Closing Market Report

Todd Gleason: 00:00

From the Land Grant University in Urbana Champaign, Illinois, this is the closing market report. I'm University of Illinois Extension's Todd Gleason. The markets are closed in observance of Juneteenth. Coming up, we'll explore Juneteenth, the Emancipation Proclamation that Abraham Lincoln put forth to end slavery in The United States, and we'll also discuss the War Department's general order one forty three from 1863. We'll do that right here on this holiday edition of the closing market report from Illinois Public Media.

Todd Gleason: 00:32

It is public radio for the farming world. Todd Gleason services are made available to WILL by University of Illinois Extension. To begin with, let me say that the script for today's program was not written by me, but rather is taken from the National Archives. And I want to stitch together something a little different as it's related to Juneteenth for you. We're going to start in 1862 with the Morrill Act.

Todd Gleason: 01:00

Now it passed on July the second of that year, and it was the act that made it possible for states to establish public colleges funded by the development or sale of associated federal land grants, Land grant universities, for instance. Over 10,000,000 acres were provided by these grants. The new land grant institutions, which emphasize agriculture and mechanical arts, opened opportunities to 1000s of farmers and working people previously excluded from higher education. It was sponsored by Senator Justin Morrow of Vermont. The act donating public lands to the several states and territories which may provide college for the benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts marked the first federal aid to higher education.

Todd Gleason: 01:47

But the government's recognition of its obligation to provide schools for its future citizens dates from the beginning of the republic. In the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, the Continental Congress wrote, Knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools, the means of education shall forever be encouraged. With this ordinance, Congress established a precedent for the support of public education that would grow to substantial commitments in later years. Land was the key to the Federal Government's early involvement. Now much of this land had been and would continue to be taken from Native American tribes.

Todd Gleason: 02:27

It was ceded through treaties, agreements and seizure. In many cases, the federal government did not uphold its end of these treaties. We recognize that here at the University of Illinois. Now these public lands were surveyed into six mile square townships and one square mile sections in each township was reserved for the support of public schools. By the way, if you travel very much, you might recognize that six mile square township or the one mile square section, which is 640 acres across the whole of The United States.

Todd Gleason: 03:03

It really is the basis by which roads were laid out. And that's why things are straight. It's also why many counties are 36 square miles. Now the land itself was rarely used for school construction, but rather was sold off with proceeds used to fund the school program. The system invited misuse by opportunities and substantial portions of the educational land grants never really benefited education.

Todd Gleason: 03:29

Nevertheless, land grant support became a substantial factor in providing education to most American children who could never hope to attend private or charity supported schools. The Morrill Act committed the federal government to grant each state 30,000 acres of public land issued in the form of land scrip, certificates for each of its representatives and senators in Congress. Although many states squandered the revenue from this endowment which grew to an allocation of over 100,000,000 acres, the Morrill Land Grants laid the foundation for a national system of state colleges and universities. In some cases the land sales financed existing institutions. In others new schools were chartered by the states.

Todd Gleason: 04:16

Major universities such as Nebraska, Washington State, Clemson, and Cornell were chartered as land grant universities along with the University of Illinois. People of color were often excluded from these educational opportunities due to their race. The second Morrill Act of 1890 was aimed at the former Confederate states and sought to rectify this discrimination. It required States to establish separate land grant institutions for black students or demonstrate that admissions was not restricted by race. The Act granted money instead of land and resulted in the establishment of several historically black universities and colleges, what we call HBUCs, including Alabama A and M, Prairie View A and M University, and Tuskegee University.

Todd Gleason: 05:12

So the Morrill Act that created the Land Grant University System spelled m o r r I l l was passed into law in July of eighteen sixty two and signed by President Abraham Lincoln. In September of that same year, he drafted the Emancipation Proclamation. President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1863, announcing that all persons held as slaves within the rebellious areas are and henceforward shall be free. Let's continue from the National Archive. Initially, the civil war between the North and South was fought by the North to prevent the secession of the Southern states and preserve the union.

Todd Gleason: 06:02

Even though sectional conflicts over slavery had been a major cause of the war, ending slavery was not a goal of the war. That changed September 1862 when president Lincoln issued his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which stated that enslaved people in those states or parts of states still in rebellion as of January the first of eighteen sixty three would be declared free. One hundred days later, with the rebellion unabated, the president issued the Emancipation Proclamation declaring that all persons held as slaves within the rebellious areas are and henceforward shall be free. Now Lincoln's step to change the goals of the war was a military measure and came just a few days after the Union's victory in the battle of Antietam. With this proclamation, he hoped to inspire all black people and enslaved people in the Confederacy in particular to support the Union cause and to keep England and France from giving political recognition and military aid to the Confederacy.

Todd Gleason: 07:07

Because it was a military measure, however, the Emancipation Proclamation was limited in many ways. It applied only to states that had seceded from the union, leaving slavery untouched in the loyal border states. It also expressly exempted parts of the Confederacy that had already come under Union control. Most important, the freedom it promised depended upon Union military victory. Although the Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery in the nation, it did fundamentally transform the character of the war.

