and mange for for mane; of initial m into h, as husket for musket, which arises, apparently, from compelling one drawled word, misunderstood, to do duty for two: muʼusket, muh husket; of m into l, as in lighty nigh for mighty nigh; the turning of final er, or, ure into o; the substitution of t for th,* as truť, teet, t'in, t'ief, yut (earth), wut (worth), lať (lath), pat'; the elimination of initial s in sc, sp, sk, st, as 'cratch, 'crape, 'kin, 'corch, 'tan', 'tink, 'take, 'tir, 'pin, 'pot, 'pit, 'plash, 'pend, 'tick, 'tore, etc., change of initial hw to w, as in w'ite, w'ile, w'en,† w'ut (what), w'uh (where), w'er, or w'eddah (whether); the interchange of w and v, as in vax for wax, wine for vine, veskit, wegetubbles, winegah; and the introduction of an extraneous initial w, as in w'oshteh, (oyster), w’uckra, (okra), and W'ugee, (Huger); are all characteristics of Gullah. But above all things are its intonation and accent, indescribable and peculiar, said more to resemble that of Lancashire than of any other English province, and by which the Gullah spokesman is instantly identified wherever he be found. Hymns, songs, folk-stories, animal-myths, fables, aphorisms and proverbs, wit and humor, it has, and a great mass of unrecorded folk-lore, legend and tradition, preserved in this unstudied dialect like flies in amber; there are, peculiar to it, certain Rabelaisian contes ridicules, told in cabins with wild mirth, histoires satyriques, and ghastly legendes macabres, besides which the uncanny tales of Hoffmann are puerile in power to chill, but harder to get at than the things banned by the Great Tabu. It is the oddest negro patois in America; the most African; unaltered it is one of the oldest; if not the oldest, certainly it is the most archaic, and well worth the scientific and scholarly study which has been given the dialects of the Mississippi Delta, of Haiti, and of Martinique. That the effort has not been made is a sin of omission. *Initial as well as final: as t'row, t'roat, t'ink, t'ing, t'ree, t'rough. Dr. A. Mercier and Prof. J. A. Harrison, of the Mississippi Delta Creole; Mr. John Bigelow, of Haitian; Fere Gaux and M. Turiault, Martinique; M. Marbot and M. Thomas, Trinidad Creole. The Freedmen's Bureau in North Carolina BY J. G. DE ROULHAC HAMILTON Alumni Professor of History in the University of North Carolina Among the most important factors in the work of Reconstruction was the Freedmen's Bureau. Created for the purpose of caring for the homeless, destitute, and suffering of the negro race, regarded by many as the wards of the nation, it became by judicious manipulation the most active radical political agency in the South, and because of that fact it has often failed to receive due credit for the good which it actually accomplished. No sooner had the Federal troops gained control of Southern territory than the problem of the negro became one of great importance. Leaving their homes by thousands, the negroes thronged to the camps and thus became dependent upon the troops, not only for protection against re-enslavement, but also for food and clothing. It was not in accord with Northern sentiment that they should be returned to their owners, and it was manifestly impossible to turn them adrift, not only on account of the cruelty of the action, but because they refused to be left. In several of the States provision was made for their support and employment by the so-called Department of Negro Affairs which was conducted by military officers and which was supported by the proceeds of captured and confiscated property and by voluntary contributions from the North.* In North Carolina a multitude of negroes came under control of the army in 1862 when New Bern was taken by the Federal forces. The number increased constantly throughout the war and the problem of caring for them assumed a serious aspect. In 1865, when Sherman's columns entered the State, a swarm of negroes from South Carolina followed them, augmented from day to day by numerous recruits from North Carolina. When the army reached Fayetteville about 8,000 were in attendance. Most of these were sent from there to Wilmington, where a great number had already *Garner, Reconstruction in Mississippi, pp. 249-253. Fleming, Reconstruction in Alabama, pp. 421-424. congregated.* When, in the summer of 1865, General Schofield assumed command in the State, he issued a series of regulations for the guidance of freedmen. This action, like the policy of military commanders elsewhere in the South, was not regarded as sufficient for the solution of the problem, as indeed it was not. In the meantime, other agencies for the relief of the freedmen had been actively at work. Under the act of March 3, 1863,† the Secretary of the Treasury had been authorized to appoint special agents to collect captured and abandoned property in the insurrectionary States. These agents, to some extent, took hold of the question of the freedmen at once, but by the act of July 2, 1864, they were directed to provide for the welfare of the former slaves, and Secretary Fessenden issued a series of regulations relating to freedmen. These regulations provided for supervision by the general agent of matters relating to the freedmen and for the establishment of freedmen's home colonies and labor colonies, the assignment of land to them, and the establishment of schools.§ The plan went into operation almost immediately, but it was not destined to succeed. The military authorities and the treasury agents clashed and were soon involved in misunderstanding. In many cases, too, the latter were notoriously corrupt. The regulations, however, continued in force until the establishment of the Freedmen's Bureau in 1865.