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8. End of an Institution
- The University of Alabama Press
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8 End of an Institution On April 5, 1865, the day appointed for inaugurating Tennessee 's new civil government, the capitol building was decorated with a gigantic banner that bore antislavery quotations from the Founding Fathers set alongside pictures of black soldiers and schoolchildren . Shortly before William G. Brownlow appeared to take the governor 's oath of office, the legislature unanimously ratified the Thirteenth Amendment, which would write slavery's end into the u.S. Constitution." Whether the freedmen's freedom would include more or fewer privileges than the contrabands exercised remained to be seen. But then, freedom had not yet become a reality for all the slaves in the state . A law's effectiveness depends upon the degree of its acceptance and enforcement. Proslavery convictions ran deep , and many masters ignored the referendum's result. The new state government, which enjoyed scant public respect, few financial resources, and little physical power, could not by itself prevail over the obstinancy of slaveholders. The Union party would continue to rely heavily upon the federal army to enforce unpopular policies. As the spring of 1865 progressed, major Confederate armies surrendered and the war ended. Within two weeks of Brownlow's inauguration , Lincoln's assassination elevated 118 End of an Institution Johnson to the presidency. He decided to reconstruct the nation quickly upon the basis of emancipation for slaves and forgiveness for most Confederates . Some rebel veterans came home willing to forget the past ; more returned embittered by the destruction of their proslavery nation and blamed defeat not only on the superior power of the Federals , but also on contr aband and unionist support of the enemy. The federal government's exaltation ofits southern allies pained ex-Confederates all the more. In Maury County, paroled Confederates talked so much about reviving slavery that rural freedmen flooded Columbia , a federal garrison town .2 Returning soldiers and refugees sharply reduced the proportional weight ofblacks in the state population and increased white resistance to social change. The Conservative party tried to mobilize popular discontent during the congressional election campaign in the summer of 1865. William B. Campbell and Emerson Etheridge openly attacked the constitutionality of the Nashville convention . When Etheridge spoke at Dresden, the audience resolved that the convention was an illegitimate attempt to "subvert and abolish the most important provisions of the Constitution. "3 Brownlow reacted to the dissension by ordering the arrest of candidates engaged in what he called "nullifying the Constitution ." Etheridge landed in a military prison, and Campbell narrowly averted arrest by taking a certified oath of loyalty to the state constitution. President Johnson publicly approved Brownlow'saction and ordered the army to continue sustaining the state government. General George H. Thomas, now commanding all troops in the state, kept Etheridge confined until after the election . A sobered Campbell closed his congressional campaign by declaring: "I now regard slavery as abolished, and expect the [Thirteenth] constitutional amendment to be adopted. . . I do not desire to resurrect it, nor do the people of Tennessee ."4 Confronted by federal military might, political resistance to emancipation collapsed . 119 [44.222.196.236] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 15:10 GMT) End of an Institution Recalcitrant slaveholders continued to defy the authorities and retain blacks under unchanged conditions. A few kept them isolated and unaware ofemancipation through most or all of 1865; others , suspecting their wards had heard about the referendum, denounced it as false and sometimes used force.5 After shooting a disobedient slave on July 2, Amos Black warned his other bondsmen: "You have been fooled with the d--d Yankee lies till you thought you were free, and you got so you could not obey your master. There is no law against killing niggers & I will kill every d--d one I have, if they do not obey me and work just as they did before the war." Vigilante bands and guerrillas maintained slavery in Hickman, Dyer, Gibson, Carroll, Weakley, and Haywood counties at least through early summer . In some parts of the state, the institu tion remained fully alive as late as September 1865.6 The federal army and the Freedmen 's Bureau, a new War Department agency responsible for supervising the transition from slavery to freedom, held public meetings around the state and convinced some masters to acknowledge the freedom of blacks." However, where masters forcibly preserved slavery, armed intervention became necessary . Federal patrols could curtail vigilante and guerrilla activity, but violence committed by individuals was more difficult to control. The Freedmen...