Todd Gleason: 07:40

After 01/01/1863, every advance of Federal troops expanded the domain of freedom. Moreover, the proclamation announced the acceptance of black men into the Union army and navy, enabling the liberated to become liberators. And by the end of the war, almost 200,000 black soldiers and sailors had fought for the Union and freedom. From the first days of the civil war, enslaved people had acted to secure their own liberty. The Emancipation Proclamation confirmed their insistence that the war for the Union must become a war for freedom.

Todd Gleason: 08:14

It added moral force to the Union cause and strengthened the Union both militarily and politically. As a milestone along the road to slavery's final destruction, the Emancipation Proclamation has assumed a place among the great documents of human freedom. Again, these words taken from the National Archive. Here are some excerpts from the proclamation. Whereas on the September in the year of our Lord 01/1962, a proclamation was issued by the president of The United States containing among other things the following to wit.

Todd Gleason: 08:51

That on the January in the year of our Lord 01/1963, all persons held as slaves within any state or designated part of a state, that people whereof shall then be in rebellion against The United States shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free. And the executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no acts or acts to repress such persons or any of them in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom. That the executive will, on the January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof respectively shall then be in rebellion against The United States, and the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that day be in good faith represented in the Congress of the United States by members chosen thereto, at elections where a majority of the qualified voters of such State shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State and people thereof are not then in rebellion against The United States. Now therefore I, Abraham Lincoln, President of The United States, by the virtue of the power in me vested as Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, in the time of actual armed rebellion against the authority of the government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion due on this January in the year of our Lord 01/1963, and in accordance with my purpose so to do publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days from the day first above mentioned, order and designate as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof respectively are this day in rebellion against The United States.

Todd Gleason: 10:58

The following to wit. Arkansas, Texas, and there are some parishes that are exempted here. Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, with some exceptions, including the 48 counties designated as West Virginia. And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States and parts of States are, and henceforward shall be free, and that the executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons. And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self defence and I recommend to them that in all cases when allowed they labor faithfully for reasonable wages.

Todd Gleason: 11:59

And I further declare and make known that such persons of suitable condition will be received into the armed services of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service. And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the constitution upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of The United States to be affixed. The Emancipation Proclamation as signed by the President of The United States, Abraham Lincoln, and William H. Seward, Secretary of State.

Todd Gleason: 12:56

So the January 1 Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in the Confederate States and in the same stroke urged them to join the Union Army and Navy. That eventually led to the War Department's General Order one forty three, the creation of The US Colored Troops. The war department general order one forty three, creation of the US colored troops 1863 as written up on the National Archives. The War Department issued General Order one forty three on May the twenty second of eighteen sixty three, creating the United States Colored Troops. And by the end of the civil war, roughly a 179,000 black men or about 10% of the Union army served as soldiers in the US army, and another 19,000 served in the navy.

Todd Gleason: 13:56

The issues of emancipation and military service were intertwined from the onset of the Civil War. News that the Confederacy had attacked The US garrison at Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, which began the civil war in earnest, set off a rush by free black men to enlist in US military units. They were turned away, however, because in 1792 federal law barred them from bearing arms for the US Army. In Boston, disappointed would be volunteers met and passed a resolution requesting that the government modify its laws to permit their enlistment. President Lincoln's administration wrestled with the idea of authorizing the recruitment of black troops, but was concerned that such a move would prompt the border states to secede.

Todd Gleason: 14:44

When general John c Fremont in Missouri and general David Hunter in South Carolina issued proclamations that emancipated in enslaved people in their military regions and permitted them to enlist, their superiors sternly revoked their orders. By mid eighteen sixty two, however, the government was pushed into reconsidering the ban because of the escalating number of formerly enslaved people coming over Union lines referred to in the military as contrabands, the declining number of white volunteers, and pressing personal needs of the Union army. As a result, on 07/17/1862, Congress passed the second confiscation and militia act, freeing enslaved people whose enslavers were in the Confederate army. Two days later, slavery was abolished in the territories of The United States. And on July twenty second of eighteen sixty two, president Lincoln presented the preliminary draft of the Emancipation Proclamation to his cabinet.

Todd Gleason: 15:44

Now after the Union army turned back confederate general Robert e Lee's first invasion of the North at Antietam, Maryland, and the Emancipation Proclamation was subsequently announced, black recruitment was pursued in earnest. Volunteers from South Carolina, Tennessee, and Massachusetts filled the first authorized black regiments. Recruitment was slow until black leaders such as Frederick Douglass encouraged black men to become soldiers to ensure eventual full citizenship. In fact, two of Douglas's own sons contributed to the war effort. Volunteers began to respond, and in May 1863, the government established the Bureau of Colored Troops to manage the burgeoning numbers of black soldiers.

