blacks to work without pay.

http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/Slavery/details.php?categorynum=7&categoryName&theRecord=83&recordCount=96



14

Slavery existed in both the North and the South, but there were important regional

differences. In the South, large numbers of enslaved men and women lived together in

separate quarters and worked mostly in agricultural jobs producing cotton, tobacco, rice,

indigo, and sugar. In cities, many worked as domestic servants in the house of an owner. Only

20% of Southerners owned slaves, and only 11,000 Southerners, less than 1 %, owned more

than 50. Eighty percent of the South’s population did not own slaves, yet the institution of

slavery shaped the entire society. In Savannah, some wealthy people owned many slaves.

George Welshman Owens owned 356 slaves at one time and Mary Telfair’s family owned

more than 500 slaves. There were also ordinary tradesmen and shopkeepers who owned one

or two slaves. In urban areas, most enslaved women worked as domestic servants, but

owners trained some enslaved men as skilled laborers, such as mechanics, draymen,

carpenters, coopers, boatmen, cooks, and blacksmiths.

Teacher Background

When most people think about slavery, they imagine gangs of African Americans toiling away in

the cotton fields of the South, but slavery was a fundamental part of cities as well. From the

beginning of colonial times until the coming of Sherman’s army during the Civil War, slaves

labored in a variety of urban and industrial jobs. Ask students to discuss their thoughts on

authority and power. Discuss the nature of work. What are the differences/similarities

between enslaved labor and free labor? Ask them to search for newspapers and other primary

documents that will answer the questions that follow. Use the newspaper advertisements to

help students understand that the labor of slaves helped build the city of Savannah. In doing

so, they will gain a better understanding of the city’s role in the trading of slaves and products

produced on local plantations, and how this trade helped to establish Savannah as a major

world port. Ask students what they think the city would be like without those two centuries of

slavery.

15

Article #1 Savannah Daily Republican, Mar. 21, 1822 -- page 2

Article #2 Savannah Georgian, Feb. 2, 1825 -- page 2

Article # 3 Savannah Republican, Feb. 8, 1826 -- page 4

16


1. TYPE OF DOCUMENT (Check one):

Newspaper Map Advertisement Letter Telegram Congressional record Patent Press release Census report Memorandum Report Other

2.

UNIQUE PHYSICAL QUALITIES OF THE DOCUMENT (Check one or more):

Interesting letterhead Notations Handwritten "RECEIVED" stamp Typed Other Seals

3.

DATE(S) OF DOCUMENT:

4. AUTHOR (OR CREATOR) OF THE DOCUMENT:

POSITION (TITLE):

5. FOR WHAT AUDIENCE WAS THE DOCUMENT WRITTEN?


A. List three things the author said that you think are important:


C. What evidence in the document helps you know why it was written? Quote from the

document.

D. List two things the document tells you about life in the United States at the time it was

written:

17


F. What does it reveal about the nature of work for the enslaved population of

Savannah?

G. What types of work did slaves perform?

H. How were slaves’ lives controlled and by whom?

I. What were the people in control hoping to accomplish?

J. What mechanism did owners use to control their slaves?

K. What were the badges required by the city ?

L. What types of skills were required in each of the following jobs: a. Mechanic b. Drayman c. Cooper d. Blacksmith e. Seamstress f. Laundress g. Carpenter

M. Why did skilled slaves pose a threat to white society?

18

Chapter 4: To Venerate the Spot of Airy Visions: Slavery and the Romantic Conception of

Place in Mary Telfair’s Savannah by Jeffrey Robert Young

This chapter introduces students to the ways in which the notion of paternalism was

romanticized in the pre-Civil War era. The concept of paternalism can be difficult for students

to grasp. The South was politically, culturally, economically, and spiritually based on the

institution of slavery. Race, gender, and economics determined a person’s status within society,

with white slaveholding males at the top and black female slaves at the bottom. Regardless of

their level of wealth, all slaveholders, large and small, were at the pinnacle of Southern society

and the possibility of amassing enough wealth to purchase slaves in the future kept non-

slaveholding families tied to the paternalistic hierarchy. A sense of superiority helped to fuel

white women’s acceptance for the institution of slavery, because it allowed them authority

over others within the patriarchal structure. White Savannahians presented themselves as

protectors and claimed that by enslaving African Americans, they were looking out for the best

interests of the black population of the city who they described as childlike and unable to care

for themselves.

19

Teacher Background

Southern society taught elite southerners, like Mary Telfair, to believe that the support and

protection of the African American laboring masses demanded a stratified social order in which

honor, patriarchy, paternalism, and deference were crucial elements. Whether they believed in

their hearts that slavery was the South’s burden and that they were doing God’s work by caring

for the slaves or not, they certainly framed the matter as such.

Affluent white southern women supported the institution of slavery, because they gained

ideological power through slave ownership within the strict social hierarchy of the South. They

used paternalism to justify their own power within the system, while still adhering to their

prescribed gender roles. These women assumed the role of maternal guardian for the slaves; it

was their responsibility to care for them, organize them, and make sure they were kept busy

doing their chores, as to avoid idleness. This critical role in the management of slaves gave

women tremendous power in the domestic sphere. In other words, they depended on the role

of slaves at the bottom of the social hierarchy to elevate themselves to a higher social standing.

Romantic literature shaped Mary Telfair’s paternalistic worldview. Through the works of Lord

Byron and Sir Walter Scott, Mary embraced a nostalgic melancholy that allowed her to cast

herself in the role of dutiful mistress to her slaves, laboring for the good of others as the world

fell to ruins around her. She described herself in terms that stressed her self-sacrifice and her

consideration for her slaves’ happiness. Mary Telfair and other slave owners believed the

humans they enslaved viewed them with affection and devotion. Evidence suggests that slaves

disagreed. Show students the portraits of Mary Telfair. Have them describe how they see Mary.

