In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

ChaPter 3 1865 the abolition of slavery and the transition to free Labor February 2, 1865 General Hurlbut also issued two new orders about free labor on plantations. By the first, planters are required to pay immediately the wages due workers withdrawn from the said plantations in order to be subjected to [military] conscription , under penalty of a fine equal to the amount of the actual wages. The second, [which] sets February 1 as the end of the agricultural year, directs that all workers will be paid at least half the wages they have earned, and it allows them to select where they want to work the following year, etc. I do not think that it would be useful to provide additional details, but what little I have reported will buttress what follows: Too many advantages have been given the workers due to problems with the actual system, which will become more acute if, as has been discussed, the wages of workers rise to $25 per month. March 4, 1865 An order issued by this same General Canby on February 1 puts into effect the Secretary of the Treasury’s regulations of July 29, 1864, regarding the labor of free Negroes on farms located within the military lines.1 Under the terms of these regulations, the said freedmen, maintained in colonies by the government, are classified according to their age and physical capacity and their minimum wages are set at $25, $20, and $15 per month for men and $18, $14, and $10 for women—without prejudice to the higher wages that may be stipulated in special contracts or their replacement with fixed shares of the profits.2 The planters are also required to welcome the children of the workers, unless the latter prefer to leave them in the colony. They must also provide them with adequate housing, an acre of land for each family’s gardening, [and] medical care and schools for the children. The work day is set at ten hours. Crops will serve as security for accrued wages, and planters cannot dispose of them until they have provided proof of payment of said wages. These regulations also apply to property owners who wish to farm their land and who will thus be answerable to the superintendent of free labor. the DIsPatChes of CharLes ProsPer fauConnet 116 All farmers or property owners must hand over to the government fiscal agent either one-thirtieth of the production of their sugar lands or one-tenth of other products in return for which they will be exempt from all taxes or charges, with the exception of taxes imposed by the state or internal revenue bureau, etc. The said products could moreover be transported to any market in a loyal state for sale at the discretion of the owners. General Canby’s order, which accompanied these regulations, restricts the plantations for rent or awaiting registration3 to those bordering the Mississippi, its tributaries, or other transportation routes controlled by the military occupation [forces]. However, this proclamation must be broad enough to include all of the colonies, plantations, farms, and other industrial operations authorized by government agents. Furthermore, these agents must remain vigilant [to ensure] that these establishments are not situated in places where freedman laborers would be exposed to the threat of kidnapping and being reduced to slavery once again. In addition, the farmers or property owners will be required to build redoubts or other such temporary defenses to protect their workers, their livestock , etc., against the danger of seizure or destruction by guerillas. In the absence of urgent and immediate necessity, the workers may not, under the terms of these regulations, be taken for [military] service, unless they enlist voluntarily or are conscripted. The same is true for horses, mules, supplies , etc., which cannot be requisitioned unless absolutely necessary. Finally, as the care and support of freedmen has devolved to the Department of the Treasury by virtue of the act of July 2, 1864, all of the persons in this category who still find themselves under the jurisdiction of the military authorities or who will find themselves henceforth in the vicinity of military posts in the insurrectionary districts will be handed over to a Treasury agent. Mr. Minister, these are the new free labor regulations introduced by Major General Canby for the year 1865. Will they produce better results than last year? And the excessive protection accorded the workers on one hand, and the property owners or the government’s farmers on...

Share