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Freedpeople Protest the Loss of Their Land
The Committee of Freedmen on Edisto Island, South Carolina wrote a letter to Freedmen’s Bureau Commissioner O.O. Howard responding to President Johnson’s land policy.
He Was Always Right and You Were Always Wrong
Henry Blake, a freedman from Arkansas, describes how sharecropping limited his freedom, noting that sharecroppers were always kept in debt.
"The Honoured Representative of Four Millions of Colored People"
Historian Douglas R. Egerton describes the life and political career of Mississippi politician Blanche K. Bruce, the first African American to serve a full six-year term in the United States Senate.
The Importance of Getting History Right
Historian James Grossman describes the importance of establishing an accurate history of Reconstruction.
Improving Education in South Carolina
Samuel J. Lee, elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1868, describes improvements to the state education system made during Reconstruction.
The Influence of "The Birth of a Nation"
The three-hour silent film The Birth of a Nation did “incalculable harm” to Black Americans by creating a justification for prejudice, racism, and discrimination for decades to follow.
Klansmen Broke My Door Open
This reading contains the testimony of a victim of Ku Klux Klan violence.
Letter from Jourdon Anderson: A Freedman Writes His Former Master
Jourdon Anderson, a formerly enslaved person, responds to a request from his former master to return to work for him.
A Lifeline for Democracy
In her 2005 commencement speech at the University of Vermont, Ruth Simmons describes experiences that helped her escape the poverty and discrimination of her youth to become the president of Brown University.
Louisiana White League Platform (1874)
The White League was a paramilitary group responsible for widespread violence against black and white Republicans in Louisiana and Mississippi. The group’s platform from 1874 is articulated here.
Names and Freedom
Historians Douglas Egerton and Leon Litwack explain the process of freedpeople adopting new surnames.