-
II. Political Activities of Blacks, 1862-1867
- Southern Illinois University Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
CHAPTER II Political Activities of Blacks, 1862-1867 Before the war a large and prosperous community offree blacks, numbering 10,939 persons, had existed in New Orleans. The presence of Federal authorities in the city after April, r862, emboldenedtheleaders to pressforpoliticalrightsfor themselves and for their brothers in bondage. Preeminent among them was Doctor Louis Charles Roudanez who had completed his medical traininginPariswithhonor. He believedthatitwas vitalfor blacks tobringtheircasebeforethegeneralpUblic. Consequently, he and his brother, Jean Baptiste, and some oftheirfriends launched the first black newspaperinthe state, L' Union, a militantRepublican journal that appeared triweekly in French and was printed less frequently in English. The editor was Paul Trevigne, a welleducated man, who spoke several languages and who had taught for forty years at the Institution on Catholique des Orphelins Indigents in New Orleans.1 L'Union represented the first attempt to mold the energies of the black race into a politicalforce. Initially the newspaper advocated the abolition of slavery and economic and civil equalityincluding suffrage-for the black population. In the first issue, published on September 27, r862, editorTrevigne launched what I. Edward Tinker, Creole City: Its Past and Its People (New York: Longmans, Green Co., 1953), 106-I08; McPherson, The Negro's Civil War, 276-77; Charles Barthelemy Rousseve, The Negro in Louisiana: Aspects of His Histo/y and His Literature (New Orleans: Xavier University Press, 1937), rr8-19; Desdunes, Our People and Our HistO/y, 66. 16 Political Activities ofBlacks, 1862 -1867 I7 would be along drive for Negro rights. He visualized a new era in the history of the South: "The hour has sounded for the fight of great humanitarian principles against a vile and sordid interest which breeds pride, ambition and hypocrisy." Addressing his fellows, he exhorted, "You were born for liberty and happiness! Don't deceive yourselves, and don't deceive your brother." 2 Duril;1g November the editor discussed the free Negro's relationshipto slaves and former slaves. He notedthatfreedmenwere uneducated and needed proper training to become full citizens. Leadership would have to come from anelite who could teach the newly free that"the word 'liberty' is not the sign ofanarchy and of laziness" and that they must be industrious and assume many responsibilities. Itfm1heradvised unity within the Negro population : "Let us not forget to inculcate in our freed brothers this principle that true liberty is achieved only by practice of all the religious and social virtues." In December, after Lincoln had issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, L' Union enthusiastically supported it. However, the measure only added moreconfusionto the status ofblacksinthe states. Slaves quickly leftplantationsandcame to NewOrleans,creatingadministrative difficulties. GeneralBanksconsentedto apolicyofarresting some and returning others to the plantations. Free blacks also came under the harsh "cmfew" laws and were subject to arrests and discIiminatory treatment. A "pass" system was inaugurated to prevent blacks from entering the city. General Banks later consented to permit blacks to be drafted in Union-held parishes.3 Meanwhile, Congress was debating the readmission of south Louisiana, andtherecognitionofits representativewasapressing 2. New Orleans L' Union, September 27, 1862. These translations were done by Roger Des Forges for James M. McPherson of Princeton University who permitted the writer to use them. F. Patrick Leavens, "L' Union and the New Orleans Tribune and Louisiana Reconstruction" (M.A. thesis, Louisiana State University, 1966), 40-42; McPherson, The Negro's Civil War, 276. 3. New Orleans L' Union, November 15, December 30, 1862. See commemoration celebration two years later as described by the New Orleans Tribune, January 19, 1865. New York National Anti-SlavelY Standard, February 21, 1863; John W. Blassingame, Black New Orleans, 1860-1880 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1973), 31 -33. [44.192.247.144] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 07:02 GMT) 18 Black Legislators in Louisiana question. The Committee on Elections had recently rejected claimsfrom othersoutherndistricts becausea substantialproportion of the antebellum electorate had not participated. But since Louisiana's provisional military governor, George F. Shepley, had ordered the election and two representatives were elected, both congressmen-elect from southern Louisiana were seated. One, BenjaminF. Flanders, was anative ofNew Hampshire anda graduate of Dartmouth College. He was a lawyer by profession and had come to New Orleans in 1845. The other representative, Michael Hahn, was born in Bavariabutcame to New Orleans as a child and was educated in the public school and at the University ofLouisiana before being admitted to the bar in 1851.4 Both men served fr0111 February 3 to March 3, 1863 in the Thirty-seventh Congress. One man who saw...