Jane Davis, PhD candidate, Middle Tennessee State University

Taking Freedom into their own hands

As early as 1861, African Americans

began to flee to Union lines seeking protection and freedom.

General Benjamin Butler coined

the term Contraband for these refugees in May 1861

African Americans throughout the

South went in pursuit of Union camps. In many cases, they provided information about Confederate

troops in exchange for shelter, food, and aid.

Locations of Camps

Contraband camps were established throughout the South and Border States and were managed by a combination of the Army, the U. S. Treasury Department and various private aid organizations. Some of the largest concentrations of contraband camps were established along the Mississippi River, closely following Grants troop movements.

Davis Bend, LA Government Farm

type camps provided African Americans with leases to confiscated lands, equipment and resources necessary to be self-sufficient.

Arlington, VA and Murfreesboro, TN Based near Union encampments, military camps employed ablebodied men and women by the U. S. Army to build fortifications, bury casualties, prepare food and wash clothes.

Arlington was a well developed African American community into the 20th Century, as was Cemetery Community near Murfreesboro, TN. Both declined after War Department purchases large bundles of land to create National Cemetery and Battlefield Parks.

Contraband Camps In St. Louis: Missouri Hotel And Benton Barracks

Camps in St. Louis and

other border cities were established to act as a way station to points north for fugitive slaves arriving from the South and West.
Newly freed slaves were

absorbed into existing

African American community rather than creating a new one.

Challenges to Freedom:
Uncertain Legal Status
Prior to Emancipation

Proclamation in 1863, contrabands were not technically free but were

confiscated property.
After Emancipation, fugitive

slaves could be free, or remain slaves based on the loyalty of masters and location.

Challenges to Freedom: Unequal Pay

African American

enlisted men and officers were paid $7 per month. White

enlisted men were paid $13 per month.

Many of laborers

on camp farms imaginary wages.

Paths to Citizenship Military Service

Men like Private Hubbard Pryor and Spotswood Rice joined the Union Army to serve their country, earn their freedom and seek a better life.

Spotswood Rice
Wrote daughters

owner demanding their freedom.

Served in the

67th United States

Colored Infantry
Lived in St. Louis

with his wife, sons and daughters after the war

Paths to Citizenship
Education
Education was seen

as important as free labor in the process of helping slaves transition into free men and women
Eaton reported

schools were flocked to by camp residents of all ages.

Paths to Citizenship
Landownership
In the years following

the war, African American landownership increased greatly in areas surrounding the former camps.
Hampton, Va., Davis

Bend, La. and Murfreesboro, Tn. all saw a dramatic rise in African American landownership in the years following the war.