Reconstruction Era records are the most untapped resources in African American research. Records generated during reconstruction also document Southern white ancestry and would prove useful to those who are not able to document their ancestors using conventional record types.
The inability to find sufficient resources prior to 1865 may be attributed to neglecting evidence between 1865 and 1877. This time period marks the first opportunity those of African ancestry appeared on legal documents such as marriage records, deeds, military, and probate records. Many records were generated as crimes were committed and testimonies were recorded in the attempt to establish order between former slave owner and a newly emancipated people.
Reconstruction records are challenging to sift through because many of them are full of inappropriate language, behavior, and ways of thinking. They evoke emotions too painful or disturbing for some to revisit. In many respects, Reconstruction may seem like it was more violent and unbearable than slavery.
In the book, State of Rebellion, Reconstruction in South Carolina, Richard Zuczek details "the tactics-from judicial and political fraud to economic coercion, terrorism, and guerrilla activity-employed by conservatives to nullify the African American vote, control African American labor, and oust northern Republicans from the state. He documents the federal government's attempt to quash the conservative challenge but shows that, by 1876, white opposition was so unified, widespread, and well armed that it passed beyond government control."
Most atrocities would have mainly gone undocumented during slavery, but emancipation brought a liberty that was hard for slave owners to stomach. They could not share that liberty with those they viewed as unequal. A strong witness to the belief that some have, "We had slaves, but we treated all our slaves good," would be to research the documentation and testimonies of Reconstruction to determine how particular former slave owners and former slaves interacted.
"Unfortunately, the ideas about Reconstruction were not the same for both groups. The federal government established the Freedmen’s Bureau to aid the freed men and women in their adjustment to their new status. Additionally, important legislature like the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments were passed. In response angry white southerners tried to curtail any progress made by the Black men and women by establishing organizations, laws and societal rules that sought to suppress the liberty of freed men and women...societal norms were established during this period, new methods of oppression were created and the end of slavery did not mean that African-Americans were free to do as they pleased." Recontruction (1865-1877) Was Reconstruction a time of Progress?
If you skip over periods of history, you cannot expect to find success in research while avoiding documentation that reveals the ugly side of humanity. Neither can you methodically extract genealogical data from such records without coming to terms with the issues affecting an ancestor's life and choices they made. These suggestions may help you as you research difficult time periods:
- Identify ways society has progressed.
- Journal your feelings about events and situations.
- Try not to become angry or bitter.
- Identify special strengths or talents that your ancestor manifested.
- What moral or lesson would your ancestor want you to learn from these events?
- What things have you been able to accomplish today that your ancestor could only dream or hope to accomplish?
As you contemplate, you will approach research in this time period in a different light, and you will become less disturbed by what you encounter. This in no way minimizes the hardships your ancestor faced, but this will help you keep your perspective as you trudge backward in time discovering and documenting a life full of purpose and worth.
The Columbia Ethnic Community Examiner will continue to examine Reconstructin and records that exist to document ancestors from that time period. To receive a notice about the next article, click on the "subscribe" button above.
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