[Peace-discuss] Posse Comitatus Act & Militarizatiion of Police

[C. G. Estabrook]

,http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/general-sherman-enacts-forty-acres-and-mule>

General Sherman enacts "forty acres and a mule" 

Date: Mon, 1865-01-16

On this day in 1865, General William T. Sherman issued a special field order that would have provided each African American family 40 acres of land and an army mule to work the land.

In the midst of his "March to the Sea" during the Civil War, General Sherman and Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton met with 20 black community leaders of Savannah, Georgia.
Based partly to their input, Gen. Sherman issued Special Field Order #15 on January 16, 1865, setting aside the Sea Islands and a 330-mile inland tract of land along the southern coast of Charleston for the exclusive settlement of Blacks. This land had been confiscated by the Union Army. Each family would receive 40 acres of land and an army mule to work the land, thus "forty acres and a mule," a phrase incorporated into the English language for compensation that was to be awarded to freed African American slaves after the Civil War but was returned instead to former landowners. The order applied to black families who lived near the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.
On a national level, this and other land, confiscated and abandoned, became the jurisdiction of the Freedman's Bureau, which was headed by Gen. Oliver Otis Howard (Howard University). In his words he wanted to "...give the freedmen protection, land and schools as far and as fast as he can." 

But President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated and Andrew Johnson became president. Johnson revoked the order, issued special pardons, and returned the property to the white ex-Confederates, the former owners. During the summer and fall of 1865, President Johnson issued special pardons, returning the property to the ex-Confederates. Howard issued Circular 13, giving 40 acres as quickly as possible. Upon his knowledge, Johnson ordered Howard to issue Circular 15, returning the land to the ex-Confederates. Because of this, the phrase has come to represent the failure of Reconstruction and the general public to assist African Americans.

By June 1865, around 10,000 freed slaves were settled on 400,000 acres in Georgia and South Carolina. 

IN THE FIELD, SAVANNAH, GA., January 6th, 1865.
SPECIAL FIELD ORDERS, No. 15.
I. The islands from Charleston, south, the abandoned rice fields along the rivers for thirty miles back from the sea, and the country bordering the St. Johns river, Florida, are reserved and set apart for the settlement of the Negroes now made free by the acts of war and the proclamation of the President of the United States.
II. At Beaufort, Hilton Head, Savannah, Fernandina, St. Augustine and Jacksonville, the Blacks may remain in their chosen or accustomed vocations--but on the islands, and in the settlements hereafter to be established, no white person whatever, unless military officers and soldiers detailed for duty, will be permitted to reside; and the sole and exclusive management of affairs will be left to the freed people themselves, subject only to the United States military authority and the acts of Congress. By the laws of war, and orders of the President of the United States, the Negro is free and must be dealt with as such. He cannot be subjected to conscription or forced military service, save by the written orders of the highest military authority of the Department, under such regulations as the President or Congress may prescribe. Domestic servants, blacksmiths, carpenters and other mechanics will be free to select their own work and residence, but the young and able-bodied Negroes must be encouraged to enlist as soldiers in the service of the United States, to contribute their share towards maintaining their own freedom, and securing their rights as citizens of the United States. Negroes so enlisted will be organized into companies, battalions and regiments, under the orders of the United States military authorities, and will be paid, fed and clothed according to law. The bounties paid on enlistment may, with the consent of the recruit, go to assist his family and settlement in procuring agricultural implements, seed, tools, boots, clothing, and other articles necessary for their livelihood. 

III. Whenever three respectable Negroes, heads of families, shall desire to settle on land, and shall have selected for that purpose an island or a locality clearly defined, within the limits above designated, the Inspector of Settlements and Plantations will himself, or by such subordinate officer as he may appoint, give them a license to settle such island or district, and afford them such assistance as he can to enable them to establish a peaceable agricultural settlement. The three parties named will subdivide the land, under the supervision of the Inspector, among themselves and such others as may choose to settle near them, so that each family shall have a plot of not more than (40) forty acres of tillable ground, and when it borders on some water channel, with not more than 800 feet water front, in the possession of which land the military authorities will afford them protection, until such time as they can protect themselves, or until Congress shall regulate their title. The Quartermaster may, on the requisition of the Inspector of Settlements and Plantations, place at the disposal of the Inspector, one or more of the captured steamers, to ply between the settlements and one or more of the commercial points heretofore named in orders, to afford the settlers the opportunity to supply their necessary wants, and to sell the products of their land and labor. 

