W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 1992 "The world was all before them": A study of the black community in Norfolk, Virginia, 1861-1884 Cassandra Newby-Alexander College of William & Mary - Arts & Sciences Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the African History Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Newby-Alexander, Cassandra, ""The world was all before them": A study of the black community in Norfolk, Virginia, 1861-1884" (1992). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539623823. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-m5z1-dr29 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 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Order Number 9304506 “The world was all before them”: A study of the black community in Norfolk, Virginia, 1861-1884 Newby, Cassandra Lynn, Ph.D. The College of William and Mary, 1992 UMI 300 N. Zeeb Rd. Ann Arbor, MI 48106 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with with permission permission of the of copyright the copyright owner. owner.Further reproductionFurther reproduction prohibited without prohibited permission. without permission. ••THE WORLD WAS ALL BEFORE THEM": A STUDY OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY IN NORFOLK, VIRGINIA, 1861-1884 A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the Department of History The College of William and Mary in Virginia In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Cassandra L. Newby 1992 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. APPROVAL SHEET This dissertation is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Approved, April 1992 5oyd Coyrier Edward Crap^l Richard Sherman Cam Walker Tommy Lee Norfolk Staife University ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. DEDICATION To my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and to my Mother iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......................................... V LIST OF TABLES.......................................... vi ABSTRACT................................................vii INTRODUCTION..............................................1 CHAPTER 1. THE CIVIL WAR AND NORFOLK'S OCCUPATION...... 14 CHAPTER 2. THE MISSIONARIES.............................74 CHAPTER 3. NORFOLK AND PRESIDENTIAL RECONSTRUCTION____ 117 CHAPTER 4. SCHOOL DAYS IN NORFOLK......................192 CHAPTER 5. LIFE AND DEATH IN NORFOLK'S BLACK COMMUNITY, 1861-1884....................... 250 CHAPTER 6. FREEDOM'S COMMUNITY— ECONOMY AND SOCIETY IN THE 1870 'S AND 1880'S................... 287 CHAPTER 7. RADICAL RECONSTRUCTORS AND THE READJUSTERS................................ 324 APPENDIX................................................347 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................356 iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEGMENTS The writer wishes to express her appreciation to Professor Boyd Coyner, under whose patient guidance this investigation was conducted. The author is also indebted to Professor James Whittenburg for his tireless assistance in the quantitative analysis of this study, Professor Judith Ewell for her constant encouragement, and Professors Tommy Lee Bogger, Richard Sherman, Cam Walker for their careful reading, encouragement, and criticism of the manuscript. And most of all, the author expresses her deep and abiding appreciation to her dear mother who stood by her with love, encouragement, and assistance as only a mother could. v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Occupational Categories of Black Troops Enlisted in Norfolk.......................... 61 2. 1867 Virginia Constitutional Election, Norfolk Results............................. 188 3. Population of Norfolk, 1820-1880.............. 255 4. 1860 Census Statistics For the City of Norfolk..................................... 256 5. Percentage of Free Black Individuals Per Household................................... 259 6. Age Groups of Free Blacks By Sex (1860)....... 260 7. Age Groups of Free Blacks By Color (1860).....261 8. Age Groups of Slaves By Sex (1860)............ 262 9. Occupation Categories of Free Blacks, I860....265 10. Percentage of Individuals Per Household (1870)...................................... 267 11. Occupation Categories of Blacks (1870)........ 268 12. Frequency of Occupations of Adult Blacks (1870)...................................... 271 13. Age Groups in 1870............................ 273 14. Population of Norfolk, 1883-1884.............. 275 vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to investigate the lives, accomplishments, and struggles of the black community in Norfolk, Virginia, between the years 1861 and 1884, from the black perspective. The integration of documents with statistics to uncover the mentalite of blacks is the focus of this study's research. The black community of this period was not always reactive, but active in determining its own fate. Even during slavery, Norfolk's blacks took an active role in their destiny through participation in the Underground Railroad. This study suggests that blacks strove diligently to work with, and in some cases, conciliate, the white oligarchy. Unfortunately, their efforts met with resistance and defeat. Despite these difficulties, the black community pulled together to assist its members as the whites unified to subjugate them. The results of the investigation suggest that had blacks continued to be politically active, Norfolk would have had an economically prosperous black community. Instead, the introduction of Jim Crow laws served to oppress blacks economically and produce a sense of hopelessness, socially and politically. vii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. "THE WORLD WAS ALL BEFORE THEM": A STUDY OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY IN NORFOLK, VIRGINIA, 1861-1884 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. INTRODUCTION John Milton concludes Book Twelve of Paradise Lost with Adam and Eve's departure from Eden. In those last few verses, Milton wrote: "Some natural tears they dropped, but wiped them soon; /The world was all before them, where to choose /Their place of rest, and Providence their guide: /They, hand in hand with wand'ring steps and slow, /Through Eden took their solitary way."1 As it was for Adam and Eve leaving Eden, so it was for many black men and women when the Republican Party cast them out from their hope-filled "Eden of Reconstruction" into the real world where the former Confederates were free to roam and rule. Twenty-five years after Emancipation the abandonment of the African-American by the Republicans was complete, ushering in a long period of deep disappointment and despair. The terrors of the Ku Klux Klan, the abandonment by northern and southern friends, the disorganization of industry, the institutionalization of Jim Crowism, and the devastation of the hopes