DOCSLIB.ORG

Freedmen's Bureau

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Freedmen's Bureau CK_5_TH_HG_P231_324.QXD 2/13/06 1:56 PM Page 289 situation is similar to that of a grand jury, which hands up an indictment and turns someone over for trial.) The Senate heard the evidence and voted three times, but each time Johnson’s opponents could not muster enough votes. They were always one vote short. In the end the Senate acquitted Johnson, but his effectiveness in office was over. Southern Governments Radical Reconstruction banned former Confederate officers and officials from holding office again. Who then filled the new Southern legislatures and other government positions? Who Why Northerners who moved South: federal Supported Radical Republican policies government officials, teachers, missionaries Some, to profit economically from Some, volunteers and employees of the Reconstruction Freedmen’s Bureau cartoon of President Johnson Southerners who supported Radical Republican Abolitionists, were against secession, and/or during his impeachment policies remained loyal to the Union during the war Some, to profit economically from Reconstruction Free-born and freed African Americans Participate in their own governance The new governments of the South were Republican, and most government positions were filled by members of three groups: Northerners, Southerners who worked with the Northerners, or freed African Americans. The Northerners, who had often served in the Union army or were working for the Freedmen’s Bureau (see p. 290), moved south to help with Reconstruction. The Southern officials were whites who supported the efforts of Reconstruction. Ex-Confederates dis- paragingly called the Northerners “carpetbaggers” and the Southerners who col- laborated with them “scalawags.” The nickname “carpetbagger” supposedly came from the carpetbags (19th-century suitcases) that Northerners carried with them. Southerners said the Northerners were there to exploit the Southerners and take their money. The term scalawag means “rascal” or “scoundrel.” In many Southern states, freed African Americans also held government positions, which was both symbolic and literal proof that efforts to reconstruct the South were, at least by some appearances, working. However, many white Southerners resent- ed the new leaders and their policies, and some of the new government officials, particularly the carpetbaggers, were corrupt. The turmoil of Reconstruction led to years of political conflict for the South. Freedmen’s Bureau Freed African Americans faced a bleak future. They had no place to live, no education, no money to buy food, and no experience in bargaining for a job or dealing with the law. The only last names they had were the names of their for- mer owners. Many rectified that quickly by taking the names of Americans they admired. Among those were Lincoln, Washington, and Jefferson. In 1865, the Freedmen’s Bureau was established by the Department of War to look after the welfare of freed slaves. Agents of the bureau provided food for for- mer slaves and helped them find housing and employment. The bureau provided History and Geography: American 289 CK_5_TH_HG_P231_324.QXD 2/13/06 1:56 PM Page 291 • provided that (a) the number of representatives for a state in the House of Representatives would be reduced in proportion to the number of citizens who were denied their voting rights by the state; (b) no former Confederate officer could hold office unless Congress pardoned him; (c) debts of the Confederate government would not be repaid; (d) former slave owners could not sue for the loss of their property, that is, slaves 15th Amendment • was the African-American suffrage amendment • was passed and ratified in 1870 • was considered necessary when Southern states continued to deny African-American men the right to vote • stated that “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” Black Codes In response to Northern efforts to aid former enslaved African Americans— such as the establishment of the Freedmen’s Bureau and ratification of the 13th Amendment—Southern legislatures passed a series of black codes in 1865 and 1866. These laws were similar to the old slave codes, which limited severely the activities of African Americans, that Southern towns, cities, and legislatures had passed in the 1700s and in the early 1800s. In an attempt to reimpose some of the restrictions of slavery, the black codes typically required that former slaves be indoors by a curfew and have a permit to travel. In addition, a white person had to be present if former slaves wished to meet in a group. New regulations forbade former slaves from serving on juries, voting, owning land, and holding public office. Most troubling were those provi- sions that made it lawful to arrest and fine unemployed African Americans. An employer could pay the fine and then force the unemployed former slave to work in order to repay the fine. This amounted to a new form of servitude. The Ku Klux Klan and “Vigilante Justice” As early as 1866, groups of white Southerners began a campaign of terror against African Americans and their white supporters. Angry whites, many of whom were Confederate veterans returned from