Slave Emancipation

Glimpses of First Freedoms

Oct 19, 2008 Ron Goodwin

The responses to the defeat of the Confederacy were ones of uncertainty and fear, for blacks and whites. Naturally racial animosity erupted as the Union army forced a con

Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox naturally had a profound affect on this country, some obvious and some subtle. Among the obvious were the newly defined relationship between the Federal government and the States and most notably the end of slavery. The end of slavery changed the racial dynamics in this country. A dynamic that neither whites nor blacks were prepared for.

Even though antebellum slavery in Texas resembled that of other southern states, the master – slave dynamic changed and set the stage for the coming racial animosity of the Reconstruction era. Still, for most slaves, freedom was an incomprehensible concept with little tangibility. But when freedom did come, Texas’ slaves were faced with a very uncertain future.

Most of Texas’ former slaves remembered that first rush of excitement as they learned of the defeat of the Confederacy. For example, former slave Andy Anderson said he left the plantation as soon as he found out they were free. Likewise, former slave Susan Ross recalled her brother’s reaction after being told he was free. She said he, “whoop, run and jump a high fence and told mammy goodbye. Den he grab me up and hug and kiss me and say, ‘brother gone, don’t ‘spect you ever see me no more.’ I don’t know where he go, but I never did see him ‘gain.”

However, many former slaves also remembered feelings of intense fear, as they were now responsible for their own welfare. First freedoms overwhelmed many former slaves. Former slave Jack Bess commented that he was definitely glad when freedom came, but recalled the uncertainties. He said, “we didn’ know nothin’ to do but jes stay on dere, and we did ‘bout three years and de boss pays us a little by de month for our work.” Likewise, former slave Will Adams said, “They’s lots of cryin’ and weepin’ when they sot us free. Lots of them didn’t want to be free, ‘cause they knowed nothin’ and had nowhere to go.”

The former slaves also noted that they were not the only ones experiencing feelings of fear and uncertainty. Many white Texans never accepted the defeat of the Confederacy, believing instead that they merely quit for the benefit of the country. Now they were facing their own uncertainties because of the rapid social and economic changes they were experiencing. News of Lee’s surrender was difficult enough to comprehend, but it was the presence of the Union army that positioned itself as an occupation force, that caused a tremendous amount of hostility and resentment.

Much of this hostility resulted from the Union army forcing reluctant slave owners to release their slaves, or pay them for their labor. Many refused to do either. Those who did immediately free their slaves did so under duress. Former Texas slave Cato Carter said his owner shed tears of indecision as he announced that slavery was over. Likewise, former slaves William Mathews, Susan Merrit, and William Thomas also remembered that their former slave owners responded with hostility and resentment when told they had to release their slaves. Mathews, for example, said they were forced to keep working because their owner would not let them go.

Nonetheless, it mattered little if the former slaves left their former masters immediately after emancipation or stayed. For some the tangibility of freedom took time. Even the former masters found the new freedoms of the slaves incomprehensible as they tried in vain to hold onto the former social and racial dynamics. Nonetheless, the initial freedom generation began slowly moving away from the plantation and the memories of slavery.

References

Litwack, Leon. 1979. Been in the Storm So Long. New York: Knopf.

Smallwood, James. 1981. Time of Hope, Time of Despair: Black Texans during Reconstruction. London: Kennikat.

Tannenbaum, Frank. 1946. Slave and Citizen. New York: Vintage Books.

Slave Narratives, Box 4H359, University of Texas, Center for American History. Oral interviews of Susan Ross, Andy Anderson, Jack Bess, Will Adams, Cato Carter, William Mathews, Susan Merrit, and William Thomas.

The copyright of the article Slave Emancipation in American History is owned by Ron Goodwin. Permission to republish Slave Emancipation in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.