[RECONSTRUCTION]. Labor contract between freedmen and women named "Joe," "Mindo," "Francis," and "Esel," and plantation owner W.W. Raffield. Clarendon District, SC. 16 January 1866.

Partly-printed "Freedman's Contract for 1866...Articles of Agreement between W.W. Raffield and Freedmen and Women whose names are hereunto attached." 1p, 7 3/4 x 12 1/2 in. (creasing, approx. 1 in. tear at top edge line and small tear bottom right). Signed "W.W. Raffield" by William W. Raffield (1824-1901), and by 4 freedmen and women with their marks. Docketed on verso with approval from South Carolina Freedmen's Bureau field officers including Captain Daniel Judson Bradham.

The regulation of written labor agreements between planters and freedmen was one of the major activities of the Freedmen's Bureau in South Carolina. Still, post-war labor contracts were structured in accordance with the Southern states' "Black Codes" which attempted to restrict African Americans' freedom, impel them to work for low or no wages, and keep freedmen dependent and subordinate. While the contracts formally outlined terms of employment such as pay, clothing, medical care, the distribution of crops, length of work days, etc., the former enslavers were able to maintain a system of labor which closely approximated the system of enslavement which had existed in the former Confederate states. 

This lot is located in Cincinnati.

Property from the Augustana Collection