20

Enrichetta Narducci Carl Ludwig Brandt

Mary Telfair (1791-1875) Mary Telfair 1896 (posthumous)

21

Photo Analysis Worksheet

Step 1. Observation

A.

Study the photographs for 2 minutes. Form an overall impression of the

photographs and then examine individual items in each. Next, divide the photo into

quadrants and study each section.

Step 2. Inference

B. Based on your observations, list three things that you infer from these photos.

1.

2.

3.


1. Who is the person in the photo? Does she look mean or nice? Is her expression

serious? Stern? Angry? Caring?

2. In her letters, Mary tells her friend that when visiting one of her plantations the slaves

appeared, “well and happy and seemed disposed to worship me.” Analyze this

statement.

3. Do you think that the slaves were “happy?”

4. Did they worship Mary Telfair?

5. What explains Mary’s notions about her slaves? Was she delusional?

6. Imagine Mary Telfair’s reaction to the Civil War and the Emancipation

Proclamation.

7. How do you think she reacted to having to free her slaves?

8. How did southern slaveholders justify owning other human beings?

9. Imagine yourself in a situation where someone has ultimate authority over your

actions. How would you react?

10. What if you had no choice about simple things like when to work, eat, sleep, take a break,

bathe, etc.? How would that feel?

22

Chapter 5: Slave Life in Savannah: Geographies of Autonomy and Control by Leslie M. Harris

and Daina Ramey Berry.

Slaves Quarters at the Hermitage Plantation

This chapter looks at local and state laws that defined urban slavery and reveals the

complicated nature of practice versus theory in the slaveholding south.

Teacher Background

The majority of slaves in the South resided on plantations and worked in the fields. Some

worked within the planters’ household as domestic servants, like cooks, butlers, and

nursemaids. These enslaved servants performed less taxing physical work but were on-call to

the master’s family twenty-four hours a day.

Slaves in urban areas like Savannah, Charleston, Mobile, and other southern cities had more

freedom of mobility and more autonomy, or control over their own lives. In urban areas,

enslaved workers performed comparatively less arduous physical labor than they would have

on rural plantations. They worked in shipyards, cotton presses and warehouses, or as

apprentices to tailors, saddle makers, butchers, and masons. In select southern cities, men of

color dominated the building industries, testifying to their skill as tradesmen.

23

For the most part, slaves in urban settings lived in the same lodgings as their owners, usually

in an attic or back room. If a proprietor was wealthy enough, he would construct a separate

building behind the white family's dwelling. This building was separated from the main house

to ensure racial division. It usually functioned as sleeping chambers only, because most of the

tasks of enslaved workers took place in the main house or on the grounds.

Walls surrounded these townhouse complexes; they transformed a city dwelling into the urban

equivalent of a plantation, securing the privacy of the owners and creating boundaries for the

slaves. Masters with more slaves than were needed to run their household soon found that it

was more profitable to allow slaves to seek their own lodging and to hire themselves out to

other employers. This led to the practice of hiring out and living out, which created a dilemma

for the white community, because it weakened the control the master had over his or her

slaves.

A major reason for slavery being confined mostly to rural areas in the South concerned its dual

purpose for the white population. It was both a means of labor exploitation and a means of

race control. It was this second aspect that made the institution problematic in urban areas.

Simply put, slaves in cities were much more difficult to supervise.

Factory owners customarily hired slaves from masters rather than purchasing them outright.

In the upper South, where urban slaves were more common, this allowed slave owners to

profit from their excess slaves without having to sell them South. Industrialists preferred to

avoid the burden of overseeing their slave employees outside of the factory, so they tended

to give them stipends to pay for their own housing and board. This practice enabled urban

slaves to live in a varied community that included free blacks, slaves who hired their own time,

and white people of the lower economic classes. As white Southerners saw it, the urban

environment exposed slaves to dangerous ideas about freedom.

Southern port cities even provided access to the outside world where slavery was generally

outlawed. Some free black sailors and sympathetic white ship captains helped slaves escape

aboard their vessels. The attitudes of white workers in antebellum America were a major

factor against urban slavery. Southern white men felt demeaned if they were required to

perform the same job as a slave.

Moreover, slaves, who received no wages, could do the same labor for less expense than free

white men. White workers often refused to labor alongside slaves. So, to maintain better

supervision of slaves and assure white solidarity and the status of white laborers, antebellum

southerners attempted to limit urban slavery.

24

Alexander Telfair and George Welshman Owens were two of the most powerful and wealthy

men in Savannah. Alexander Telfair owned more than 500 slaves, and George Owens owned

over 350. Both men held public office and were astute businessmen. These men exemplify the

elite slaveholding class of antebellum Savannah.

25

Alexander Telfair

1789-1832

Alexander Telfair, the youngest son of Edward Telfair and Sarah Gibbons Telfair, became the

head of the family at the age of twenty-nine, following the deaths of his older brothers. The

family’s plantations and mercantile operations became his responsibility. Alexander held

several offices, including Associate Justice on the County Tribunal. He was Chairman of the

Board of Independent Presbyterian Church and a member of the St. Andrew’s Society. He

owned a choice lot, located on Savannah’s St. James Square (now Telfair Square), former

site of the home of the Royal Governor James Wright. Alexander commissioned an English

architect, William Jay, to design and build a mansion on the lot that would be suitable for

himself, his three sisters, and their mother in 1818.

