U.S. History
Reconstruction Part 1:
The Issue of Land Ownership
...if the strict law of the right and justice is to be observed, the country around me is the entailed
inheritance of the Americans of African descent, purchased by the invaluable labor of our ancestors, through a life
of tears and groans, under the leash and yoke of tyranny.
-Former Slave, North Carolina, 1863
After the ratification of the 13th Amendment
(which outlawed slavery in the United States), the legal
status of all slaves changed. All former slaves were
now recognized as “freedmen” under the law. How
society would view the former slaves had yet to be
determined. Most slaves freed by the Emancipation
Proclamation (and later the 13th Amendment) had no
material possessions, no money and no formal
education. Most African-Americans understood that their status after the war would depend
on whether they owned the land they worked on or if they would work as “semi-slaves” for
someone else.
After the war many plantations were left abandoned by their former owners. These
plantations were not given to the slaves that had worked the land. Instead the land was leased
(rented) to white planters and investors from the North. One African American newspaper
wrote that the slaves had been made into “serfs” by the white Northerners who’d freed them.
During the Civil War Lincoln had approved of the Confiscation Act (1862). The Act
stated that all land confiscated by the Union during the war would be returned to the former
Confederate owners when the war ended. Abolitionists and African-Americans were outraged
by the policy. Dr. John Rock, a black doctor in Boston said of the Confiscation Act, “Why talk
about compensating masters? Compensate them for what? What do you owe them? It is the
slave who ought to be compensated. The property of the South is by right the property of the
slave…” Some former plantations were not returned to their former owners, but were instead
sold at auction, but few African-Americans could afford to buy the land. Of the 16,000 acres
up for sale in South Carolina, former slaves who pooled their money were only able to purchase
2,000 acres. The rest of the land was purchased by white, wealthy businessmen from the north.
40 Acres and a Mule…
In early 1865, Union General Sherman held a conference in Savannah, Georgia with
African-American church leaders and former slaves. They told Sherman that the one thing they
would need to protect their freedom and to start a new life for themselves was land. Four days
later Sherman issued Special Field Order #15 which essentially gave the entire southern coastline
(from the ocean to 30 miles inland) to former slaves for settlement. Former slaves would be
allowed to settle there with each family taking no more than 40 acres. By June of 1865,
40,000 freedmen had moved onto the new farms in the area. However, in August of 1865,
President Andrew Johnson restored the land to its Confederate owners and the former slaves
were forced off the land (some at gun point). Thomas Hall, a former slave, said of the incident,
Lincoln got the praise for freeing us, but did he do it? He gave us freedom without giving us any
chance to live ourselves and we still have to depend on the southern white man for work, food,
and clothing and he held us out of the necessity and want in a state of servitude but little better
than slavery

What do you think Thomas Hall meant in the above quote?
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
Name:
Date:
Core:
US History
Introduction to Reconstruction
Reader Response…
Directions: Use the Introduction to Reconstruction 1: The Issue of Land Ownership handout to
answer the following questions.
Fact Check…
1. What was the 13th Amendment to the Constitution? ______________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
2. Who were “ffreedmen”? ______________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
3. What was the Confiscation Act of 1861? ________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
4. What was “SSpecial Field Order #15”? ____________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
5. True or False. Former slaves were allowed to keep the land along the southern coast
given to them by General Sherman. Vice-President Johnson understood that it would
be important to give the former slaves land so they could start a new life for themselves.
I think that this statement is ____________ (true or false) because: __________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
I’m President Andrew
Johnson and I’m here to
tell you that there’s more
on the back!
Reader Response…
Thomas Hall did not believe that Lincoln truly freed the slaves because the government did not
provide the freedmen with the things they needed to be truly independent. Do you think
Lincoln truly freed the slaves? Use information from this text to support your answer.
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
4
Exemplary





Insightful, well
organized, and fluent
Deep understanding
of text is
demonstrated
At least two specific
references to text are
used to support ideas
Text references are
well interpreted and
clearly connected to
response
Clear connections
made between text
and self, text and
outside world, and/or
text and text
3
Proficient





Thoughtful, organized,
and fluent
Clear understanding of
the text is
demonstrated
At least two relevant
references to text are
used to support ideas
Text references are
explained and
connected to response
Relevant connections
made between text
and self, text and
outside world, and/or
text and text
2
Progressing





Organized and
somewhat fluent
Basic understanding
of text is displayed
At least one relevant
example from text is
used to support ideas
Text references are
somewhat connected
to response
Some connections
made between text
and self, text and
outside world, and/or
text and text
1
Beginning





Disorganized or
confusing
Limited or no
understanding of text is
displayed
Limited or no examples
from text are used to
support ideas
Text reference seems
irrelevant to response
No connections made
between text and self,
text and outside world,
and/or text and text