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Freedmen’s Bureau letter concerning unpaid wages

Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands1868

National Constitution Center

National Constitution Center
Philadelphia, PA, United States

Writing on behalf of free laborers, a Freedmen’s Bureau agent sent this letter to their employer, requesting that their wages be paid in full. The workers had only received one-third of their earnings for picking 58 bales of cotton. As the South transitioned to a free-labor system, Bureau agents stepped in to resolve such disputes.

LI-2018-33.04

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  • Title: Freedmen’s Bureau letter concerning unpaid wages
  • Creator: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands
  • Date Created: 1868
  • Location Created: New Orleans, Louisiana
  • Subject Keywords: Reconstruction, sharecropping
  • Original Source: Louisiana State University Libraries
  • Rights: Edward J. Gay and Family Papers, Special Collections, LSU Libraries, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA
National Constitution Center

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