the war, organized into secret societies, such as the Knights of the White Camelia and the White League. Perhaps the most notorious, and certainly the largest, was the Ku Klux Klan. Klan members dressed in white robes and masks and rode out under cover of night. Their aim was to keep former slaves and white Republicans from voting or holding public office. The Klan planted and burned crude wooden crosses in front of the homes and churches of people they wanted to frighten. When this failed to scare off African Americans, the Klan beat their victims. The violence escalated until “vigilante justice” took over in the late 1800s; several hundred vic- tims of the Klan were abducted and hung in the South every year. 64 History and Geography: American 291 CK_5_TH_HG_P231_324.QXD 2/13/06 1:56 PM Page 292 II. The Civil War: Causes, Conflicts, Consequences Ida B. Wells-Barnett, an African-American female journalist, mounted a cam- paign in 1892 to bring lynching to the attention of the general public. By 1899, the number of lynchings in the South had dropped to 180 a year. This was down from 235 when Wells-Barnett had published her report in 1895. However, this form of vigilante justice continued in the South for several generations. End of Reconstruction: Compromise of 1877 By the mid-1870s, Americans were tired of Reconstruction. The most promi- nent Radical Republicans had died or been replaced in Congress. Other problems and concerns, such as the economy, increasing immigration, and industrializa- tion, replaced Reconstruction. In addition, business interests wanted relations with the South normalized. There was a desire among Northern businessmen to invest in and develop the resources of the South, which had been difficult while the states were under martial law. By the election of 1876, only three states—Louisiana, Florida, and South Carolina—retained Reconstruction governments. In the election for president that year, the Democrats nominated Samuel J. Tilden of New York. The Republicans chose Rutherford B. Hayes, the governor of Ohio. It appeared that Tilden had won until Republican leaders in Louisiana, Florida, and South Carolina challenged and discarded large numbers of votes cast for Tilden. To end the confusion, Congress established a commission of eight Republicans and seven Democrats that included Supreme Court Justices, sena- tors, and members of the House of Representatives. The commission worked out a compromise that is known as the “Compromise of 1877.” The Democrats sup- ported Hayes in exchange for the following: • the withdrawal of federal troops from the South and the end of Reconstruction • funding for construction of the Texas and Pacific Railroad • the appointment of a Southerner to the president’s cabinet With the Compromise of 1877, Reconstruction was over. The Big Idea Review in Review Below are some ideas for ongoing assessment and review activities. These are Slavery, the Civil War, not meant to constitute a comprehensive list. Teachers may also refer to the and Reconstruction Pearson Learning/Core Knowledge History & Geography series for additional infor- occupied much of the mation and teaching ideas. United States’ attention • Because of the number of people and places named in this section, have stu- and energy in the mid- dents play “Who/What Am I?” or create crossword puzzles to review the materi- 19th century. al. Have students create puzzles with at least 12 clues and then exchange them. Or have students work in teams of two to create five identifications. Then group two teams together and have them take turns asking the opposite team their identifi- cation questions. 292 Grade 5 Handbook.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • 1425 Remembering and Learning from History (Tulsa
    #1425 Remembering and Learning from History (Tulsa Massacre and Juneteenth) JAY TOMLINSON - HOST, BEST OF THE LEFT: [00:00:00] Welcome to this episode of the award-winning Best of the Le* podcast in which we shall take a look at the purposeful effort to erase the history of an=-black terrorism in America and the renewed efforts to expose our true history in order to learn from it and create the opportunity for healing. Clips today are from Vox; CounterSpin; Into America; Today, Explained; Democracy now!; The Al Franken Podcast and The Majority Report. The massacre of Tulsa's "Black Wall Street" - Vox - Air Date 2-27-19 RANJANI CHAKRABORTY - HOST, VOX: [00:00:29] We're driving in what's known as Black Wall Street. It's where one of the na=on's worst episodes of racial violence took place. In 1921, a neighborhood in Tulsa, Oklahoma called the Greenwood District was a bustling community of Black owned businesses. Tulsa locals know that period of Greenwood's history as a kind of golden age. UNKNOWN TULSA RESIDENT 1: [00:00:53] If you can imagine just a like an old =me downtown. Things like movie theaters, pharmacies, hair salons, and so forth. RANJANI CHAKRABORTY - HOST, VOX: [00:01:04] They called it Black Wall Street. UNKNOWN TULSA RESIDENT 2: [00:01:06] It was a Mecca. It was a huge success. RANJANI CHAKRABORTY - HOST, VOX: [00:01:08] But Black Wall Street was also an anomaly. It thrived at a =me when the KKK was incredibly ac=ve in Oklahoma.
