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13 labor, law, and the freedmen’s bureau in alabama, 1865–1867 Jason J. Battles The bureau of refugees, freedmen, and abandoned lands was established by an act of Congress in march 1865 and was vested with broad powers to assist three million blacks in the transition from slaves to citizens. more commonly known as the freedmen’s bureau, this division of the war Department operated in all of the states of the former Confederacy during the reconstruction era. The bureau issued rations to the destitute of both races, constructed hospitals and schools, oversaw labor contracts between freedmen and their employers, and protected blacks’ legal, civil, and political rights. The bureau’s charge represented a historic effort by the federal government to provide aid and support for those in need. The unprecedented breadth of the bureau’s activities has led some scholars to consider it the first social welfare organization in american history.1 The freedmen’s bureau was led by maj. Gen. oliver otis howard. appointed by President andrew Johnson in may 1865, General howard served as commissioner until the bureau was dismantled in 1872. since the bureau operated within the war Department, it was administered almost solely by active or former military officers. General howard was a veteran of Gettysburg and served under Gen. william Tecumseh sherman during the campaign for atlanta and the march to the sea. often referred to as the “Christian General,” howard was a strong advocate for black rights before and after his time as bureau commissioner. he viewed his appointment to head the bureau as a “great opportunity for Christian service.”2 in filling the bureau posts under his command, he looked for officers that shared his faith and were “sympathetic in their attitude” toward the freedmen.3 General howard selected a fellow Christian and comrade from the army of the Tennessee, brig. Gen. wager T. swayne, to lead the bureau’s efforts in alabama. swayne served as assistant commissioner from July 1865 to January 1868. his tenure was the longest of any state commissioner within the bureau and provided a level of stability and consistency in its activities and policies that was unmatched elsewhere in the south. swayne was a Yale-educated ohioan and son of U.s. supreme Court Justice Noah swayne. when the war began, he was working as an attorney. swayne labor, law, and the freedmen’s bureau / 241 worked his way up the officer ranks in the Union army. like General howard, he served in sherman’s army of the Tennessee, where he lost his right leg during action in south Carolina in february 1865. historians have long maligned swayne’s leadership of the alabama freedmen’s bureau for favoring the planter class over the freedmen and taking a paternalistic attitude toward the population that he was appointed to aid.4 he is cited as an example of a bureau commissioner relying too much on “prominent whites” and leaving blacks and their newly gained rights “unprotected.”5 Kenneth b. white asserts that swayne’s affluent upbringing also hindered his ability to deal with the racial issues facing him as commissioner.6 recent scholarship has recognized swayne as more than the “pragmatic racist” described by white.7 michael w. fitzgerald applauds swayne’s “zeal on the freedpeople’s behalf,” but he remains critical of swayne’s early efforts to resolve freedmen labor issues.8 a fresh examination of swayne’s actions, however, that considers the exceptional circumstances of his office and the conditions of postwar alabama demonstrates instead his consistent commitment to protecting the rights of the freedmen. in the summer of 1865, many alabamians were suffering, but the recently emancipated blacks in the state were particularly hard-hit. Newspapers reported the harsh conditions facing the freedmen throughout the black belt region of the state. The Selma Daily Messenger, for example, reported that the “mortality of the city is considerable amongst the negroes,” with many blacks recently consigned to their “last resting place.”9 in a may 31, 1865, communication from Union springs, Col. J. strickton wrote, “what am i to do with the negroes that are driven off the plantations by their former owners on the plea of their inability to support them, many such are accumulating here and i do not wish to forward them to montgomery .” strickton was not alone in his concern about how planters were dealing with changes to the labor system.10 similar letters from mobile indicated that some planters were forcing out...

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