The Challenge of Freedom LESSON 1 The Challenge of Freedom

The Reality of Freedom Many slaves left the plantations when the war ended. Why do you think some slaves decided not to leave their plantation? For those who did leave, why were some former owners surprised?

War-torn South Carolina The war devastated the South, especially South Carolina. The state’s wealth had been consumed by the war. More than 30% of the state’s white male population had died during the war. 400,000 African Americans were suddenly free. 

Help for Freedmen and Poor Whites Congress created the Freedmen’s Bureau to protect and help former slaves (called freedmen) and poor whites. Bureau agents fed the poor, created schools for black children, protected freedmen from hostile whites, and provided medical care. The Union Leagues helped black citizens register to vote. Both organizations became targets of violence from angry white Southerners.

The Freedmen’s Bureau in South Carolina General Rufus Saxton was chief of the Freedman’s Bureau in South Carolina. Saxton set up offices to look after the freedmen, but he also fed hungry people, regardless of race.  In the eleven months after the war, more than one million food rations were given out. 

A Freedmen’s Bureau agent distributes food to the old and sick A Freedmen’s Bureau agent distributes food to the old and sick. The agency almost certainly prevented thousands of black and white Carolinians from starving in the first three years after the war.

The Freedmen’s Bureau also set up schools for former slaves The Freedmen’s Bureau also set up schools for former slaves. Why was education so important to freedpeople?

Fears of Race War Why did many Southerners view Bureau agents with suspicion and even hatred? Why did many white people live “in a dreadful state of apprehension and insurrection”? Picture: Freedmen’s Bureau keeping the peace between blacks and whites (191) Many of the Bureau agents were former abolitionists from the North, which for many Southerners made them think of John Brown and the violence he perpetrated before the war. Adding to the tension was the fear that former slaves would rebel against their former owners.

A New System of Labor Sharecropping Tenant Farming The end of slavery meant that plantation owners had to find a new system of labor. Sharecropping Sharecroppers lived on land and in a house owned by a white landowner. Landowners decided what to grow. At harvest time, the landowner kept most of the crop, but gave a share to sharecroppers to sell on their own. Tenant Farming Freedmen and poor whites rented a plot of land and a house from a white landowner. Tenant farmers chose what crops they grew and used the income from selling crops to pay rent and other bills.

An Endless Cycle of Debt A New System of Labor An Endless Cycle of Debt Tenant farmers and sharecroppers often lived in constant debt. Crop liens were a form of credit where tenants, sharecroppers, and even landowners used crops to pay for supplies. How did this system result in an unending cycle of debt for many?