    [Show full text]
  • Reconstruction Report
    RECONSTRUCTION IN AMERICA RECONSTRUCTION 122 Commerce Street Montgomery, Alabama 36104 334.269.1803 eji.org RECONSTRUCTION IN AMERICA Racial Violence after the Civil War, 1865-1876 © 2020 by Equal Justice Initiative. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, modified, or distributed in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means without express prior written permission of Equal Justice Initiative. RECONSTRUCTION IN AMERICA Racial Violence after the Civil War, 1865-1876 The Memorial at the EJI Legacy Pavilion in Montgomery, Alabama. (Mickey Welsh/Montgomery Advertiser) 5 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 6 THE DANGER OF FREEDOM 56 Political Violence 58 Economic Intimidation 63 JOURNEY TO FREEDOM 8 Enforcing the Racial Social Order 68 Emancipation and Citizenship Organized Terror and Community Massacres 73 Inequality After Enslavement 11 Accusations of Crime 76 Emancipation by Proclamation—Then by Law 14 Arbitrary and Random Violence 78 FREEDOM TO FEAR 22 RECONSTRUCTION’S END 82 A Terrifying and Deadly Backlash Reconstruction vs. Southern Redemption 84 Black Political Mobilization and White Backlash 28 Judicial and Political Abandonment 86 Fighting for Education 32 Redemption Wins 89 Resisting Economic Exploitation 34 A Vanishing Hope 93 DOCUMENTING RECONSTRUCTION 42 A TRUTH THAT NEEDS TELLING 96 VIOLENCE Known and Unknown Horrors Notes 106 Acknowledgments 119 34 Documented Mass Lynchings During the Reconstruction Era 48 Racial Terror and Reconstruction: A State Snapshot 52 7 INTRODUCTION Thousands more were assaulted, raped, or in- jured in racial terror attacks between 1865 and 1876. The rate of documented racial terror lynchings during Reconstruction is nearly three In 1865, after two and a half centuries of brutal white mobs and individuals who were shielded It was during Reconstruction that a times greater than during the era we reported enslavement, Black Americans had great hope from arrest and prosecution.
    [Show full text]
  • The Backlash Against Interracial Democracy
    High School | Grades 9–12 THE BACKLASH AGAINST INTERRACIAL DEMOCRACY ESSENTIAL QUESTION How was racial violence and terror used against Black Americans during Reconstruction and what were the goals of its perpetrators? OBJECTIVES Students will: → Discuss the backlash and violence against Black communities during the Reconstruction era. → Analyze images from the 1860s and 1870s depicting the promises of Reconstruction and threats to Black progress. → Identify the motivations of the Ku Klux Klan and the tactics they employed to dehumanize Black people. → Interpret primary source documents demonstrating ways in which some Black people resisted intimidation by white supremacist groups. LEARNING STANDARDS See the standards alignment chart to learn how this lesson supports New Jersey State Standards. TIME NEEDED 90 minutes MATERIALS → AV equipment to watch a video → W.E.B Du Bois on Reconstruction handout (one to project) → See-Think-Wonder handout (one per small group) → Images from Reconstruction handout (one image per small group) → Background: Images from Reconstruction handout (one for teacher reference) → The Ku Klux Klan Trials handout (one per student) VOCABULARY Confederate 15th Amendment Reconstruction emancipation Ku Klux Klan white supremacist 64 Procedures 3 NOTE During this lesson, there are numerous references to U.S. political parties during the 1860s and 1870s that may be confusing to students. In that era, the Republicans (the “party of Lincoln” and Ulysses S. Grant) were the more liberal party and generally The Democrats (including James Buchanan and Andrew Johnson) were more conservative and generally opposed Radical Recon- struction and Black civil and political rights. Make sure students understand the inconsistency between present and historical conceptions of the parties before they delve into lesson sources.