IV. Whenever a Negro has enlisted in the military service of the United States, he may locate his family in any one of the settlements at pleasure, and acquire a homestead, and all other rights and privileges of a settler, as though present in person. In like manner, Negroes may settle their families and engage on board the gunboats, or in fishing, or in the navigation of the inland waters, without losing any claim to land or other advantages derived from this system. But no one, unless an actual settler as above defined, or unless absent on Government service, will be entitled to claim any right to land or property in any settlement by virtue of these orders. 

V. In order to carry out this system of settlement, a general officer will be detailed as Inspector of Settlements and Plantations, whose duty it shall be to visit the settlements, to regulate their police and general management, and who will furnish personally to each head of a family, subject to the approval of the President of the United States, a possessory title in writing, giving as near as possible the description of boundaries; and who shall adjust all claims or conflicts that may arise under the same, subject to the like approval, treating such titles altogether as possessory. The same general officer will also be charged with the enlistment and organization of the Negro recruits, and protecting their interests while absent from their settlements; and will be governed by the rules and regulations prescribed by the War Department for such purposes. 

VI. Brigadier General R. SAXTON is hereby appointed Inspector of Settlements and Plantations, and will at once enter on the performance of his duties. No change is intended or desired in the settlement now on Beaufort [Port Royal] Island, nor will any rights to property heretofore acquired be affected thereby.
BY ORDER OF MAJOR GENERAL W. T. SHERMAN:
Special Field Orders, No. 15, Headquarters Military Division of the Mississippi, 16 Jan. 1865, Orders & Circulars, ser. 44, Adjutant General's
Office, Record Group 94, National Archives.


On Feb 26, 2015, at 11:02 AM, C. G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote:

> Part of the Compromise of 1877, it restored police power to the Southern ruling class and ended federal military protection of black civil rights.
> 
> See the remarkable (and practically unique) book, "Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II" (2009) by Douglas Blackmon.
> 
> On Tuesday we should talk about its present-day significance (and that of the 2nd & 3rd* Amendments, as Ron mentioned) with reference to the Obama administration's plans for managing mass political protest (cf. the suppression of Occupy and the Boston lock-down).
> 
> ---CGE
> __________
> * I find that the 3rd Amendment - expressly prohibiting the military from peacetime quartering of troops without consent of the owner of the house - has been "the subject of only one case in over 200 years (Engblom v. Carey)"! 
> I wonder if citizens of Watertown MA (where I used to live) could have used that after the Tsarnaev affair?
> Also, considering the 2nd & 3rd together seems to make it clear that the "right to keep and bear arms" is better thought of as a corporate, not a personal right. 
> When I ran for Congress as a Green, we dealt with 2nd Amendment questions by suggesting that gun laws should be dealt with in accord with the principle of subsidiarity ("Tocqueville's classic study, Democracy in America, may be viewed as an examination of the operation of the principle of subsidiarity in early 19th century America") - i.e., laws appropriate in Cook County are not necessarily appropriate in rural counties.
> 
> 
> On Feb 26, 2015, at 9:40 AM, Karen Aram via Peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
> 
>> Tuesday on the AOTA program, I referred to a law that prevents the military from "controlling our streets", "control" that is meant for police or national guard. I couldn't remember the Latin name.
>> This is in no way affiliated with the right wing vigilante group who in 1969 took the same name.
>> 
>> It is as above Posse Comitatus, and was initially enacted at the end of reconstruction. Please see below a brief description by Wikipedia.
>> 
>> I raise this issue because I would think it should also apply to the militarization of our police departments when we supply them with military equipment, weapons and training to control our streets. Just a thought, and maybe a stretch. 
>> 
>> A lawyer would be able to ascertain whether it could be used to challenge what is happening to police departments across the nation. 
>> 
>>  Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia     
>> 
>> This article is about the Posse Comitatus Act in the United States. For other uses of posse comitatus, see Posse comitatus.
>> The Posse Comitatus Act is the United States federal law (18 U.S.C. § 1385, original at 20 Stat. 152) that was passed on June 18, 1878, after the end ofReconstruction and was updated in 1981. The purpose of the act (in concert with the Insurrection Act of 1807) is to limit the powers of Federal government in using its military personnel to enforce the state laws.
>> The Act does not apply to the Army and Air National Guard under state authority from acting in a law enforcement capacity within its home state or in an adjacent state if invited by that state's governor. The United States Coast Guard, which operates under the Department of Homeland Security, is not covered by the Posse Comitatus Act either, primarily because although the Coast Guard is an armed service, it also has both a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency mission. While the Act does not explicitly mention the naval services (United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps), the Department of the Navy has prescribed regulations that are generally construed to give the Act force with respect to those services as well.
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> 
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