Circular No. 8 from the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands
date: label: Date
content: July 17, 1866
name: label: Written by
content: Davis Tillson, American, 1830 - 1895
label: Subject of
content: United States Army, American, founded 1775
label: Subject of
content: Freedmen's Bureau, American, 1865 - 1872
label: Subject of
content: Oliver Otis Howard, American, 1830 - 1909
notes: label: Description
content: A wove paper military order, Circular No.8, from the Bureau of Refugees, Freedman & Abandoned Lands, prohibiting landowners from expelling sharecroppers without payment.
label: Description
content: These orders are issued by Battalion Major General Davis Tillson and approved by his commanding officer Oliver Otis Howard, from Augusta, Georgia with the date July 17th 1865. The orders read: [1. Numerous well authenticated reports from officers and / Agents of the Bureau in different parts of the State have been re- / ceived at this office, setting forth that now the crops are nearly / ready to lay by, and the immediate demand for labor has, to some / extent ceased, planters in some instances, are driving off freed- / people employed by them and refusing to pay for their labor. / Sometimes this is done openly, but generally by purposely quarrel- / ing with the freed-people—threatening them with violence if they / remain, and then because of their leaving the plantation, claiming / that they have violated their contracts and forfeited their wages. / If this unjust and dishonest conduct is persisted in, the State will be / filled with unemployed freed-people, without means of subsistence, / who must live by theft or be supported by the Government. / Therefore persons employing freed-people are forbidden to discharge / them without payment, unless they shall first show sufficient cause, / and obtain the consent of an officer or Agent of this Bureau. / 2. Military commanders in this State will assist the officers and / Agents of the Bureau to enforce the provisions of this Circular.]. There are binding holes in the left and bottom margins of the page, and no markings on the reverse.
label: Transcription Center Status
content: Transcribed by digital volunteers
place: label: Place depicted
content: Augusta, Georgia, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Agriculture
label: Topic
content: Emancipation
label: Topic
content: Government
label: Topic
content: Labor
label: Topic
content: Law
label: Topic
content: Race relations
label: Topic
content: Reconstruction, U.S. History, 1865-1877
label: Topic
content: Rural life
label: Topic
content: Slavery
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Slavery and Freedom Objects
label: Classification
content: Documents and Manuscripts
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2020.26.38
objectType: label: Type
content: orders (military records)
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Public domain
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: ink on wove paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W: 7 5/8 × 4 7/8 in. (19.4 × 12.4 cm)