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Why did general Benjamin Butler declare enslaved African American refugees to be contraband or captured war supplies?
Wiki User
∙ 11y ago
Declaring slaves who had run away into the position of the Union Army to be "contraband" allowed the Union Army to "confiscate" them. This meant that the Union Army did not have to turn the runaways over to their owners, when the owners appeared wanting their slaves back. This denied the labor of the slaves to the south, and also satisfied the feelings of many in the Union Army, who did not like the idea of forcing slaves who had escaped back into servitude. So, for some months runaways were called "contrabands". This was before the Emancipation Proclamation, which did not take effect until January 1, 1863, by which time the war had been going on for more than nineteen months.
Union leaders had to steer clear of the mention of "emancipation", of freeing the slaves, for the first part of the war. Very early on the Union commander in Missouri, John C. Fremont, had issued his own "emancipation" without consulting President Lincoln first, or even warning anyone in Washington DC what he intended to do. Fremont was a "political general", one of a large number of men (like Ben Butler) who were appointed as generals in the army in the early days not because they were great soldiers, but because of their political clout and connections, so Fremont should have known better. (Fremont did at least have some military experience, unlike almost all the other political generals - he had become famous as "The Pathfinder" following publication of his book written about his explorations of the west as the commander of a military expedition before the war). Fremont had been the first Republican to run for President, but he lost in 1856. Lincoln was the first Republican elected. Lincoln forced Fremont to withdraw his proclamation of "emancipation" in those early days in Missouri. The reason for this was Lincoln was trying to woo the border states - states which had slavery, but had not seceded - yet, anyway - and joined the Confederacy. Lincoln had said he hoped to have God on his side, but he HAD to have Kentucky. So all talk of "emancipation" had to be stifled at first, to avoid alarming the politically powerful large slave-holders in the border states (Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware) and to not give them the issue of slavery over which to decide they must cast their lot with the south, or be bankrupted.
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∙ 11y ago
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How did most Africans become enslaved?
most people became enslaved in African societies either through being captured during tribal warfare or , more often than people realise today, by being sold by their tribal cheifs to Arab or European slave traders for monetary profit.
Who enslaved black people first?
Most were captured by other black tribes and then sold to foreign traders.
Where were many American Indians and enslaved African forced to work?
yes
Had the Fugitive Slave Act free all enslaved African Americans?
No the Fugitive Slave Act gave captured esaped slaves back to their owners.
What are enslaved people?
enslaved people are people who are slaves back then during the colonies there had enslaved people who help then with their plantations
Why did union general Benjamin butler declare enslaved African-American refugees to be contraband or captured war supplies?
He would not have to return them to slave holders in the south
Why did Union General Benjamin Butler declare enslaved African American refugees to be contraband or captured war supplies?
It was an excuse for not returning the slaves to their owners, and thereby weakening the Southern economy.
Why did union general butler declare enslaved African American American refugees to be contraband or captured war supplies?
It was an excuse for not returning the slaves to their owners, and thereby weakening the Southern economy.
Who were enslaved before the African?
prisoners of war such as warriors that got captured then were enslaved
What does enslaved mean?
Enslaved means:if someone was enslaved, then they would have been made into a slave or it is as if they were made into a slave
Why was red from the edge on the sword enslaved?
he was captured by the danish
Why did union Benjamin butler declare enslaved African American refugees to be contraband or capture war supplies?
The law allowed for enemy property to be confiscated. Since the South considered slaves chattels (personal property), Butler took advantage of the loophole to free the slaves in Southern territory under Union control.
What did enslaved people in African societies had?
Been captured in the war
How was olaudah equiano enslaved?
He was captured at the age of eleven, by slave traders.
Who was the first black to be enslaved?
this is unknown since it was many people who were captured.
Was an there an army of children in the crusades?
Yes, but it was captured and enslaved by the Muslims before it made it to Jerusalem.
Was nat turner a enslaved African American?
Yes Nat Turner was an enslaved american. He lived in the 1800's.
