The Road to Reconstruction starts in Florida

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On May 10, 1865, Union Brigadier General Edward McCook and his staff entered Tallahassee without incident. McCook and his occupation force had come from Macon, Georgia, to establish federal control and authority in Florida. Confederate troops signed parole documents agreeing not to fight and turned over military equipment to federal authorities. In a May 20th ceremony marking the formal transition of power, Union troops raised a large United States flag over the state capitol. On the same day, General McCook announced the Emancipation Proclamation, formally freeing enslaved blacks in Florida. The war was over for Florida, and the uncertain period of Reconstruction began.
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Edward_M_McCook_646244_i0.jpg

General Edward McCook

 
Was there any pushback from locals?
Interesting question. I've read that in 1865, Democrats controlled the State government and a conservative governor was elected to help protect the planter aristocracy. This led to " Black Codes " being passed which limited the voting rights of the newly freed slaves. Shortly thereafter the Radical Republicans took control of the U.S. Congress, and suspended all Southern governments and disenfranchised former Confederate officers and elected officials. This removed the vote of the Southern Democratic leadership. Florida was placed under control of the 3rd Military District, and the Radicals began the voter registration of African Americans into the Republican Party.
ThePresidential Election of 1876 marked the end of Reconstruction. In a bizarre ending to a close election, Florida was one of three Southern states which had two winners. Democrats claimed the election results made Democrat Sam Tilden the winner, but Republican Governor M. L. Sterns rejected the vote in several rural areas as rigged and ruled that Republican Rutherford B. Hayes had the vote.
In Washington, the disputed election was determined in a smoke-filled hotel room where the press never found how Republican and Democratic committee members fully resolved the issue. Rutherford B. Hayes was declared the winner of all three states (including Florida) while Republican officials were announcing the removal of the last Federal troops from the Florida. African-Americans felt they had been betrayed in a game of power politics.
Reconstruction was now terminated. The Southern Democrats could systematically eliminate the Republican black vote, while trying to restore Florida to a conservative, agrarian Southern state.

http://floridahistory.org/civilwar.htm
 
Thanks for this, and also to @DRW for his thread Reconstruction 150: Florida Emancipation Day.

I did want to add more context to the emancipation story in Florida. May 20, 1865, was not the first time that slaves in Florida had heard of the EP.

In fact, Union authorities had been making forays into Florida throughout the War. The state was not strategically important enough for the Union to conduct many operations there. But Union troops did, for example enter Jacksonville during the war, and that city changed handed hands several times throughout the conflict. Some of the Union forces consisted of men from the US Colored Troops (USCT). In NE Florida for sure there was an awareness of the Emancipation Proclamation, and slaves seesawed from slavery to freedom and back more than once as the Union and Confederacy took control of the Jacksonville.

Expired Image Removed
Emancipated slaves wait in front of the Provost Marshal's office in Jacksonville about 1864.

As noted here, the 2nd Infantry Regiment, USCT, did time in Florida. The source notes:

The 2nd U.S.C.T. was attached to the District of Key West, Florida, Department of of the Gulf, in February, 1864, and saw duty in New Orleans and Ships Island, Mississippi. In May the unit also participated in an attack on Confederate fortifications at Tampa, resulting in the destruction of the Confederate positions. The 2nd participated in several operation along Florida's west coast between July 1st and 31st, 1864; including raids from Fort Myers to Bayport, and from Cedar Key to St. Andrew's Bay. During the St. Andrew's Bay expedition the 2nd skirmished with Confederate troops on the 18th of July.​

There is a monument to the 2nd USCI in Fort Myers, FL, which is south of Tampa/St Pete:

florida-usct-monument-wide.jpg


My guess is that many slaves in west-central Florida - and admittedly, the huge part of the slave population resided in the northern part of the state - would have been aware of the Proclamation from Union soldiers .

Fort Pickens was a fort just outside Pensacola that remained in Union hands throughout the war. It is somewhat infamous in some circles as one of the first federal locations where slaves sought refuge from slavery, but were turned back. (This happened after the first rash of secessions, but before the attack on Fort Sumter). The book Blockaders, Refugees, and Contrabands: Civil War on Florida'S Gulf Coast, 1861-1865 by George Buker talks of how the war affected Florida's western coast. The book notes that as the war progressed, many slaves ("contrabands") escaped, and some sought out the Navy blockaders as a path to freedom. Some slaves joined the U.S. Navy.

So, although General McCook did read the EP in Tallahassee at the time noted, many slaves throughout the state were aware of the EP, and an untold but small number gained freedom as a result of Union occupation or the proximity of Union army and navy forces. Of course, the surrender and more widespread Union occupation made the proclamation of freedom into the reality of freedom. But if the "grapevine telegraph" was active throughout the state, it was probably abuzz with the idea that freedom might be coming, and McCook confirmed that the rumors and their hopes were true.

- Alan
 
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Was there any pushback from locals?