    [Show full text]
  • The Reconstruction Trope: Politics, Literature, and History in the South, 1890-1941 Travis Patterson Clemson University, [email protected]
    Clemson University TigerPrints All Theses Theses 8-2018 The Reconstruction Trope: Politics, Literature, and History in the South, 1890-1941 Travis Patterson Clemson University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses Recommended Citation Patterson, Travis, "The Reconstruction Trope: Politics, Literature, and History in the South, 1890-1941" (2018). All Theses. 2917. https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses/2917 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses at TigerPrints. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Theses by an authorized administrator of TigerPrints. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE RECONSTRUCTION TROPE: POLITICS, LITERATURE, AND HISTORY IN THE SOUTH, 1890-1941 A Thesis Presented to the Graduate School of Clemson University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts History by Travis Patterson August 2018 Accepted by: Dr. Paul Anderson, Committee Chair Dr. Rod Andrew Jr. Dr. Vernon Burton ABSTRACT This thesis examines how white southerners conceptualized Reconstruction from 1890 to 1941, with an emphasis on the era between the First and Second World Wars. By analyzing Reconstruction as it appears in political rhetoric, professional and amateur history, and southern literature, the thesis demonstrates how white southerners used the ‘tragic’ story of Reconstruction to respond to developments in their own time. Additionally, this thesis aims to illuminate the broader cultural struggle over Reconstruction between the First and Second World Wars. This thesis ultimately argues that the early revisionism in Reconstruction historiography was part of a broader reassessment of Reconstruction that took place in southern culture after the First World War.
    [Show full text]
  • A New Nation Struggles to Find Its Footing
    Lincoln began his plans for Reconstruction with “40 acres and a mule” promised in April 1865 to Reconstruction Acts of 1867 Successful Efforts at and his Ten Percent Plan in late-1863. freedmen, the land partitioned from land taken ➢ Placed ten ex-Confederate states under ventual ailure of econstruction ➢ It decreed that a state could be reintegrated by the Union army. military control, grouping them in five E F R into the Union when ten percent of its voters ➢ By June 1865, 10,000 freed slaves were military districts and re-constituted under Policies, 1863-1877 had taken an oath of allegiance to the United settled on 400,000acres in Georgia and South the direct control of the United States army. (Page 1 of 3) States. Carolina. ➢ There was little or no fighting, but rather a ➢ Lincoln vetoed the Wade-Davis Bill of 1864. ➢ Late-1865, President Johnson reversed the state of martial law in which the military This bill would have required over fifty order closely monitored daily operations of the percent to take an alliance oath prior to states Events of the Civil War which left a lingering reintegration of a state. Never took affect. Lincoln was murdered by John Wilkes Booth, a hostility/resentment between the warring sides… southerner, and immediately suspicions were 14th Amendment to the US Constitution 1. Sherman’s March, 1864 13th Amendment to the US Constitution, 1865 that he was acting on behalf of the Confederate ➢ Rejected in 1866; ratified/approved in 1868 2. The prisoner-of-war camp at Andersonville, ➢ Officially abolished slavery.
    [Show full text]
  • Louisiana and New Orleans During Reconstruction 2
    The Historic New Orleans Louisiana and Collection New Orleans MUSEUM • RESEARCH CENTER • PUBLISHER During Reconstruction u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u o o o o o o o o o o u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u o o o o o o o o o o u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u o o o o o o o o o o u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u o o o o o o o o o o u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u Teacher’s guide: grade levels 7–12 Number of class periods: 4–6 Copyright © 2017 The Historic New Orleans Collection; copyright © 2017 The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History All rights reserved Copyright © 2016 The Historic New Orleans Collection | www.hnoc.org | Copyright © 2016 The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History | www.gilderlehrman.org Louisiana and New Orleans During Reconstruction 2 Louisiana and New Orleans During Reconstruction Teacher’s guide: grade levels 7–12 Number of class periods: 4–6 What’s Inside Lesson One....p. 4 Lesson Two....p. 15 Lesson Three....p. 27 Lesson Four....p. 40 Common Core State Standards CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.