|| Aid by the federal government, however, was not all that the freedmen had to look to for organized relief. The American Missionary Society by 1862 had missions and schools established in New Bern, among other places in the South, and its activity continued for many years.¶ Other organizations rendered valuable rerelief service elsewhere in the South, but did little in North Carolina. As early as January of 1863 a bill was introduced into Congress providing for the establishment of a bureau of freedmen's affairs, but for various reasons its passage was not secured, and it was not until March 3, 1865, that Congress took definite action. On that day a bill for the establishment of a bureau for *Off. Rec., No. 100, pp, 39, 80. Statutes at Large, XIII, p. 375. § Report of the Secretary of the Treasury, 1864, pp. 294-324. Peirce, The Freedmen's Bureau, p. 25. Peirce, The Freedmen's Bureau, p. 26. refugees, freedmen, and abandoned lands passed Congress and, signed by Mr. Lincoln, became a law. The act provided for the establishment of a bureau in the war department which, under regulations prescribed by the commissioner and the President, should supervise and manage all abandoned lands and should control all matters relating to refugees and freedmen from the insurrectionary States and wherever the army was engaged. Its duration was limited to one year from the close of the war. At its head was to be a commissioner appointed by the President, and assistant commissioners might be appointed for each insurrectionary State.* Provision was made for clerks, and it was provided that army officers might be assigned to duty under the act. Supplies for the relief of the refugees and freedmen were to be issued by the war department, and the commissioner might set apart confiscated or abandoned lands for the use of the freedmen. Of these lands not more than forty acres might be leased to any male citizen, whether refugee or freedman, and he was to be protected in its enjoyment for three years. For the important office of commissioner, President Lincoln, before his death, chose General Oliver O. Howard, and he was appointed by President Johnson, who knew the wish of his predecessor. General Howard was an honest, kindly gentleman, much given to acting upon theories based upon insufficient knowledge and deeply interested in the progress and welfare of the freedmen. Lacking practical knowledge and easily deceived, his administration was, in many respects, a failure through no fault of his own. For the position of assistant commissioner in North Carolina General Howard selected Colonel Eliphalet Whittlesey, of Maine, a cultured gentleman, formerly a professor in Bowdoin College. The assistant commissioner was given supervision over abandoned land and over all matters relating to refugees and freedmen. The wants of the needy were to be supplied and the freedom of the negroes guaranteed. Other matters coming within his province were the family relations of the freedmen, the settlement of differences and difficulties between the negroes and the whites, assistance to the negroes in securing land, and the removal of *The commissioner was to receive a salary of $3,000, and give bond in the sum of $50,000. The assistant commissioners were to receive $2,500, and give bond in the sum of $20,000. prejudice on the part of old masters. This last duty shows very clearly the attitude of the bureau. Stress was also laid upon instruction of the freedmen as to their new duties and responsibilities. The assistant commissioner was subject to military rules, but wide jurisdiction was given him in matters of detail.* On July 1st, Colonel Whittlesey entered upon his duties and at once issued an address inviting the coöperation of both races. On July 15th he issued a second circular organizing the bureau in the State. The State was divided into four districts and superintendents appointed as follows: Col. Whittlesey's first intention was to make each county a sub-district, and in pursuance of this plan he wrote a note to every member of the convention of 1865, then in session, asking for recommendations of suitable men in each county as agents. Not a delegate replied.§ He was, however, opposed to any but military officers acting as agents, and, as there was a lack of these, he had to change his plan, and in consequence two to eight counties were embraced in each sub-district. The eastern district had eight sub-districts; the central, nine; the western, six; and the southern, four. During the first year there were thirty-three assistant superintendents, but the largest number at any one time was twenty. Three times the organization was almost broken up by the mustering out of regiments. In 1867 the State was divided into ten sub-districts, averaging eight counties each. Whenever possible, a military officer was assigned to each section of three counties, but this was not often practicable. Later *Peirce, The Freedmen's Bureau, pp. 50-52. †The following were appointed to duty at headquarters: Major Charles J. Wickersham, assistant adjutant general; Lieutenant Fred H. Beecher, acting assistant adjutant general; Capt. Thomas P. Johnston, assistant quartermaster; Capt George C. Almy, commissary of subsistence; Surgeon Lewis D. Harlan, medical officer. Major Wickersham succeeded Captain Beath almost immediately. Ho. Ex. Docs., No. 70, 1st Sess. 39th Cong., pp. 386, 387. |