Thread by @TheCivilWarDoc1

#OTD in 1864 Brig. Gen. Henry H. Lockwood wrote to his superiors about his concerns regarding Maryland's apprenticeship system, especially as it applied to newly emancipated children. Lockwood explained how former enslavers were exploiting the system to their own advantage.

#Slavery was abolished in #Maryland on November 1, 1864, when the state legislature adopted a new state constitution. The new constitution did not outlaw forced labor. Children of "unfit" parents could legally forced into apprenticeships that often times resembled slavery.

The children of newly emancipated people were overwhelmingly subject to forced apprenticeships, often times being forced to work for the people that formerly enslaved them and their parents. This development was concerning to General Lockwood.

Lockwood wrote, "...the apprenticing works advantageously only for the rich slave holder–generally disloyal–and disadvantageously for the poor white tenant and colored man."

Lockwood observed how formerly enslaved parents "...were told, that they must select masters, willing or unwilling." Although he agreed with the "spirit" of the apprenticeship law, Lockwood felt that "...gross abuses have attended it." "Something should be done," he continued.

The Freedman's Bureau began challenging Maryland's apprenticeship system by 1866. With the help of the Bureau, the parents of children who were illegally apprenticed mounted legal challenges through the state's court system.

As a result, thousands of children were released from their indentures and returned to their parents.

You can read Lockwood's letter here:

freedmen.umd.edu/Lockwood.html

#OnThisDay #Onthisdayinhistory #TodayInHistory #History #UShistory #AmericanHistory #CivilWarHistory