Reconstruction was the period following the Civil War where Congress attempted to define how white and black Americans could live together in a non-slave society. The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution made African Americans citizens, gave them the right to vote, and allowed them to actively participate in the political process. However, under Andrew Johnson southern states were given a relatively free hand at rebuilding their own governments allowing them to ignore these amendments and create a new system of oppression.
In Greenbrier County, black churches, schools, and businesses were created and flourished, though they often faced significant backlash. There was a wealth of African American laborers, store owners, physicians, barbers, blacksmiths, and more. Many white residents did not see African Americans as equal and found ways to keep them as second class citizens
In Greenbrier County, black churches, schools, and businesses were created and flourished, though they often faced significant backlash. There was a wealth of African American laborers, store owners, physicians, barbers, blacksmiths, and more. Many white residents did not see African Americans as equal and found ways to keep them as second class citizens
A Message From John F. Caldwell, the Mayor of Lewisburg, in 1868
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"But what God has made unequal, man cannot make equal. the governments of the States and their union were made for the white man, and I will oppose all attempts to give political power, suffrage, or office to the colored man."
-John F. Caldwell, the Mayor of Lewisburg |
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Charlotte ScottAfter hearing of the assassination of President Lincoln, Charlotte used her life savings of $5 to start a fund to build a small monument for him in Lincoln Park, Washington D.C. The statue was funded entirely by emancipated African Americans. Charlotte was enslaved by William P. Rucker of Lewisburg.
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Stephen GardnerAfter fifty years of enslavement, Stephen Gardner became an influential leader in the black community. In 1866, he bought a half acre of land situated in the northwest portion of Lewisburg for $5. He assisted with the development of the first black school in Lewisburg in 1867 and in 1870 was elected a trustee of Lewisburg.
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Freedmen's Bureau, 1865-1872
The Freedmen’s Bureau was established in 1865 to help the millions of former black slaves and poor whites in the south in the aftermath of the Civil War. Representatives visited Greenbrier County in 1867 to meet with newly freed African Americans and school boards to establish schools in White Sulphur Springs and Lewisburg. By 1885 there were 11 black schools in Greenbrier County supporting 347 students and 11 teachers with plans to build more.
First Report to the Freedmen's Bureau of the New Black School in Lewisburg
