While the end of the Civil War brought about the abolition of slavery in the United States, the profitability of cotton and sugar crops remained vital contributors to the post-war economy. Just as the plantations which cultivated these remained a haunting symbol of the horrors of slavery, so too these Articles of Agreement … provide a valuable witness to labour market conditions in the Reconstruction era and an echo of enslaved labour practices.
This labour contract is signed by four freedmen - Jacob Moore, Harry Young, John Gill and Solomon Young - (with “X”s) and Nathan Thomas, on behalf of John Simonton Wilson (1820-1902), plantation owner and secessionist, who served in the 1st South Carolina Cavalry in the Civil War.
Far from General Sherman’s promise of “forty acres and a mule” and the implied independence they would bring, the men here pledged “to conduct ourselves faithfully, honestly, civilly and diligently; to abide by all the rules made by said J.S. Wilson with the said agent for the government of the plantation.” Furthermore, they would have “visitors not entertain stragglers from that other plantation, nor leave the premises without the permission of said agent and his employer during work hours.” They would “take care of all tools … and pay for the same out of our share of the crop if injured, lost or destroyed.” Similarly, they would be fined (by reduction in crop share or forfeiture) for “wilful disobedience,” “want of politeness” or “prolonged absence from the premises.” In return for such, they received dwellings “with land sufficient for vegetables and a patch” plus four mules.
Of additional interest, the contract outlines the rules for the division, distribution and sale of agricultural products, and much in the manner of the whaling industry workers were granted a share of the proceeds. Here each labourer “is to receive from said J.S. Wilson in payment of his own and the services of hands under him for distribution on the 1st of Jany next between himself and said hands the following portion of the crop raised by his force on said lands - to wit, one third part of the oats, corn fodder, hay and peas gathered and saved and one third part of the lint cotton or the market value thereof deducted therefrom the expenses of baleing that portion of the cotton.” The parties agreed not to sell any portion of the “agricultural produce from the plantation until the end of the term of after the division of the crop without the permission of the said J.S. Wilson.”
Indeed, labourers were divided into three classes: “1/2 hands, 3/4 hands and full hands, and the crop for distribution to be proportioned according to this classification.” In this case, Jacob Moore, Harry Young were considered 1 1/2 hands, John Gill was 1 hand and Solomon Young was rated 3/4. Interestingly, Nathan Thomas was also rated on this document at 2 1/2 hands, suggesting an additional role to this one. The Articles are signed by two witnesses and there is a cancelled 5 cent revenue stamp affixed at the end of the document.
The very nature of agreements such as this with their fine structures and meagre provisions indicated the unease at, and resistance to, the notion of a liberated Black population and raised questions as to what emancipation might mean.
