Emancipation and Refugees

Toward a War of Emancipation

• self-emancipation continued and grew

• abolitionists and “radical” Republicans in Congress pressured Lincoln for:

  • emancipation as a war measure

  • African American enlistment

• northern opinions on emancipation shifted as the war intensified

  • White Union troops especially

  • saw slavery as the cause of the rebellion

  • argued that destroying slavery was the only way to permanently save the Union

  • during war’s final years, a way to make their suffering mean something

  • civilians too, but many stayed opposed

• Congress also moved emancipation policy forward:

• first confiscation act, august 1861

  • authorized US government to seize private property in rebel states used to promote rebellion (including slaves)

  • left status of “contrabands” unclear

• second confiscation act, July 1862

  • expanded and clarified

  • freed enslaved people belonging to anyone aiding the rebellion

Life for African American Refugees

• 300 “contraband camps” in total

• many different arrangements:

  • some spontaneous, some planned

  • camps or barracks alongside the US Army

  • confiscated plantations leased out by the federal governemtn

  • some land redistribution and agrarian colonies

• refugees found only limited safety/security

  • Union forces moved frequently, refugees weren’t the main priority

  • private humanitarian aid insufficient

  • shifting opportunities for work and support

  • poor treatment conditions

  • epidemic diseases

  • abuse by soldiers and civilians on both sides

• an “embattled freedom” for refugees

  • federal policy developed slowly and unevenly

  • refugees pushed for government support and protection (not always successful)

  • for most, emancipation was a process, not a single event or moment