Department of North Carolina general orders, 1865

Containers:
Box 1
Scope and content:

Contains a manuscript draft copy of General Order 46, issued in Raleigh on May 15, 1865 by Maj. Gen. Schofield, concerning the "rules for the government of Freedmen in North Carolina until the restoration of the civil government in the state." The rules elaborate the rights of parents or guardians over the movements and actions of their children (in "place of those of the former master"). The draft outlines expectations of freedpeople in North Carolina, including the following: "It will be left to the employer and servant to agree upon the wages to be paid; but freedmen are advised that for the present season they aught [sic] to expect only moderate wages, and where their employers cannot pay them money they aught to be contented with a fair share in the crops to be raised. They have gained their personal freedom. By industry and good conduct they may rise to independence and even wealth."

Also present is a printed broadside of General Order 93, issued July 5, 1865, by Maj. and Asst. Adj. Gen. Clinton A. Cilley, announcing the withdrawal of troops among North Carolina towns with newly-appointed mayors and commissioners, including Raleigh, Wilmington, New Berne, Fayetteville, Charlotte, Hillsboro, and several others. The order elaborates that "all laws or regulations, at any time heretofore in force in such towns, restricting the personal liberty of blacks, and not equally applicable to whites, are void." It warns that violating these policies "will necessitate the resumption of exclusive military control of any city or village in which such right is so disregarded."

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