The mansion, completed in 1819, was to be used as a city home during the “social season”- the

fall and winter months; the family spent most summers in the north. The Telfairs were

members of t h e coastal aristocracy, an elite circle of urban southerners who felt as much at

home in the drawing rooms of New York City and Philadelphia as in the parlors of Savannah

and Charleston. They owned at least four plantations in Georgia and South Carolina and as

many as 500 slaves. Sarah Gibbons Telfair died in 1827 in Philadelphia, and Alexander died

in Virginia in the fall of 1832 on his way home from summering up north. He left the family’s

properties to his three sisters to divide and manage.

The following excerpt is from a list of rules addressed to the planation overseer at Thorn Island

Plantation in South Carolina:

26

Alexander Telfai r, " Plantation Rules," from Ulrich Phillips, ed., Plantation and Frontier, Volume 1(New York, Burt Frantlin, 19 10).

Rules and directions for my Thorn Island Plantation by which my

overseers are to govern themselves in the management of it.

(The directions in this book are to be strictly attended to.)

1 The allowance for every grown Negro however old and good for nothing, and every young one that works in the field, is a peck of corn each week , and a pint of salt, and a piece of meat, not exceed ing fourteen pounds, per month.

2 No Negro to have more than Fifty lashes inflicted for any offence, no matter how great the crime.

3 The sucking children, and all other small ones who do not work in the field, draw a half allowance of corn and salt.

4 You will give tickets to any of the negroes who apply for them, to go any where about the neighborhood, but do not allow them to go off it without, nor suffer any strange negroes to come on it without a pass.

5 The negres to be tasked when the work allows it . I require a reasonable days work, well done the task to be regulated by the state of the ground and the strength of the negro.

6 The cotton to be weighed every night and the weights set down in the Cotton Book...

7 You will keep a regular journa l of the business of the plantation, setting down the names of the sick; the beginning, progress, and finishing of work; the state of the weather; Births, Deaths, and every thing of importance that takes place on the Plantation.

8 ...

10 The shade trees in the present clea rings are not to be touched; and in taking in new ground, leave a thriving young oak or Hickory Tree to every Five Acres.

11 When picking out cotton,do not allow the hands to pull the Boles off the Stalk.

12 All visiting between this place and the one in Georgia is forbidden, except with Tickets from the respective overseers, and that but very seldom. There are none who have husbands or wives over there, and no connexions of the kind are to be allowed to be formed.

13 No nightmeeting and preaching to be allowed on the place, except on Saturday night & Sunday morn.

14 Elsey is allowed to act as midwife, to black and white in the neighborhood, who send for her. One of her daughters to stay w ith the children and take charge of her business until she returns. She draws a peck of corn a week to feed my poultry with.

15 A ll the Land wh ich is not planted, you will break up in the month of September. Plough it deep so as to turn in all the grass and weeds which it may be covered with .

16 If there i s any fighting on the Plantation, whip all engaged for no matter what the cause may have been, all are in the wrong.

17 Elsey is the Doctoress of the Plantation.in case of extraordinary illness, when she thinks she can do no more for the sick, you will employ a Physician.

27

28

SLAVE LABOR DOCUMENT #1

A. Using the excerpt from Alexander Telfair’s Plantation Rules, draw three

conclusions about how a plantation system was organized and run. Back

up each conclusion with a piece of quoted evidence.

Conclusion #1

Evidence #1

Conclusion #2

Evidence #2

Conclusion #3

Evidence #3

29

B. Using the excerpt from Alexander Telfair’s Plantation Rules, describe the

following characteristics of life on the Thorn Island Plantation.

1. The audience for

each set of rules

(who are the rules

addressed to?)

2. Provisions for the

care and welfare of

the workforce.

3. The means

of control and

supervision

4. The freedoms or

restrictions placed

on the workforce

Slave Labor Document #1

30

George Welshman Owens 1786-1856

George W. Owens was the son of Owens Owens. Though illegitimate, he inherited from his

father numerous properties, including land on Ossabaw and Saint Catherine’s Islands and

several urban properties in Savannah proper. He was a Cambridge educated attorney and held

a variety of public offices, including alderman for Anson Ward, member of the Georgia State

Legislature, Mayor of Savannah, and two term member of the United States House of

Representatives. He accumulated eight plantations across the state of Georgia and owned 356

slaves at the time of his death in 1856.

Owens married Sarah Wallace on June 10, 1815. The Rev. Dr. Henry Knox Kollock, the famous

minister of Independent Presbyterian Church, officiated. Like Owens, Sarah Wallace was the

daughter of a former Loyalist, her father John Wallace once served as the British Consul to

Georgia.

Several letters between George and Sarah Owens provide us with a unique perspective about

life in a wealthy household in the early 19th century and about the role of elite southern women

in the buying, selling, and management of slaves. Her husband’s political ambitions often meant

extensive periods of separation for the couple. During his long absences, Sarah Owens handled

many aspects of her husband’s business affairs, as their correspondence suggests, “...If you

should see Judge Berrien inform him that the business is in a fair way...” or, “There is $1000 due

31

Mr. Maxwell when he deliver[s] possession you will pay him the amount.” She was noticeably

involved with matters concerning the enslaved household. Writing from Paris in 1818, George

Owens dictated, “...I am engaged in the speculation for the purchase of Johnston’s Negroes, but

fear shall not succeed...if they are sold, you will buy Smart’s wife and Sampson’s to comply with

a promise I have made them...if there is any other prime Negro man also with any wife purchase

for him also. If you have not money enough you can obtain it at Bank....”

