This Week in Reconstruction, January 8-13, 1866

This Week in Reconstruction, January 8-13, 1866

The second week of January, 1866 comes with progress regarding the suffrage movement, Southern readmission to Congress, and the expansion of the powers of the Freedmen's Bureau. Progress continues in the African American rights movement as white southerners slowly begin to support the movement in order to gain leverage in negotiations with the North. Troops are withdrawing from Virginia as the South becomes more politically stable, but southerners still feel oppressed by the Northern laws and regulations meant to "limit Southern progress." The Dispatch constantly criticizes meetings held between President Johnson and the Radicals. Black-on-black crime, quotes made by important war generals, and talk about the relocation of some freedmen dominates the headlines of the Dispatch. Reports of the restoration of land to white plantation owners encourages Virginians who feel their rights slipping away.

January 8-13, 1866

Justin Barlow

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