One book on the subject is The Jackson County War: Reconstruction and Resistance in Post-Civil War Florida Hardcover by Daniel R. Weinfeld. This is from the book description on Amazon.com:

The Jackson County War offers original conclusions explaining why Jackson County became the bloodiest region in Reconstruction Florida and is the first book-length treatment of the subject.

From early 1869 through the end of 1871, citizens of Jackson County, Florida, slaughtered their neighbors by the score. The nearly three year frenzy of bloodshed became known as the Jackson County War. The killings, close to one hundred and by some estimates twice that number, brought Jackson County the notoriety of being the most violent county in Florida during the Reconstruction era. Daniel R. Weinfeld has made a thorough investigation of contemporary accounts. He adds an assessment of recently discovered information, and presents a critical evaluation of the standard secondary sources.​

- Alan
 
Thanks for this, and also to @DRW for his thread Reconstruction 150: Florida Emancipation Day.

I did want to add more context to the emancipation story in Florida. May 20, 2015, was not the first time that slaves in Florida had heard of the EP.

In fact, Union authorities had been making forays into Florida throughout the War. The state was not strategically important enough for the Union to conduct many operations there. But Union troops did, for example enter Jacksonville during the war, and that city changed handed hands several times throughout the conflict. Some of the Union forces consisted of men from the US Colored Troops. In NE Florida for sure there was an awareness of the Emancipation Proclamation, and slaves seesawed from slavery to freedom and back more than once as the Union and Confederacy took control of the Jacksonville.

Expired Image Removed
Emancipated slaves wait in front of the Provost Marshal's office in Jacksonville about 1864.

As noted here, the 2nd Infantry Regiment, USCT, did time in Florida. The source notes:

The 2nd U.S.C.T. was attached to the District of Key West, Florida, Department of of the Gulf, in February, 1864, and saw duty in New Orleans and Ships Island, Mississippi. In May the unit also participated in an attack on Confederate fortifications at Tampa, resulting in the destruction of the Confederate positions. The 2nd participated in several operation along Florida's west coast between July 1st and 31st, 1864; including raids from Fort Myers to Bayport, and from Cedar Key to St. Andrew's Bay. During the St. Andrew's Bay expedition the 2nd skirmished with Confederate troops on the 18th of July.​

There is a monument to the 2nd USCI in Fort Myers, FL, which is south of Tampa/St Pete:

florida-usct-monument-wide.jpg


My guess is that many slaves in west-central Florida - and admittedly, the huge part of the slave population resided in the northern part of the state - would have been aware of the Proclamation from Union soldiers .

Fort Pickens was a fort just outside Pensacola that remained in Union hands throughout the war. It is somewhat infamous in some circles as one of the first federal locations where slaves sought refuge from slavery, but were turned back. (This happened after the first rash of secessions, but before the attack on Fort Sumter). The book Blockaders, Refugees, and Contrabands: Civil War on Florida'S Gulf Coast, 1861-1865 by George Buker talks of how the war affected Florida's western coast. The book notes that as the war progressed, many slaves ("contrabands") escaped, and some sought out the Navy blockaders as a path to freedom. Some slaves joined the U.S. Navy.

So, although General McCook did read the EP in Tallahassee at the time noted, many slaves throughout the state were aware of the EP, and an untold but small number gained freedom as a result of Union occupation. Of course, the surrender and more widespread Union occupation made the proclamation of freedom into the reality of freedom. But if the "grapevine telegraph" was active throughout the state, it was probably abuzz with the idea that freedom might be coming, and McCook confirmed that the rumors and their hopes were true.

- Alan
The photo of all those people waiting is just stunning.
 
Thanks for this, and also to @DRW for his thread Reconstruction 150: Florida Emancipation Day.

I did want to add more context to the emancipation story in Florida. May 20, 2015, was not the first time that slaves in Florida had heard of the EP.

In fact, Union authorities had been making forays into Florida throughout the War. The state was not strategically important enough for the Union to conduct many operations there. But Union troops did, for example enter Jacksonville during the war, and that city changed handed hands several times throughout the conflict. Some of the Union forces consisted of men from the US Colored Troops. In NE Florida for sure there was an awareness of the Emancipation Proclamation, and slaves seesawed from slavery to freedom and back more than once as the Union and Confederacy took control of the Jacksonville.

Expired Image Removed
Emancipated slaves wait in front of the Provost Marshal's office in Jacksonville about 1864.

As noted here, the 2nd Infantry Regiment, USCT, did time in Florida. The source notes:

The 2nd U.S.C.T. was attached to the District of Key West, Florida, Department of of the Gulf, in February, 1864, and saw duty in New Orleans and Ships Island, Mississippi. In May the unit also participated in an attack on Confederate fortifications at Tampa, resulting in the destruction of the Confederate positions. The 2nd participated in several operation along Florida's west coast between July 1st and 31st, 1864; including raids from Fort Myers to Bayport, and from Cedar Key to St. Andrew's Bay. During the St. Andrew's Bay expedition the 2nd skirmished with Confederate troops on the 18th of July.​

There is a monument to the 2nd USCI in Fort Myers, FL, which is south of Tampa/St Pete:

florida-usct-monument-wide.jpg


My guess is that many slaves in west-central Florida - and admittedly, the huge part of the slave population resided in the northern part of the state - would have been aware of the Proclamation from Union soldiers .