The letter below contains references to the slave trade:

Addressed to Mrs. Sarah Owens, Savannah

Milledgeville Decr 13 1817

Dear Sally,

You are it seems determined to have revenge on me for imaginary neglect. I have not

received a letter from you until today in the course of two weeks and the last dated the 9th

reached here only three hours ago. I had supposed you or Richard were unwell and I feel a?

relieved by the information you give as to your own health as well as the little Hero’s whom I

expect to see in Breekes [sic]and speaking with great volubility I need not mention the desire I

have to be with you as you can well imagine. This place has become dull and uninteresting from

the uniformity which prevails as to the course of debate and the proceedings with House not

relieved by any public amusements. And the recollection of Home poisons and pleasures which

do present themselves. I regret to hear Mr. Howard did not mend. I fear his health is past

redemption. Saint, if idle, ought to be made to exert herself. if you think it can be done with

safety you should send her back to the Island. I have made the arrangement with (?) in respect

to Hagar and am surprised she should remain on Osabaw-[sic]he is to have her for what she cost

me. I am willing to make a pecuniary sacrifice to him under the circumstances. I wonder if he is

in Savannah. You do not say a word about the crop. How many bales etc. , I suppose they

are so few you deemed it unnessary [sic], but I am happy to learn you have practiced upon the

golden rule than to often endeavor to enforce Oconomy [sic]. I hope and trust Isham [sic]l eave

this about the middle or last of next week if tis fair. I shall be in Sav [sic]on Friday of the latter or

Tuesday following. You therefore need not write again as in all probability your letter will not

arrive in time. The weather is now as warm as it was two months ago and very disagreeable. I

feel however totally well and am without just very regular in my life. I have turned over a new

leaf in the Book and find its (?) pleasant enough. We the representative of Georgia have passed

many laws and done a great deal of business which I dare say our constituents will not thank us

for. The navigation bill the most important that had come before us will be decided in a day or

two and then no doubt a liberal appropriation will be made for clearing the rivers. I wish instead

of sending this letter was now starting for Savannah myself. They feed me well here but still I am

not satisfied. I am sorry to learn Sue is not choice in her marketry [sic]. As you say nothing I

presume Household have behaved well. Denbigh is in good health and if I could judge from his

appearance he is not pining away to return to Sav. he is a prime traveling servant and he shall

not be long out of the field if I can suit myself with another.

I am My Dear Sally,

Yours Sincerely

G. W. Owens

33

A. Reading the letter written by George Welshman Owens to his wife Sarah,

draw three conclusions about Sarah’s involvement in the slave trade. Back

up each conclusion with a piece of quoted evidence.

Conclusion #1

Evidence #1

Conclusion #2

Evidence #2

Conclusion #3

Evidence #3

34

B. Using the letter, what can you infer about the enslaved men and women

mentioned by Mr. Owens? 1. Hagar

2. Isham

3. Denbigh

35

Chapter 6: Free Black Life in Savannah by Janice L. Sumler-Edmond

This chapter discusses the challenges faced by free blacks in antebellum Savannah. From the

very beginning of American history, the founding fathers held differing views on the question of

how to deal with free blacks. During the American Revolution, free blacks had some legal rights,

for example, they could vote in some states. Some free blacks even participated in the

ratification of the Constitution. Soon after the war ended, most whites agreed with the nation’s

first Attorney General Edmund Randolph that… “the language of liberty did not apply to them,”

meaning black Americans. From that point on, until the 1960s, despite nationality or status,

blacks were increasingly denied inclusion in the American concept of liberty. Naturalization was

restricted to “free white persons.” The inclusion of the word white in the Naturalization Act of

1790 prevented most of world’s population from becoming Americans until after 1870.

Teacher Background

The first generations of Americans believed that their experiences as slaves would prevent

people of African descent from developing a sense of national loyalty. Men like Thomas

Jefferson became obsessed with the connection between heredity and environment, espousing

the belief that a person’s abilities were shaped by their personal experience. He felt that

America should be a homogenous society where inborn abilities would secure equality. He also

believed that African Americans should be free but thought they should enjoy that freedom in

the Caribbean or Africa, because freedom within the boundaries of the US would endanger the

freedom of whites. His most ardent opponent, Alexander Hamilton, disagreed with Jefferson’s

assessment of black people. Hamilton recognized that the very existence of slavery gave rise to

many imaginary philosophies that arose as justification for its continuation. These two opposing

ideologies widened the social gap between white and black Americans until “We the people”

came to mean white people.

Beginning in 1839, a Savannah city ordinance required owners of slaves and guardians of free

persons of color to register and obtain badges from the clerk of council before hiring out or

permitting their charges to be employed. Also, all free persons of color 16 years of age or older

were required to register annually and to notify the clerk of council if they left the city.

Similar laws required all registered free persons of color between the ages of 15 and 60 to

perform free public service in their county or city of residence for up to 20 days a year. If a

person of color entered and remained in the state and failed to register, he or she faced arrest,

trial, a fine of $100, and could be forced to labor as punishment.

36

By the 1850s in Georgia, the free black population was only a small percentage of the number of

enslaved people in the state. Some free blacks in the state were migrants from other countries

that supported free populations. A large number of French-speaking free people of color

migrated to Georgia following the Haitian Revolution. Other free people were offspring of

white men and women of color whose children sometimes received an inheritance and

surnames. Some relatives also purchased slaves and filed emancipation petitions on their

behalf.

Although labeled as free, the rights of these men and women were limited by state and local

ordinances designed to constrain their economic and physical mobility. These policies

continued after Emancipation. In September of 1865, General Davis Tillson was appointed

Assistant Commissioner of the Freedman’s Bureau for the state of Georgia. In December of

1865, he issued wage guidelines for freedmen's labor. In upper and middle Georgia, where the

land was poor, men's wages were set at $12–$13 per month and $8–$10 dollars per month for

women. Freedmen were to provide for their own clothing and medicines.

37

38

39

40

41




2.

UNIQUE PHYSICAL QUALITIES OF THE DOCUMENT (Check one or more):

Interesting letterhead Notations Handwritten "RECEIVED" stamp Typed Other Seals

3.

DATE(S) OF DOCUMENT:


POSITION (TITLE):



A. List three things the author said that you think are important:


C. What evidence in the document helps you know why it was written? Quote from the

document.

