cts be written； approved； and filed in the office of the Bureau。 They thought that the Negroes would work better if they were thus bound by contracts。 The agents usually required that the agreements between employer and laborer cover such points as the nature of the work； the hours； food and clothes； medical attendance； shelter； and wages。 To make wages secure； the laborer was given a lien on the crop； to secure the planter from loss； unpaid wages might be forfeited if the laborer failed to keep his part of the contract。 When it dawned upon the Bureau authorities that other systems of labor had been or might be developed in the South； they permitted arrangements for the various forms of cash and share renting。 But it was everywhere forbidden to place the Negroes under 〃overseers〃 or to subject them to 〃unwilling apprenticeship〃 and 〃compulsory working out of debts。〃 The written contract system for laborers did not work out successfully。 The Negroes at first were expecting quite other fruits of freedom。 One Mississippi Negro voiced what was doubtless the opinion of many when he declared that he 〃considered no man free who had to work for a living。〃 Few Negroes would contract for more than three months and none for a period beyond January 1； 1866； when they expected a division of lands among the ex…slaves。 In spite of the regulations； most worked on oral agreements。 In 1866 nearly all employers threw overboard the written contract system for labor and permitted oral agreements。 Some states had passed stringent laws for the enforcing of contracts； but in Alabama； Governor Patton vetoed such legislation on the ground that it was not needed。 General Swayne； the Bureau chief for the state； endorsed the Governor's action and stated that the Negro was protected by his freedom to leave when mistreated； and the planter； by the need on the part of the Negro for food and shelter。 Negroes； he said； were afraid of contracts and； besides； contracts led to litigation。
In order to safeguard the civil rights of the Negroes； the Bureau was given authority to establish courts of its own and to supervise the action of state courts in cases to which freedmen were parties。 The majority of the assistant commissioners made no attempt to let the state courts handle Negro cases but were accustomed to bring all such cases before the Bureau or the provost courts of the army。 In Alabama； quite early； and later in North Carolina； Mississippi； and Georgia； the wiser assistant commissioners arranged for the state courts to handle freedmen's cases with the understanding that discriminating laws were to be suspended。 General Swayne in so doing declared that he was 〃unwilling to establish throughout Alabama courts conducted by persons foreign to her citizenship and strangers to her laws。〃 The Bureau courts were informal affairs； consisting usually of one or two administrative officers。 There were no jury； no appeal beyond the assistant commissioner； no rules of procedure； and no accepted body of law。 In state courts accepted by the Bureau； the proceedings in Negro cases were conducted in the same manner as for the whites。
The educational work of the Bureau was at first confined to cooperation with such Northern religious and benevolent societies as were organizing schools and churches for the Negroes。 After the first year； the Bureau extended financial aid and undertook a system of supervision over Negro schools。 The teachers employed were Northern whites and Negroes in about equal numbers。 Confiscated Confederate property was devoted to Negro education； and in several states the assistant commissioners collected fees and percentages of the Negroes' wages for the benefit of the schools。 In addition the Bureau expended about six million dollars。
The intense dislike which the Southern whites manifested for the Freedmen's Bureau was due in general to their resentment of outside control of domestic affairs and in particular to unavoidable difficulties inherent in the situation。 Among the concrete causes of Southern hostility was the attitude of some of the higher officials and many of the lower ones toward the white people。 They assumed that the whites were unwilling to accord fair treatment to the blacks in the matter of wages； schools； and justice。 An official in Louisiana declared that the whites would exterminate the Negroes if the Bureau were removed。 A few months later General Fullerton in the same State reported that trouble was caused by those agents who noisily demanded special privileges for the Negro but who objected to any penalties for his lawlessness and made of the Negroes a pampered class。 General Tillson in Georgia predicted the extinction of the 〃old time Southerner with his hate； cruelty； and malice。〃 General Fisk declared that 〃there are some of the meanest； unsubjugated and unreconstructed rascally revolutionists in Kentucky that curse the soil of the country 。 。 。 a more select number of vindictive； pro…slavery； rebellious legislators cannot be found than a majority of the Kentucky legislature。〃 There was a disposition to lecture the whites about their sins in regard to slavery and to point out to them how far in their general ignorance and backwardness they fell short of enlightened people。
