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Reparations
Bill for the African Slaves
in the
United States
The First Session Fortieth Congress
March 11, 1867
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* Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania H.R. 29
Whereas it is due to justice, as an example to
future times, that some future punishment should be inflicted on
the people who constituted the "confederate States of
America." both because they, declaring on unjust war
against the United States for the purpose of destroying
republican liberty and permanently establishing slavery, as well
as, for the cruel and barbarous manner in which they conducted
said war, in violation of all the laws of civilized warfare, and
also to compel them to make some compensation for the damages
and expenditures caused by the said war:
Therefore, Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
Representatives of the United States of America in Congress
assembled. That all the public lands belonging to the ten States
that formed the government of the so-called ..Confederate States
of America shall be forfeited by said States and become
forthwith vested in the United States.
SEC. 2. And be it further enacted. That the President shall
forthwith proceed to cause the seizure of such of the property
belonging to the belligerent enemy as is deemed forfeited by the
act of July 17, A. D. 1862, and hold and appropriate the same as
enemy's property, and to proceed to condemnation with that
already seized.
SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That in lieu of the
proceeding to condemn the property thus seized enemy's property.
as is provided by the act of July A. D. 1862, two commissions or
more, as by him may be deemed necessary, shall be appointed by
the President for each of the said "Confederate States,
"to consist of three persons each, one of whom shall be an
officer of the late or present Army, and two shall be civilians,
neither of whom shall be citizens of the State for which he
shall be appointed; that the said commissions shall proceed
adjudicate and Condemn the property foresaid, under such forms
and proceedings is shall be prescribed by the Attorney General
of the United States, whereupon the title to said property shall
become vested in the United States.
SEC. 4. And be it further enacted. That out of the lands thus
seized and confiscated the slaves who have been
liberated by
the operations of the war and the amendment to the constitution
or otherwise, who resided in said "confederate States"
on the 4th day of March, A. D. 1861, or since, shall have
distributed to them as follows, namely:
to
each male person who is the head of a family, forty acres; to
each adult male, whether the head of a family or not, forty
acres, to each widow who is the head of a family, forty acres-to
be held by them in fee-simple, but to be inalienable for the
next ten years after they become seized thereof.
[Ed.'s italics and emphasis]
For the purpose of distributing and allotting said land the
Secretary of War shall appoint as many commissions in each State
as he shall deem necessary, to consist of three members each,
two of whom at least shall not be citizens of the State for
which he is appointed. Each of said commissioners shall receive
a salary of $3,000 annually and all his necessary expenses. Each
commission shall be allowed one clerk, whose salary shall be
$2,000 per annum.
The title to the homestead aforesaid shall be vested in
trustees for the use of the liberated persons aforesaid.
Trustees shall be appointed by the Secretary of War, and shall
receive such salary as he shall direct, not exceeding $3,000 per
annum. At the end of ten years the, absolute title to said
homesteads shall be conveyed to said owners or to the heirs of
such as are then dead.
SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That out of the
balance of the property thus seized and confiscated there shall
be raised, in the manner hereinafter provided, a sum equal to
fifty dollars, for each homestead, to be applied by the trustees
hereinafter mentioned toward the erection of buildings on the
said homesteads for the use of said slaves; and the further sum
of $500,000,000, which shall be appropriated as follows, to wit:
$200,000,000 shall be invested in United States six per cent,
securities; and the interest thereof shall be semi-annually
added to the pensions allowed by law to pensioners who have
become so by reason of the late war; $300,000,000, or so much
thereof as may Be need, shall be appropriated to pay damages
done to loyal citizens by the civil or military Operations of
the government lately called the "confederate States of
America."
Source:
The
Self Determination Committee, President Dr. Robert Brock
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Thaddeus
Stevens (4 April 1792 - 11 August 1868) was born in Danville,
Vermont. He suffered from many hardships during his childhood,
including a club foot. His father was an alcoholic who was unable
to hold a steady job and who abandoned the family before dying in
the War of 1812. His mother worked as a maid or housekeeper to
support her children. Stevens graduated from Dartmouth College in
1814, then moved to York, Pennsylvania, where he taught school and
studied law. After admission to the bar, he established a
successful law practice, first in Gettysburg, then in Lancaster. Stevens served
for several years in the Pennsylvania state legislature before his
election to Congress in 1848 as an antislavery Whig. He opposed the
fugitive slave law and the Compromise of 1850. In 1856, Stevens was
reelected to Congress as a member of the new antislavery Republican Party,
and soon wielded great power as the chair of the important House Ways
and Means Committee. As a passionate believer in the principles of
Radical Republicanism, the "Great Commoner," as he was known,
pushed for emancipation and black suffrage. |
Stevens
encouraged strong, sweeping action by the federal government to
revolutionize the institutions and culture that bolstered white
supremacy in the South. The measures he supported included the
Fourteenth Amendment and an unsuccessful plan to confiscate plantations
and redistribute the land to former slaves. He was a member of
Congress’ joint committee on Reconstruction, but it was dominated by
moderates.
Audio:
My Story, My Song (Featuring blues guitarist Walter Wolfman Washington)
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Race, Racism & Reparations
By J. Angelo Corlett Having supplanted "race" with a
well-defined concept of ethnicity, the author then analyzes the
nature and function of racism. Corlett argues for a notion of
racism that must encompass not only racist beliefs but also
racist actions, omissions, and attempted actions. His aim is to
craft a definition of racism that will prove useful in legal and
public policy contexts.
Corlett places
special emphasis on the broad questions of whether reparations
for ethnic groups are desirable and what forms those reparations
should take: land, money, social programs? He addresses the need
for differential affirmative action programs and reparations
policies—the experiences (and oppressors) of different ethnic
groups vary greatly. Arguments for reparations to Native and
African Americans are considered in light of a variety of
objections that are or might be raised against them. Corlett
articulates and critically analyzes a number of possible
proposals for reparations
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Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in
America
By Melissa V.
Harris-Perry
According to the
author, this society has historically exerted
considerable pressure on black females to fit into one
of a handful of stereotypes, primarily, the Mammy, the
Matriarch or the Jezebel. The selfless
Mammy’s behavior is marked by a slavish devotion to
white folks’ domestic concerns, often at the expense of
those of her own family’s needs. By contrast, the
relatively-hedonistic Jezebel is a sexually-insatiable
temptress. And the Matriarch is generally thought of as
an emasculating figure who denigrates black men, ala the
characters Sapphire and Aunt Esther on the television
shows Amos and Andy and Sanford and Son, respectively.
Professor Perry
points out how the propagation of these harmful myths
have served the mainstream culture well. For instance,
the Mammy suggests that it is almost second nature for
black females to feel a maternal instinct towards
Caucasian babies.
As for the source
of the Jezebel, black women had no control over their
own bodies during slavery given that they were being
auctioned off and bred to maximize profits. Nonetheless,
it was in the interest of plantation owners to propagate
the lie that sisters were sluts inclined to mate
indiscriminately.
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update 1 July 2008
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