D. List two things the document tells you about life in the United States at the time it was

written:

42

E. How did the laws pertaining to slaves differ from those pertaining to free people of

color?

F If it became illegal in Georgia to free slaves, what other avenues to freedom could

slaves use?

G. Analyze Act #507, page 803. Which commodities were legal and which were illegal

to be sold by black Savannahians?

H. What is the purpose of Act #506?

I. What purpose did the Slave Codes serve in Georgia?

J. Who was Act # 507 designed to protect and why?

43

Chapter 7: Wartime Workers, Moneymakers: Black Labor in Civil War-Era Savannah by

Jacqueline Jones.

This chapter will introduce students to the economic activities of free and enslaved blacks

during the Civil War, including concepts of gang labor and task labor. It will also deal with the

complicated nature of free and enslaved black labor in an urban environment.

Teacher’s Background

Free and enslaved blacks in Savannah practiced a number of occupations during the Civil War,

many quite successfully. Some even profited from trade with the Confederate Army. Many of

those businessmen and women later struggled to prove claims for goods commandeered by the

Union Army because of their alleged disloyalty to the Union. Many free blacks in Savannah

maintained their autonomy by implying their acceptance of the Confederate cause. Jane

Deveaux, for example, sewed Confederate uniforms by day but operated a clandestine school

for black children at night.

Slaves on plantations did not share the autonomy of their urban counterparts. Slaves on most

rural plantations operated on the gang system, in which a white overseer or black driver

supervised gangs of 20 to 25 adults. The gang system was widely used in the cotton district and

was a brutal form of labor. Slaves worked in the fields for as many as 16 hours a day. Work was

uncommon on Sundays and frequently involved only a half day on Saturday. Rough cheap cloth

was distributed for clothing once a year, enough to make a couple of outfits, and one pair of

shoes. Sickness was a persistent problem. On average planters spent less than a dollar a year on

medical care for slaves.

Only about 5 percent of slaves worked in industry in the South, including mills, ironworks and

railroad construction. Slaves in cities like Savannah took on a wide range of jobs, such as

porters, waiters, cooks, and skilled laborers in tradesmen’s shops — and in general enjoyed

considerably more autonomy. Slaves in urban settings typically worked on the task system,

where each slave was given a specific daily assignment to complete, after which he or she was

finished for the day. This system was also most common in rice fields, on the coastal

Lowcountry plantations. This system allowed slaves to work at their own pace and gave them

an incentive to do careful work, thus freeing the overseers from having to closely supervise the

work.

44

https://notevenpast.org/jacqueline-jones-civil-war-savannah/

Step 1. Observation

A. Study the photograph for 2 minutes. Form an overall impression of the photograph and then examine individual items in each. Next, divide the photo into quadrants and study each section.

Step 2. Inference

B. Based on your observations, list three things that you infer from this photo. 1. 2. 3.


1. Who are the people in the photo?

2. What job(s) are the men in the photograph performing?

3. What role did class play in the interaction between white and black laborers before the start of the Civil War?

4. Compare the meaning of the term mechanic in the 19th and 21st centuries.

https://notevenpast.org/jacqueline-jones-civil-war-savannah/

45

Study the document from the Register of Free People of Color.

5. What can we learn about free people of color in Savannah from the page out of the Register of Free Persons of Color?

6. What different occupations are listed?

7. Who were the guardians?

46

Savannah, Georgia, Registers of Free Persons of Color, 1817-1864

47

Chapter 8: We Defy You! Politics and Violence in Reconstruction Savannah by Jonathan M.

Bryant

This chapter will familiarize students with the plight of freedmen in the era of Reconstruction in

Savannah. Students familiar with the founding of the United States will understand that two of

the principal promises of America were suffrage, or the right to vote, and the possibility of

average people being able to own land along with the status that such ownership entailed. Ask

students to contemplate how these promises were never realized for the overwhelming

majority of the nation's former slaves, who numbered about 3.9 million.


Suffrage was a long time coming to the black citizens of Savannah by the civil rights movement

of the 1950s and 60s. Newly freed blacks in Savannah and Chatham County never contemplated

the struggle they would endure to gain the vote after the Civil War. Their long sought

emancipation seemed to provide the answer to all their prayers for freedom and equality.

Unfortunately, the old order of the South had other ideas. Democrats in Savannah engineered

an elaborate system to challenge voters and charge poll taxes, which resulted in very few

freedmen being allowed to vote. In fact, the system was so unjust that it resulted in a riot that

left at least three dead at the polls in 1868.

48

The quest for land was no less arduous. General William T. Sherman's Special Field Order No.

15, issued on Jan. 16, 1865, declared that the Sea Islands on the coast of South Carolina and

Georgia would be reserved for freedmen. Under this order, each family was eligible for 40 acres

of land for their own cultivation. The area included the islands of Hilton Head, Port Royal, St.

Helena, and many other smaller islands that the Union had controlled since 1861. Sherman went

on to allow freedmen the use of army mules that were no longer fit for army service. By June of

1865, over 40,000 newly freed people had settled in the Sea Islands area, working over 400,000

acres of land, which they now believed that they owned. Secure in their belief they now

possessed the land that they needed to become independent farmers, they started their new

lives.

Their security was short-lived. President Andrew Johnson began the assault on the Sea Islands

experiment in January 1866, when he pardoned many of the Confederate rebels and ordered

that confiscated land be returned to its former owners. The freed men and women were urged

to go to work as paid laborers for their former masters. These acts served as the basis for the

cry of "forty acres and a mule" and the foundation of the freedmen's hopes of true

independence. Most accounts of Special Field Order No. 15 neglect to explain that it resulted

from a meeting, unprecedented in American history, between General Sherman, Secretary of

War Edwin M. Stanton, and 20 leaders of the black community in Savannah.