The Bureau courts were frequently conducted in an 〃illegal and oppressive manner；〃 with 〃decided partiality for the colored people； without regard to justice。〃 For this reason they were suspended for a time in Louisiana and Georgia by General Steedman and General Fullerton； and cases were then sent before military courts。 Men of the highest character were dragged before the Bureau tribunals upon frivolous complaints； were lectured； abused； ridiculed； and arbitrarily fined or otherwise punished。 The jurisdiction of the Bureau courts weakened the civil courts and their frequent interference in trivial matters was not conducive to a return to normal conditions。
The inferior agents； not sufficiently under the control of their superiors； were responsible for a great deal of this bad feeling。 Many of them held radical opinions as to the relations of the races； and inculcated these views in their courts； in the schools； and in the new Negro churches。 Some were charged with even causing strikes and other difficulties in order to be bought off by the whites。 The tendency of their work was to create in the Negroes a pervasive distrust of the whites。
The prevalent delusion in regard to an impending division of the lands among the blacks had its origin in the operation of the war…time confiscation laws； in some of the Bureau legislation； and in General Sherman's Sea Island order； but it was further fostered by the agents until most blacks firmly believed that each head of a family was to get 〃40 acres and a mule。〃 This belief seriously interfered with industry and resulted also in widespread swindling by rascals who for years made a practice of selling fraudulent deeds to land with red； white； and blue sticks to mark off the bounds of a chosen spot on the former master's plantation。 The assistant commissioners labored hard to disabuse the minds of the Negroes； but their efforts were often neutralized by the unscrupulous attitude of the agents。
As the contest over reconstruction developed in Washington； the officials of the Bureau soon recognized the political possibilities of their institution。 After midyear of 1866； the Bureau became a political machine for the purpose of organizing the blacks into the Union League； where the rank and file were taught that reenslavement would follow Democratic victories。 Nearly all of the Bureau agents aided in the administration of the reconstruction acts in 1867 and in the organization of the new state and local governments and became officials under the new regime。 They were the chief agents in capturing the solid Negro vote for the Republican party。
Neither of the two plans for guiding the freedmen into a place in the social orderthe 〃Black Laws〃 and the Freedmen's Bureauwas successful。 The former contained a program which was better suited to actual conditions and which might have succeeded if it had been given a fair trial。 These laws were a measure of the extent to which the average white would then go in 〃accepting the situation〃 so far as the blacks were concerned。 And on the whole the recognition of Negro rights made in these laws； and made at a time when the whites believed that they were free to handle the situation； was remarkably fair。 The Negroes lately released from slavery were admitted to the enjoyment of the same rights as the whites as to legal protection of life； liberty； and property； as to education and as to the family relation； limited only by the clear recognition of the principles of political inferiority and social separation。 Unhappily this legislation was not put to the test of practical experience because of the Freedmen's Bureau； it was nevertheless skillfully used to arouse the dominant Northern party to a course of action which made impossible any further effort to treat the race problem with due consideration to actual local conditions。
Much of the work of the Freedmen's Bureau was of only temporary benefit to both races。 The results of its more permanent work were not generally good。 The institution was based upon the assumption that the Negro race must be protected from the white race。 In its organization and administration it was an impossible combination of the practical and the theoretical； of opportunism and humanitarianism； of common sense and idealism。 It failed to exert a permanently wholesome influence because its lesser agents were not held to strict accountability by their superiors。 Under these agents the alienation of the two races began； and the ill feelings then aroused were destined to persist into a long and troubled future。
CHAPTER V。 THE VICTORY OF THE RADICALS
The soldiers who fought through the war to victory or to defeat had been at home nearly two years before the radicals developed sufficient strength to carry through their plans for a revolutionary reconstruction of the Southern states。 At the end of the war； a majority of the Northern people would have supported a settlement in accordance with Lincoln's policy。 Eight months later a majority； but a small