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

ChaPter 2 1864 the abolition of slavery and the transition to free Labor February 12, 1864 Mr. Minister, I have already had the honor of notifying Your Excellency of an order from General Banks relating to plantation labor, in which he announced that he would promulgate new regulations on this subject on February 1.1 These regulations have, in fact, become the subject of a new order, issued on the third, which I hasten to send to Your Excellency as an attachment. By this order, which is both administrative and political in terms of its present implications and future consequences, General Banks intends not only to regulate labor and make it obligatory for both farmers and blacks, but he seems to be making preparatory steps to make the latter future farmers, even landowners. Far from encouraging the emigration of Negroes to other countries, he wishes to attach them more than ever to the land, and he invites other military departments to send him their superfluous black families. The starting point is the complete and absolute abolition of slavery, even in the districts previously exempted by the president, and, moving forward, the general would demand the establishment of new relations between the landlord and the laborers, not only among all of the country’s citizens, but even among foreigners. In a word, he absolutely wants Louisiana to return to the Union as a free state, and he requires that everyone contribute to this process by means of the plow, the vote, or the sword. “Apathetic and hostile persons,” he says, “must choose between the freedom afforded by foreign countries, the poverty of the states in rebellion, and the countless, invaluable benefits the United States government affords its people.” Here is a summary of the other main points of this important order: The enlistment of blacks on plantations remains suspended; schools and hospitals will be established for the colored population; soldiers are prohibited from entering plantations, except as required by their duties; laborers cannot depart plantations without complying with the regulations of the parish’s provost marshal; corporal punishments are banned; planters will be obliged to transmit to the provost marshal lists of all the persons employed on their lands; the DIsPatChes of CharLes ProsPer fauConnet 56 with regard to the employment of laborers, family unity will be preserved; the provost marshal will provisionally be the sole arbitrator in disputes between landlords and laborers; the sick and infirm will be treated on plantations or in hospitals established for them; all trade in clothing and liquor with Negroes is prohibited, as is unauthorized possession of firearms; laborers will give planters ten hours of continuous work a day in summer, nine hours in winter; they [planters] will compensate them [laborers] with good treatment, food, support, lodging, medical care, and education for the children; monthly wages vary from three to eight dollars, at least half of which will be held until year’s end; they [laborers] will choose their landlord, and their term of service will be one year; in the event of rules violations, feigned illnesses, refusal to work, insolence, etc., they will be delivered to the court of the provost marshal, who will deduct their wages [accordingly] or sentence them to labor without pay on public works; each will be given a parcel of land to be used for their own benefit; landlords must replace, as much as possible, monthly wages with crop shares as payment or hold them [wages] until the moment when the harvest is complete, and they can pay the annual wages all at once; a savings bank has been established for the laborers with the government as guarantor; finally, they declare work a public duty and laziness a crime, and, with regard to the property owners, they add that failure to cultivate the soil without a good reason will result in a temporary forfeiture in favor of those who have given assurance that they will improve it. As Your Excellency can see in last measure, General Banks wants to make the land produce all possible products at all costs; “upon this, he says, depends the nation’s prosperity and power.” He adds that “all who contribute to this restoration project render the government a service as great as those who have endured the terrible sacrifices of war.” These are nearly all of the new provisions that have the force of law with regard to Negroes and planters. Now, will the latter stubbornly maintain their group solidarity that is of...

Share