'The Negro Had Been Run Over Long Enough by White Men, and It Was Time They Defend Themselves': African-American Mutinies
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Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports 2021 “‘The Negro had been run over long enough by white men, and it was time they defend themselves’: African-American Mutinies and the Long Emancipation, 1861-1974” Scott F. Thompson West Virginia University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd Part of the African American Studies Commons, History of Gender Commons, Labor History Commons, Military History Commons, Social History Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Thompson, Scott F., "“‘The Negro had been run over long enough by white men, and it was time they defend themselves’: African-American Mutinies and the Long Emancipation, 1861-1974”" (2021). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 8051. https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/8051 This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by the The Research Repository @ WVU with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Dissertation in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you must obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Dissertation has been accepted for inclusion in WVU Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports collection by an authorized administrator of The Research Repository @ WVU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. “‘The Negro had been run over long enough by white men, and it was time they defend themselves’: African-American Mutinies and the Long Emancipation, 1861-1974” Scott F. Thompson Dissertation submitted to the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctorate of Philosophy in History Jason K. Phillips, PhD., Chair Brian P. Luskey, PhD. Kenneth Fones-Wolf, PhD. Barton A. Myers, PhD. Krystal D.F. Akehinmi, PhD. Department of History Morgantown, West Virginia 2021 Keywords: emancipation; mutiny; race riot; African American; USCT; Buffalo Soldiers; black sailors; integration; segregation; martial masculinity Copyright 2021 Scott F. Thompson ABSTRACT “‘The Negro had been run over long enough by white men, and it was time they defend themselves’: African-American Mutinies and the Long Emancipation, 1861-1974” Scott F. Thompson This dissertation analyzes racially motivated mutinies by black military servicemen from the Civil War to the Vietnam War. Resistance against white supremacy in the armed forces illustrates the commitment of generations of African Americans to a vision of freedom centered on bodily, familial, and socioeconomic autonomy. These mutinies thereby warrant the reframing of emancipation as a centuries’-long process rather than a single event confined to the 1860s. Subscribing to martial masculinity, black servicemen believed acting forcefully, and risking their lives or well-being as a result, offered the best path to earning their human rights. African- American sailors enjoyed the opportunities offered by the integrated pre-1900 U.S. Navy to such an extent that no unequivocal racially-motivated black naval mutinies exist in the period’s historical record. Yet, once the Navy designated separate spaces and roles based on race during the Jim Crow years, ships and ports began producing their own black rebellions. Meanwhile, mutinies and race riots populate the history of African Americans in the U.S. Army. From the time black men started serving in uniform in a permanent capacity, such offenses as unequal compensation, controversial orders, and physical abuse inspired them to revolt. Though black soldiers accused of mutiny generally enjoyed unprecedented legal rights in the second half of the nineteenth century, the Jim Crow era brought a sharp erosion in the government’s enforcement of due process rights in court-martial proceedings. Finally, despite civil rights gains during and after World War II, racial tensions remained acute enough to overwhelm the armed forces with mutinous outbreaks into the 1970s. Acknowledgments While I put in the years of research, writing, and revision, every finished project is ultimately the result of a collaborative effort. The archivists who pulled the records cited throughout this project performed an essential service. I would like to thank the staff of the National Archives, especially those who helped me navigate Record Groups 153 and 125; the Army Heritage and Education Center in Carlisle, Pennsylvania; the Virginia Museum of History and Culture in Richmond; the West Virginia State Archives in Charleston; the Kentucky Historical Society in Frankfort; the Maryland Historical Society in Baltimore; and finally the libraries of the University of Maryland, the University of Kentucky, West Virginia University, and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Among the highlights of my research trips were friendly archivists, beautiful campuses, the excitement of walking to the archive every morning, and the spiritual connections I felt from handling centuries-old documents. This project is also indebted to numerous colleagues and friends who provided me with invaluable advice, guidance, and ideas. I felt that I had the best committee for this project. From the project’s formative stages to the full defense, Drs. Jason Phillips, Barton Myers, Brian Luskey, Ken Fones-Wolf, and Krystal Akehinmi all pushed the project in fascinating directions based on their respective fields. Brian taught me how to extract deep meanings from black mutineers’ words. Ken guided me to the meeting point of labor history and military history. Krystal opened my eyes to the multiple social worlds my subjects inhabited. What especially made this the best dissertation possible was my luck of having Dr. Jason Phillips as an advisor. I am forever grateful that whenever I stopped into his office or sent him an email, I could always expect him to provide extremely helpful feedback and either offer his own outstanding ideas or refine the rough versions of my own. He showed me what value can result from a Civil War historian transcending that conflict, planting the seeds for expertise in other eras and enabling me to find common threads across time that more temporally focused studies overlook. Some of my clearest arguments and richest analysis bear Dr. Phillips’ mark. Ever since I took his research seminar my first semester here at WVU, he has helped me immensely in becoming a better writer. Lessons in prose—aiming for word variety and using the most vivid, descriptive nouns and verbs possible—strengthened this dissertation and will stick with me the rest of my academic career. Under Dr. Phillips’ exceptional guidance, I always knew I was in good hands during my time as a PhD student at WVU. Serving as not just a committee member, but also as my former MA advisor at Texas Tech, Barton has had the longest influence on my development as a scholar. He proved key to my decision on a dissertation topic. While we discussed the mutinous episodes of my Master’s thesis, a study of a northern Virginia county’s partisan rangers and civilians during the Civil War, he helped me realize the historiographic and storytelling potential of exploring this type of resistance more in depth in a larger work. However strong my definitions of “mutiny” are in this project, they are a function of Barton’s decade-long mentorship. The conversations he led in private meetings and in graduate classes about the importance of scholars thoroughly unpacking their terms and concepts have continued to influence me as I sharpen my analytical skills. The ideas he and the rest of the committee provided for this project as it enters the manuscript stage make me excited for what I can submit for publication in the near future. iii Finally, I wish to express an infinite amount of gratitude to those who provided professional and emotional support throughout the research and writing phases of the dissertation, as well as my grad school career in general. Chad Helms and Chuck Welsko especially introduced me to collections and databases that proved to be goldmines for finding mutinies to investigate. Additional conversations with those gentlemen plus many others eased my struggles with how to find the appropriate work-life balance and stay physically and mentally healthy during the PhD odyssey. These additional individuals include Gabby Aragon, Joel Christenson, Mike Fasulo, Tiffany Gonzalez, Amanda Lancaster, Amber Batura, Luna Helms, Muoki Mbunga, Luke Gramith, Marc Sanko, and Alex Burns. I am most grateful for the support of my caring family, without whom I would not be here writing this. My mom Janet Thompson, as well as my aunts, uncles, and cousins across the family tree, are my biggest cheerleaders. The only downside to this triumph is that it did not happen in time for my late dad Rod Thompson to see it. However, knowing he would be extremely proud of me earning the “Dr.” title kept me going until I reached the finish line. The resilience and commitment someone needs to finish a dissertation, even under ideal conditions, cannot be overestimated. That this dissertation in particular was written amidst some of the most trying and difficult circumstances of my life makes its completion that much more rewarding and the help I received that much more appreciated. This work is devoted to everyone who has made me a better scholar, historian, and person. iv Table of Contents Introduction 1 1. Masters of the Vessel: African-American Mutinies on the Nineteenth-Century Sea 24 2. “Strong, united, persistent protest”: Mutinies of the United States Colored Troops during the Wartime Collapse of Slavery 75 3. “All I want is to get out of the army, or, my rights”: African-American Soldier Mutinies in the Immediate Postbellum Era 132 4.