Todd Gleason: 16:28

Nearly forty thousand black soldiers died over the course of the war, thirty thousand of infection or disease. Black soldiers served in the artillery and infantry and performed all noncombat support functions that sustain an army as well. Black carpenters, chaplains, cooks, guards, laborers, nurses, scouts, spies, steamboat pilots, surgeons, and seamsters also contributed to the war cause. There were nearly 80 black commissioned officers. Black women who could not formally join the army, nonetheless served as nurses, spies, and scouts.

Todd Gleason: 17:02

The most famous being Harriet Tubman, who scouted for the second South Carolina volunteers. Reconstruction and the Wade Davis bill of 1864. At the end of the civil war, this bill created a framework for Reconstruction and the readmittance of the Confederate states to the Union. In late eighteen sixty three, president Abraham Lincoln and Congress began to consider the question of how the Union would be reunited if the North won the civil war. In December, president Lincoln proposed a Reconstruction program that would allow Confederate states to establish new state governments after 10% of their male population took loyalty oaths, and the states recognized the permanent freedom of formerly enslaved people.

Todd Gleason: 17:52

Several congressional Republicans thought Lincoln's 10% plan was too lenient. Senator Benjamin f Wade of Ohio and representative Henry Winter Davis of Maryland proposed a more stringent plan in February of eighteen sixty four. The Wade Davis Reconstruction bill would also have abolished slavery, but it required that 50% of the state's white males take a loyalty oath to The United States and swear they had never assisted the Confederacy to be readmitted to the union Only after taking this, quote, ironclad oath, unquote, would they be able to participate in conventions to write new state constitutions. A congress passed the Wade Davis bill, but president Lincoln chose not to sign it, killing the bill with a pocket veto. Lincoln continued to advocate tolerance and speed and plans for the Reconstruction of the Union in opposition to congress.

Todd Gleason: 18:44

After Lincoln's assassination in April 1865, however, congress had the upper hand in shaping federal policy toward the defeated South and imposed the harsher Reconstruction requirements first advocated in the Wade Davis bill. General Lee's surrender at Appomattox sets the table for the end of the civil war. After the fall of Richmond, the confederate capital on April the second of eighteen sixty five, officials in the confederate government, including president Jefferson Davis, fled. The dominoes began to fall. The surrender at Appomattox took place a week later on the April.

Todd Gleason: 19:24

Generals Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee met in Appomattox, Virginia to discuss the surrender of the army of Northern Virginia. The terms were generous. The men of armies could return home in safety if they pledged to end fighting and deliver their arms to the Union army.

Todd Gleason: 19:40

On April 1865, in a quiet but emotional ceremony, the infantry of Lee's armies surrendered their arms, folded their battle flags, and received their parole papers, which guaranteed their safe passage home. While it was the most significant surrender to take place during the civil war, general Robert e Lee, the Confederacy's most respected commander, surrendered only his army of Northern Virginia. The Grant Lee agreement served not only as a signal that the South had lost the war, but also as a model for the rest of surrenders that followed. Not until sixteen months after Appomattox on August the twentieth of eighteen sixty six did the president, Andrew Jackson, formally declare an end to the civil war. The thirteenth amendment to the US constitution.

Todd Gleason: 20:30

Passed by congress on January 1865 and ratified on 12/06/1865, the thirteenth amendment abolished slavery in The United States. It reads in section one, neither slavery nor voluntary servitude except as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within The United States or any place subject to their jurisdiction. And in section two, Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. With all that we've listened to and heard from the National Archives so far as background, let's turn our attention now to June. On the June, the National Archives reports, two and a half years after president Abraham Lincoln's emancipation proclamation, US major general Gordon Granger issued general order number three, which informed the people of Texas that all enslaved people were now free.

Todd Gleason: 21:32

Granger commanded the headquarters district of Texas and his troops had arrived in Galveston the previous day. This day has come to be known as Juneteenth, a combination of June. It's also called Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, and it's the oldest known celebration commemorating the end of slavery in The United States. The official handwritten record of General Order number three is preserved at the National Archive Building in Washington DC. It states, quote, the people of Texas are informed that in accordance with the proclamation from the executive of the United States, all slaves are free.

Todd Gleason: 22:10

This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military post and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere. Unquote. The National Archives makes note that while the order was critical to expanding freedom to enslaved people, the racist language used in the last sentences foreshadowed that the fight for equal rights would continue.

Todd Gleason: 22:56

You've been listening to the closing market report from Illinois Public Media. It is public radio for the farming world. If you'd like to hear this program again, you can do so today on our website at willag.org. Willag.0rg. That's willag.org.

Todd Gleason: 23:14

There you'll find the closing market report along with commodity week, the Illinois nutrient loss reduction podcast, information from the agricultural economist, crop scientist, and animal scientists from the University of Illinois, and other important agricultural information. It's all at wilag.org, willag.0rg. I'm University of Illinois Extension's, Todd Gleason.