Fort Pickens was a fort just outside Pensacola that remained in Union hands throughout the war. It is somewhat infamous in some circles as one of the first federal locations where slaves sought refuge from slavery, but were turned back. (This happened after the first rash of secessions, but before the attack on Fort Sumter). The book Blockaders, Refugees, and Contrabands: Civil War on Florida'S Gulf Coast, 1861-1865 by George Buker talks of how the war affected Florida's western coast. The book notes that as the war progressed, many slaves ("contrabands") escaped, and some sought out the Navy blockaders as a path to freedom. Some slaves joined the U.S. Navy.

So, although General McCook did read the EP in Tallahassee at the time noted, many slaves throughout the state were aware of the EP, and an untold but small number gained freedom as a result of Union occupation. Of course, the surrender and more widespread Union occupation made the proclamation of freedom into the reality of freedom. But if the "grapevine telegraph" was active throughout the state, it was probably abuzz with the idea that freedom might be coming, and McCook confirmed that the rumors and their hopes were true.

- Alan
As I've done very little reading, admittedly, about Florida in the CW, I find this fascinating and very interesting. Nice "well-rounded" post!
 
Was there any pushback from locals?

This is how a prominent FL politician felt about the Union victory; refer to the end of this excerpt from Wiki:

220px-John_Milton_Florida.jpg

John Milton 5th Governor of Florida
In office
October 7, 1861 – April 1, 1865


John Milton... came to Florida in 1846, and quickly entered the Florida political scene. In 1848, he served as a presidential elector for the state, then in 1850 was elected to the Florida House of Representatives. As a strong supporter of states' rights, he was an early advocate for secession of Florida from the Union. He was a delegate to the 1860 Democratic National Convention from Florida and in the same year ran for the office of governor. A convention was called for to take up the issue of secession and on January 10, 1861, the measure passed. He took the oath of office on October 7, 1861.

As the war drew to a close and the Confederacy was close to defeat, he became worn down by the stress of his office. Governor Milton left Tallahassee for his plantation, "Sylvania," in Marianna, Florida.

In his final message to the state legislature, he said that Yankees "have developed a character so odious that death would be preferable to reunion with them." Stating "death would be preferable to reunion," on April 1, 1865, he committed suicide, in his home, by a gunshot to the head.[1] The president of the Florida Senate, Abraham K. Allison, was sworn in as governor of Florida later that day.​

- Alan
 
On May 10, 1865, Union Brigadier General Edward McCook and his staff entered Tallahassee without incident. McCook and his occupation force had come from Macon, Georgia, to establish federal control and authority in Florida. Confederate troops signed parole documents agreeing not to fight and turned over military equipment to federal authorities. In a May 20th ceremony marking the formal transition of power, Union troops raised a large United States flag over the state capitol. On the same day, General McCook announced the Emancipation Proclamation, formally freeing enslaved blacks in Florida. The war was over for Florida, and the uncertain period of Reconstruction began.
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View attachment 68427

General Edward McCook

Great post. I hate to be so pedantic, but I've been looking for a few days for primary sources confirming McCook's reading the EP in Talla on May 20 (or May 10 or any other date for that matter) and have come up blank. He doesn't mention it in his reports in the OR (and I can't find contemporaneous newspapers accounts after only a quick search). Were you able to find anything?
 
One book on the subject is The Jackson County War: Reconstruction and Resistance in Post-Civil War Florida Hardcover by Daniel R. Weinfeld. This is from the book description on Amazon.com:

The Jackson County War offers original conclusions explaining why Jackson County became the bloodiest region in Reconstruction Florida and is the first book-length treatment of the subject.

From early 1869 through the end of 1871, citizens of Jackson County, Florida, slaughtered their neighbors by the score. The nearly three year frenzy of bloodshed became known as the Jackson County War. The killings, close to one hundred and by some estimates twice that number, brought Jackson County the notoriety of being the most violent county in Florida during the Reconstruction era. Daniel R. Weinfeld has made a thorough investigation of contemporary accounts. He adds an assessment of recently discovered information, and presents a critical evaluation of the standard secondary sources.​

- Alan

Hey, that's my book! Thanks for mentioning it.
 
Great post. I hate to be so pedantic, but I've been looking for a few days for primary sources confirming McCook's reading the EP in Talla on May 20 (or May 10 or any other date for that matter) and have come up blank. He doesn't mention it in his reports in the OR (and I can't find contemporaneous newspapers accounts after only a quick search). Were you able to find anything?
Nope, nothing from that time period. Just modern day sources.
 
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