| Summary |
The purpose of this study is to trace the development of the freedmen community in New Bern, North Carolina during Reconstruction. The period selected encompasses the decade following Federal occupation of the town in March, 1862. The main objective is to underline the achievements of the black population in building its own community after the war. In addition, this study examines the early history of Trent village, a black suburb which grew up outside the town during the war: This community was different from New Bern in that its population, except for a few Northern missionaries and military officials, was entirely black. For this and other reasons, it did not develop in the same manner as the freedmen community in New Bern. The two black societies are compared and contrasted in terms of social composition, residential structure, and political participation. The presence of Federal occupation troops in New Bern exacerbated the problem of a Southern society in a state of collapse. Five separate incidents involving black soldiers and whites occurred in 1865. As in the rest of the South, rumor--unfounded as it turned out--spread among New Bern whites that a Negro insurrection was planned for Christmas, 1865. Part of the problem was the new treatment whites had to accord blacks. Sidewalks and markets, once for whites only, had to be shared with an unending stream of apparently idle freedmen. Despite these misunderstandings and fears, no major flare- ups occurred. This was partly due to the fact that whites were greatly outnumbered. Moreover, white New Bernians wanted no trouble which would lead to further Federal intervention. The development of a black community was one of the most enduring aspects of the change from slave to freedman. New Bern blacks built their own churches, established schools, and formed fire companies, social clubs, and aid societies. Education was considered an important means of acquiring the tools for citizenship. Blacks flocked to Freedmen's Bureau and missionary schools. However, when Northern zeal for helping the freedmen waned, Negro enrollment declined. Blacks eagerly entered into marriage as proof of their freedom, and the family became a strong and stabilizing factor in the development of the community. Kinship ties were strengthened by adopting the extended family structure, the predominant residential pattern among New Bern Negroes. The large number of Negroes in the town created problems of poverty and disease. The Freedmen's Bureau was forced to issue rations to relieve suffering, although most whites, and many Bureau agents, felt that this encouraged dependence. |
| Summary |
Most whites thought the solution was to get rid of the surplus population by inducing freedmen to return to the plantations. In June, 1866, the Bureau cut off all rations except to the most needy. Many idlers did leave, but this act also created hardship and suffering among those who stayed. The Bureau did help to get the Southern economy moving again by promoting the use of written contracts between freedmen and landowners. Historians have focused on the Trent village because of adverse publicity it received due to charges of tyranny directed against the camp's superintendent. There is evidence of oppression against blacks, but the matter was handled by the local Bureau office, not by the inspection committee sent South by President Andrew Johnson to dig up dirt against the Bureau. The survival of this village was one of the more remarkable events of Reconstruction and was a tribute to the freedmen's desire to establish their own community. In 1870, New Bern was sixty-five percent black; Wildwood township, which consisted largely of Trent village, was ninety-five percent black. The population of the two communities was otherwise similar in composition. Children under twelve made up one-fourth the number of freedmen in each town. The shortage of males was not as acute in Wildwood as in New Bern, where fifty-eight percent of the population was female. Both were lower than the national average in numbers of the very young and very old. Ninety-four percent of the residential structures in Wildwood were family dwellings, seventy-five percent in New Bern. Only a small number in either community were one-parent homes. Two-thirds of the black males in both communities were employed in unskilled occupations. In New Bern, another one-quarter had marketable skills and earned livings as craftsmen. There was some competition between blacks and whites in the skilled trades, but most black artisans were engaged in providing for their own community. Wildwood was not as economically sophisticated as New Bern; thus, there was less need for many craftsmen. Six percent worked at skilled trades. However, a larger number of Wildwood males owned their own farms than in New Bern. Opportunities for female employment were limited in each town. Most stayed at home and kept house. In New Bern, over a third were employed in unskilled occupations; in Wildwood, one-quarter. Blacks in New Bern and Wildwood achieved recognition of their rights as citizens: slavery was abolished, they received the right to vote, the right to testify in court, jury representation, and equal treatment before the law. They played an active role in ensuring local Republican control. However, they depended upon white Republican political guidance. Whites held most important positions in the city, although many blacks played an important part in both local and state politics. Politically, Wildwood males followed the guidance of both whites and New Bern freedmen. |
| Local note | Joyner-"Presented to the faculty of the Department of History ... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts in History." |
| Local note | Joyner-"Presented to the faculty of the Department of History ... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts in History." |
| Local note | Joyner-"Presented to the faculty of the Department of History ... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts in History." |
| General note | "Presented to the Faculty of the Department of History.. in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts in History." |
| General note | Advisor: Charles L. Price |
| Dissertation note | M.A. East Carolina University |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (leaves 155-160). |
| Genre/form | Academic theses. |
| Genre/form | Academic theses. |
| Genre/form | Thèses et écrits académiques. |