    [Show full text]
  • Washington State University Carpetbaggers: A
    WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY CARPETBAGGERS: A REVISIONIST MODEL EVALUATION JOHANNES ANDERSON SPRING 2007 ADVISOR: DR. RICHARD HUME DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS CONTENTS Acknowledgements Introduction . 1 The Carpetbagger Identity . 4 Marshall Harvey Twitchell: A Case Study . 6 Military Career . 6 Twitchell in the Freedmen’s Bureau . 8 Life as a Planter . 11 Twitchell in Politics . 13 Violence and Tragedy . 17 Legacy . 21 Postscript: Carpetbagger Propaganda—A Century of Misinformation . 22 Bibliography . 29 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I express my deepest gratitude to my mentor, Dr. Richard Hume, for his generous guidance and support, including extending use of his personal library and the manuscript of his upcoming book for my research. I also thank my mother for her tireless editing and support, and instilling in me from a young age a passion for history. Introduction The Reconstruction of the American South following the Civil War remains a tumultuous time in American history, yet one of the most important. Carpetbaggers, white Northerners who migrated to the American South after the Civil War and became Republican politicians, are seen traditionally as scheming men taking advantage of the war-torn country to amass wealth and politically empower themselves by manipulating freedmen and native Southern whites.1 Hundreds of these controversial Northerners profited from the agrarian and political displacement of the South, becoming politicians and often planters. Despised by disenfranchised ex-Confederates, they were often seen as the epitome of everything the South fought against in the Civil War, a sign of ultimate defeat: not only had the South unsuccessfully fought for secession from the North, but it had come under Federal military rule during Reconstruction, inundated with blue-coated soldiers and carpetbaggers.
    [Show full text]
  • The Easter Massacre and Legal Abstraction
    Robert Goldman. Reconstruction and Black Suffrage: Losing the Vote in Reese and Cruikshank. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2001. xiv + 182 pp. $14.95 (paper), ISBN 978-0-7006-1069-3; $29.95 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-7006-1068-6. Reviewed by J. Morgan Kousser (Division of Humanities and Social Sciences, California Institute of Technology) Published on H-Pol (January, 2003) e Easter Massacre and Legal Abstraction e Easter Massacre and Legal Abstraction mount coups d’etat against the Republican Reconstruc- When the largest peacetime massacre of African- tion state governments depended on having a free hand Americans in nineteenth-century America took place on to murder and intimidate its white and especially its black Easter Sunday, 1873, in Colfax, Louisiana, the U.S. gov- opponents and to stuff ballot boxes to overcome the votes ernment possessed the tools to prosecute the murderers. of those who were not cowed. e trio’s upper class e First Enforcement Act, passed sixty-two days aer lawyers, the flower of the state and national Democratic the ratification of the Fieenth Amendment, prohibited bar, contested the case in the U.S. Circuit Court. When private individuals, as well as state officials, from taking the two circuit court judges, including Supreme Court any of a series of specific actions aimed at prohibiting or Justice Joseph P. Bradley, disagreed with each other, the discouraging anyone qualified to vote in a state or local case was certified to the U.S. Supreme Court as U.S. v. election from voting or from performing any prerequi- Cruikshank. sites to voting.
    [Show full text]
  • History 139J: the American South Since Reconstruction Professor Glenda Gilmore
    History 139J: The American South Since Reconstruction Professor Glenda Gilmore By submitting this essay, I attest that it is my own work, completed in accordance with University regulations.—Jacob L. Wasserman Big Trouble in the Big Easy: The Battle of Canal Street and the Independence of Black Political Power by Jacob L. Wasserman The carnage of the Civil War arrived in the streets of New Orleans just over a decade late. While in 1862, the city had surrendered mostly peaceably to the Union Navy, simmering tensions had threatened the fragile peace ever since.1 On September 14, 1874, the political divisions of the postbellum city took shape in two opposing battle lines. On one side, a newly organized force, pledged by their leader to uphold “the rights of the colored as well as of the white race,” awaited further orders.2 Facing them, a ragtag militia, commanded by one of the highest-ranking former Confederate generals, arrayed itself along the downtown waterfront. With a sudden volley, the two armies launched into a combat which would soon claim far more lives than the Civil-War capture of New Orleans itself.3 While the extent of the bloodshed may have shocked New Orleanians, the clash seemingly pitted against each other the same elements which had been fighting since secession. However, the smoke of battle obscured the truth about the combatants. The troops whose commander proclaimed protection of both races were actually members of the Crescent City White League, New Orleans’ foremost Redeemer organization. Meanwhile, the force under ex- Confederate James Longstreet was the integrated Metropolitan Police, the militia propping up 1.
