Seizing the New Day: African Americans in Post-Civil War Charleston (review)

Despite the substantial literature about South Carolina Reconstruction—including Thomas Holt’s prize-winning Black over White (Urbana, 1977)—the transition period from slavery to freedom in Charleston has received scant attention. This void seems all the more remarkable, given the fact that the city was so prominent during the prewar period, and that blacks had for so long played such a vital role in every aspect of the city’s life. In Seizing the Day, Jenkins admirably fills the void, examining virtually every aspect of African-American life during this crucial period of change. The author analyzes the unique position of slaves and free blacks in antebellum Charleston, the destruction wrought by the Civil War, and the moment of freedom with its subsequent celebrations and joyous anticipation. He also examines how most slaves abandoned their former masters, asserted a new independence, formed separate churches and benevolent societies, and looked to the future with hope and optimism. It soon became apparent, however, that they would confront many economic, political, social, and educational difficulties. How they dealt with each of these problems is examined in separate chapters: the struggle for economic independence; the determination to “Get Us Some Book Lernin’”; the effort to establish stable, monogamous families; and the desire for amicable race relations while refusing to be intimidated or coerced.

The strengths of the book are many, not the least of which are the author’s engaging prose style, his ability to focus on dramatic events without sacrificing analysis, and his familiarity with the secondary literature. The cross-disciplinary nature of the study can be seen in his seventeen tables at the end of the volume, including, among others, tables on population distribution, literacy, family relationships, and the work status of women. From this evidence, the author examines the shifts in the black population over time within the city, the substantial success of former slaves in maintaining stable families (at least compared with whites during the same period), and the remarkable successes in the field of education. With regard to the latter, as well as other aspects of black life, Jenkins emphasizes the efforts of black people themselves, whereas other historians have paid more attention to the role of the United States Army, the Freedmen’s Bureau (the agency created by Congress to assist freedmen and freedwomen), and the American Missionary Association or other northern philanthropic organizations.

The author correctly notes the remarkable efforts of former slaves to fashion their own destiny, independent of white involvement and influence, but he is less successful in analyzing the divisions among blacks themselves. It is true that at various junctures, often relying on secondary sources, he discusses the antebellum free black “elite” and their influence following the Civil War. Some of them, the author writes, “moved quickly to distinguish themselves from the masses of freedmen, labeling themselves the ‘bona fide free’ and freedmen as those ‘sot [set] free’” (107). He also shows how differences in complexion “fostered even more divisions than prewar status” (107). But these themes are not fully developed. It would have been revealing to have a more systematic examination of the influence and economic status of prewar free blacks during the postwar period, if for no other reason than that before the war, the city housed one of the most affluent and vibrant groups of free African-Americans in the country. But this is the subject for an entire study in itself, and even in this area the book offers revealing glimpses. In all, Seizing the New Day does what it sets out to do, and does so in admirable fashion.