49

Newspaper Account of a Meeting between Black Religious Leaders and Union Military Authorities

[New York, N.Y. February 13, 1865]

MINUTES OF AN INTERVIEW BETWEEN THE COLORED MINISTERS AND CHURCH OFFICERS AT SAVANNAH WITH

THE SECRETARY OF WAR AND MAJOR-GEN. SHERMAN.

HEADQUARTERS OF MAJ.-GEN. SHERMAN, CITY OF SAVANNAH, GA., Jan., 12, 1865–8 P.M.

On the evening of Thursday, the 12th day of January, 1865, the following persons of African descent met by appointment to hold an interview with Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War, and Major-Gen. Sherman, to have a conference upon matters relating to the freedmen of the State of Georgia, to-wit:

One: William J. Campbell, aged 51 years, born in Savannah, slave until 1849, and then liberated by will of his mistress, Mrs. May Maxwell. For ten years pastor of the 1st Baptist Church of Savannah, numbering about 1,800 members. Average congregation, 1,900. The church property belonging to the congregation. Trustees white. Worth $18,000.

Two: John Cox, aged fifty-eight years, born in Savannah; slave until 1849, when he bought his freedom for $1,100. Pastor of the 2d African Baptist Church. In the ministry fifteen years. Congregation 1,222 persons. Church property worth $10,000, belonging to the congregation.

Three: Ulysses L. Houston, aged forty-one years, born in Grahamsville, S.C.; slave until the Union army entered Savannah. Owned by Moses Henderson, Savannah, and pastor of Third African Baptist Church. Congregation numbering 400. Church property worth $5,000; belongs to congregation. In the ministry about eight years.

Four: William Bentley, aged 72 years, born in Savannah, slave until 25 years of age, when his master, John Waters, emancipated him by will. Pastor of Andrew's Chapel, Methodist Episcopal Church–only one of that denomination in Savannah; congregation numbering 360 members; church property worth about $20,000, and is owned by the congregation; been in the ministry about twenty years; a member of Georgia Conference.

Five: Charles Bradwell, aged 40 years, born in Liberty County, Ga.; slave until 1851; emancipated by will of his master, J. L. Bradwell. Local preacher in charge of the Methodist Episcopal congregation (Andrew's Chapel) in the absence of the minister; in the ministry 10 years.

50

Six: William Gaines, aged 41 years; born in Wills Co., Ga. Slave until the Union forces freed me. Owned by Robert Toombs, formerly United States Senator, and his brother, Gabriel Toombs, local preacher of the M.E. Church (Andrew's Chapel.) In the ministry 16 years.

Seven: James Hill, aged 52 years; born in Bryan Co., Ga. Slave up to the time the Union army came in. Owned by H. F. Willings, of Savannah. In the ministry 16 years.

Eight: Glasgon Taylor, aged 72 years, born in Wilkes County, Ga. Slave until the Union army came; owned by A. P. Wetter. Is a local preacher of the M.E. Church (Andrew's Chapel.) In the ministry 35 years.

Nine: Garrison Frazier, aged 67 years, born in Granville County, N.C. Slave until eight years ago, when he bought himself and wife, paying $1,000 in gold and silver. Is an ordained minister in the Baptist Church, but, his health failing, has now charge of no congregation. Has been in the ministry 35 years.

Ten: James Mills, aged 56 years, born in Savannah; free-born, and is a licensed preacher of the first Baptist Church. Has been eight years in the ministry.

Eleven: Abraham Burke, aged 48 years, born in Bryan County, Ga. Slave until 20 years ago, when he bought himself for $800. Has been in the ministry about 10 years.

Twelve: Arthur Wardell, aged 44 years, born in Liberty County, Ga. Slave until freed by the Union army. Owned by A. A. Solomons, Savannah, and is a licensed minister in the Baptist Church. Has been in the ministry 6 years.

Thirteen: Alexander Harris, aged 47 years, born in Savannah; free born. Licensed minister of Third African Baptist Church. Licensed about one month ago.

Fourteen: Andrew Neal, aged 61 years, born in Savannah, slave until the Union army liberated him. Owned by Mr. Wm. Gibbons, and has been deacon in the Third Baptist Church for 10 years.

Fifteen: Jas. Porter, aged 39 years, born in Charleston, South Carolina; free-born, his mother having purchased her freedom. Is lay-reader and president of the board of wardens and vestry of St. Stephen's Protestant Episcopal Colored Church in Savannah. Has been in communion 9 years. The congregation numbers about 200 persons. The church property is worth about $10,000, and is owned by the congregation.

Sixteen: Adolphus Delmotte, aged 28 years, born in Savannah; free born. Is a licensed minister of the Missionary Baptist Church of Milledgeville. Congregation numbering about 300 or 400 persons. Has been in the ministry about two years.

51

Seventeen: Jacob Godfrey, aged 57 years, born in Marion, S.C. Slave until the Union army freed me; owned by James E. Godfrey–Methodist preacher now in the Rebel army. Is a class-leader and steward of Andrew's Chapel since 1836.

Eighteen: John Johnson, aged 51 years, born in Bryan County, Georgia. Slave up to the time the Union army came here; owned by W. W. Lincoln of Savannah. Is class-leader and treasurer of Andrew's Chapel for sixteen years.

Nineteen: Robt. N. Taylor, aged 51 years, born in Wilkes Co., Ga. Slave to the time the Union army came. Was owned by Augustus P. Welter, Savannah, and is class-leader in Andrew's Chapel for nine years.

Twenty: Jas. Lynch, aged 26 years, born in Baltimore, Md.; free-born. Is presiding elder of the M.E. Church and missionary to the department of the South. Has been seven years in the ministry and two years in the South.