    [Show full text]
  • "Vicksburg's Troubles:" Black Participation in the Body Politic
    Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2012 "Vicksburg's Troubles": Black Participation in the Body Politic and Land Ownership in the Age of Redeemer Violence Albert Dorsey Jr. Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES “VICKSBURG’S TROUBLES:” BLACK PARTICIPATION IN THE BODY POLITIC AND LAND OWNERSHIP IN THE AGE OF REDEEMER VIOLENCE By ALBERT DORSEY JR. A Dissertation submitted to the Department of History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2012 Albert Dorsey Jr. defended this dissertation on October 29, 2012. The members of the supervisory committee were: Maxine D. Jones Professor Directing Dissertation Maxine L. Montgomery University Representative James P. Jones Committee Member Jennifer L. Koslow Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the dissertation has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii Dedicated to the memory of Ivory Johnson Sr., Mary Florence Johnson, and Ivory Joe Walker iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am very fortunate to have been given the opportunity to pursue my graduate degrees at Florida State University. I owe a debt of gratitude to Dr. Maxine D. Jones for that. Her scholarly guidance has inspired my intellectual growth and forced me to reach beyond my comfort zone. I have always tried and will continue to try to make her proud. I am also inspired by the words of my late grandparents, Mr.
    [Show full text]
  • The Case of the Ku Klux Klan in 1920S Oklahoma
    Norms, Law, and Reparations: The Case of the Ku Klux Klan in 1920s Oklahoma ∗ Alfred L. Brophy I. Introduction In his posthumously published novel Juneteenth, Ralph Ellison ex- plored life in the Oklahoma of his youth during the 1910s and 1920s. The novel reºects on the life of Bliss, a young boy of ambiguous racial heritage, and his foster-parent, Alonzo Hickman, an African American minister. Bliss is the son of a white woman, who accuses the minister’s brother of rape. That man is lynched for the alleged crime. Hickman then raises Bliss as his child, in hopes that Bliss might teach the white community the val- ues of the black community. Bliss, however, crosses the race line and be- comes a race-baiting Senator. Then, he is shot (by his black son!) while delivering a speech on the Senate ºoor. Juneteenth, which derives its name from the celebration of the arrival of emancipation in the Southwest, delves the conºict between Hickman’s religion and the world of “law”—of law enforcement ofªcers, prosecutors, judges, and legislators. The world of Oklahoma in the 1920s, the period of Bliss’s youth, was aligned against the religion of Hickman. It was a place where the African American world of religion and jazz music was fre- quently at odds with the white conception of “law.” Hickman had asked God what “Juneteenth” meant; he wondered about the value of emanci- pation. For, yet, that world of emancipation offered only an illusion of free- dom. Was Juneteenth only the celebration of a gaudy illusion?1 At least for ∗ Professor of Law, University of Alabama.
    [Show full text]
  • Street Renaming Commission
    NEW ORLEANS CITY COUNCIL STREET RENAMING COMMISSION FINAL REPORT March 1, 2021 FINAL REPORT MARCH 1, 2021 1 Table of Contents Executive Summary 02 Letter from the Chair 04 Introduction 05 New Orleans City Council Approved Motion 06 M-20-170 and Commission Charge City Council Streets Renaming Commission 07 Working Group Policy Impacting Naming and Removal of 10 Assets Assets: Defined and Prioritized 13 Summary of Engagement Activities (Voices 14 from New Orleans Residents) City Council Street Renaming Commission 22 Final Recommendations Appendix / Reference Materials 38 Commission Meeting Public Comments 42 Website Public Comments 166 NEW ORLEANS CITY COUNCIL STREET RENAMING COMMISSION 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY On June 18, 2020, the New Orleans City Council unanimously voted to establish the City Council Street Renaming Commission (CCSRC) as an advisory committee to run a public process for making recommendations to rename streets, parks, and places in New Orleans that honor white supremacists. The CCSRC is composed of nine total members, with one appointed by each Councilmember with a formal or informal background of the history and geography of New Orleans. Mayor LaToya Cantrell and the City Planning Commission appointed the remaining two members. The Commission was charged with several key responsibilities, which included conducting a thorough research and public engagement process to develop a comprehensive set of renaming recommendations for streets, parks, and places across the city. In the course of auditing the list of City streets beyond those initially identified by the New Orleans Public Library, the Commission consulted a panel of experts to provide an additional set of names, which was used to formulate the recommendations listed in this report.
    [Show full text]