Garrison Frazier being chosen by the persons present to express their common sentiments upon the matters of inquiry, makes answers to inquiries as follows:

First: State what your understanding is in regard to the acts of Congress and President Lincoln's [Emancipation] proclamation, touching the condition of the colored people in the Rebel States.

Answer–So far as I understand President Lincoln's proclamation to the Rebellious States, it is, that if they would lay down their arms and submit to the laws of the United States before the first of January, 1863, all should be well; but if they did not, then all the slaves in the Rebel States should be free henceforth and forever. That is what I understood.

Second–State what you understand by Slavery and the freedom that was to be given by the President's proclamation.

Answer–Slavery is, receiving by irresistible power the work of another man, and not by his consent. The freedom, as I understand it, promised by the proclamation, is taking us from under the yoke of bondage, and placing us where we could reap the fruit of our own labor, take care of ourselves and assist the Government in maintaining our freedom.

Third: State in what manner you think you can take care of yourselves, and how can you best assist the Government in maintaining your freedom.

52

Answer: The way we can best take care of ourselves is to have land, and turn it and till it by our own labor–that is, by the labor of the women and children and old men; and we can soon maintain ourselves and have something to spare. And to assist the Government, the young men should enlist in the service of the Government, and serve in such manner as they may be wanted. (The Rebels told us that they piled them up and made batteries of them, and sold them to Cuba; but we don't believe that.) We want to be placed on land until we are able to buy it and make it our own.

Fourth: State in what manner you would rather live–whether scattered among the whites or in colonies by yourselves.

Answer: I would prefer to live by ourselves, for there is a prejudice against us in the South that will take years to get over; but I do not know that I can answer for my brethren. [Mr. Lynch says he thinks they should not be separated, but live together. All the other persons present,

being questioned one by one, answer that they agree with Brother Frazier.]1

Fifth: Do you think that there is intelligence enough among the slaves of the South to maintain themselves under the Government of the United States and the equal protection of its laws, and maintain good and peaceable relations among yourselves and with your neighbors?

Answer–I think there is sufficient intelligence among us to do so. Sixth–State what is the feeling of the black population of the South toward the Government of the United States; what is the understanding in respect to the present war–its causes and object, and their disposition to aid either side. State fully your views.

Answer–I think you will find there are thousands that are willing to make any sacrifice to assist the Government of the United States, while there are also many that are not willing to take up arms. I do not suppose there are a dozen men that are opposed to the Government. I understand, as to the war, that the South is the aggressor. President Lincoln was elected President by a majority of the United States, which guaranteed him the right of holding the office and exercising that right over the whole United States. The South, without knowing what he would do, rebelled. The war was commenced by the Rebels before he came into office. The object of the war was not at first to give the slaves their freedom, but the sole object of the war was at first to bring the rebellious States back into the Union and their loyalty to the laws of the United States. Afterward, knowing the value set on the slaves by the Rebels, the President thought that his proclamation would stimulate them to lay down their arms, reduce them to obedience, and help to bring back the Rebel States; and their not doing so has now made the freedom of the slaves a part of the war. It is my opinion that there is not a man in this city that could be started to help the Rebels one inch, for that would be suicide. There were two black men left with the Rebels because they had taken an active part for the Rebels, and thought something might befall them if they stayed behind; but there is not another man. If the prayers that have gone up for the Union army could be read out, you would not get through them these two weeks.

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Seventh: State whether the sentiments you now express are those only of the colored people in the city; or do they extend to the colored population through the country? and what are your means of knowing the sentiments of those living in the country?

Answer: I think the sentiments are the same among the colored people of the State. My opinion is formed by personal communication in the course of my ministry, and also from the thousands that followed the Union army, leaving their homes and undergoing suffering. I did not think there would be so many; the number surpassed my expectation.

Eighth: If the Rebel leaders were to arm the slaves, what would be its effect?

Answer: I think they would fight as long as they were before the bayonet, and just as soon as soon as they could get away, they would desert, in my opinion.

Ninth: What, in your opinion, is the feeling of the colored people about enlisting and serving as soldiers of the United States? and what kind of military service do they prefer?

Answer: A large number have gone as soldiers to Port Royal [S.C.] to be drilled and put in the service; and I think there are thousands of the young men that would enlist. There is something about them that perhaps is wrong. They have suffered so long from the Rebels that they want to shoulder the musket. Others want to go into the Quartermaster's or Commissary's service.

Tenth: Do you understand the mode of enlistments of colored persons in the Rebel States by State agents under the Act of Congress?2 If yea, state what your understanding is.

Answer: My understanding is, that colored persons enlisted by State agents are enlisted as substitutes, and give credit to the States, and do not swell the army, because every black man enlisted by a State agent leaves a white man at home; and, also, that larger bounties are given or promised by State agents than are given by the States. The great object should be to push through this Rebellion the shortest way, and there seems to be something wanting in the enlistment by State agents, for it don't strengthen the army, but takes one away for every colored man enlisted.

Eleventh: State what, in your opinion, is the best way to enlist colored men for soldiers.

Answer: I think, sir, that all compulsory operations should be put a stop to. The ministers would talk to them, and the young men would enlist. It is my opinion that it would be far better for the State agents to stay at home, and the enlistments to be made for the United States under the direction of Gen. Sherman.

54

In the absence of Gen. Sherman, the following question was asked:

Twelfth: State what is the feeling of the colored people in regard to Gen. Sherman; and how far do they regard his sentiments and actions as friendly to their rights and interests, or otherwise?

Answer: We looked upon Gen. Sherman prior to his arrival as a man in the Providence of God specially set apart to accomplish this work, and we unanimously feel inexpressible gratitude to him, looking upon him as a man that should be honored for the faithful performance of his duty. Some of us called upon him immediately upon his arrival, and it is probable he would not meet the Secretary with more courtesy than he met us. His conduct and deportment toward us characterized him as a friend and a gentleman. We have confidence in Gen. Sherman, and think that what concerns us could not be under better hands. This is our opinion now from the short acquaintance and interest we have had. (Mr. Lynch states that with his limited acquaintance with Gen. Sherman, he is unwilling to express an opinion. All others present declare their agreement with Mr. Frazier about Gen. Sherman.)

Some conversation upon general subjects relating to Gen. Sherman's march then ensued, of which no note was taken.

55




2. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DOCUMENT:_

3. DATE(S) OF DOCUMENT:


POSITION (TITLE):



A. List three things in document #1 that you think are important:


C. What evidence in the document helps you know why it was written? Quote from the document.

56

D. List two things the document tells you about life in the United States at the time it was written:


F. Try to imagine how profoundly different the history of race relations in the United States would

have been if Special Field Order 15 had been implemented and enforced. What are your thoughts?

G. What do the leaders of the black community in Savannah have in common?

H. What was the purpose of the meeting?

I. How did the leaders view Sherman?

J. What if the former slaves had actually been given access to the ownership of land?

K. What if they had been given the opportunity to be economically self-sufficient, to accumulate

and pass on their wealth to the next generations?

57

http://themanuscript.net/2012/07/

http://themanuscript.net/2012/07/

58

Cartoon Analysis Worksheet

Level 1

Visuals Words (not all cartoons contain words)

1. List the objects and people that you see in

the cartoon.

1. Identify the caption and/or title.

2. What does the artist imply with the

caption?

Level 2

Visuals Words

1. Describe the details of the cartoon?

2. What is the importance of the characters

portrayed in the cartoon?

3. Do the words represent positive or negative

impressions?

Level 3

a. Describe the action taking place in the cartoon.

b. Explain the cartoon’s message.

c. What was the artist’s motivation for cartoon?

59

Chapter 9: The Fighting Has Not Been in Vain: African American Intellectuals in Jim Crow

Savannah by Bobby J. Donaldson

This Chapter details the ongoing struggles that African Americans faced in the post-

Reconstruction era. It helps students understand that despite the emancipation of all of the

slaves in the United States, freedom did not guarantee equality. It discusses the Black Codes, Jim

Crow segregation, and the blatant racism that persisted in Savannah until the Civil Rights

Movement in the 1960s, as well as the advances made by important local African American

intellectuals who navigated a precarious line to shape the racial constructs of our community.


Jim Crow was a derogatory term used to describe the racial caste system, which existed

primarily but not exclusively in Southern and Border States between 1877 and the mid-1960s.

Jim Crow laws were much more than just a series of rigid anti-black laws; they became a way of

life for African Americans. Under Jim Crow, whites used laws to relegate African Americans to

the status of second class citizens. Many southern Christian ministers and theologians taught

that whites were the Chosen people, that God cursed blacks to be servants, and that the Bible

sanctioned racial segregation. Scientists developed theories such as Social Darwinism that

reinforced the belief that blacks were innately intellectually and culturally inferior to whites. All

major societal institutions reflected and supported the oppression of blacks in public transport

and facilities, juries, jobs, and neighborhoods.

60

The passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution granted blacks the

same legal protections as whites. However, the 1877 election of Republican Rutherford B.

Hayes opened the door for racists who began restricting the liberties of blacks. Unfortunately

for black Americans, the Supreme Court helped undermine the Constitutional protections of

blacks with the infamous Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) case, which legitimized Jim Crow laws with

the ruling that upheld previous decisions stating that racial segregation was constitutional

under the separate but equal doctrine.

In spite of the blatant efforts to keep African Americans from reaching their full potential and

influencing society, many members of the black community earned an education and

participated actively in their local communities and politics. Their accomplishments include

founding the Georgia State Industrial College, the formation of the NAACP, as well as important

political activism and participation in public debate. They refused to accept the status quo and

constantly sought opportunities to fulfill the promises of full emancipation and citizenship.

61

Article # 1—Savannah Morning News, Jan. 2, 1877 -- page 3

Article #2—Savannah Morning News, Jan. 6, 1879 -- page 1

62

Article #3—Savannah Morning News, Jan. 2, 1880 -- page 3

63


A. Analysis Read the accounts of the Emancipation Day Parades from the Savannah

Morning News and draw three conclusions about the experiences of both

white and black residents in Savannah. What evidence supports your

conclusion?

Conclusion #1

Evidence #1

Conclusion #2

Evidence #2

Conclusion #3

Evidence #3

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B. Questions Thoughtfully answer each of the following:

1. Imagine what it would be like to be forced to use separate

restrooms, drinking fountains, or areas of the bus.

2. What emotions do these types of issues evoke?

3. After reading the newspaper accounts of Emancipation Day Parades in

Savannah, contemplate the changing mood of the accounts. Did the

mood change over time? If so, how?

4. What do these accounts say about race relations in Savannah in the

time-frame from 1877-1880?

5. Do these accounts reflect the racist sentiments that were

prevalent at the time?

6. Research accounts from Northern newspapers of the same time

period? Are there differences? Similarities?

7. Could African Americans escape racism simply by moving up north?

Why or why not?

8. How did the Emancipation Day celebrations inspire political action in

the community?

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Appendix

Additional learning opportunities:

1. Have students research the people mentioned in the chapters and write a report,

prepare a presentation, or simply discuss in class how these important people changed race

relations in Savannah.

2. Have students ponder how far we have come in the city and how far we still have to go.

3. Take students on a field trip to tour the Owens-Thomas House. Have them write a

report about their learning experiences at the museum.

Documents

Educator Guide - Slavery and Freedom in Savannah