Freedmen Institute

Week 15 Exhibit- The 13th Amendment and Slavery in Arkansas: (Another Arkansas First)

In 1865, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution "abolished" slavery throughout the United States and all its jurisdictions: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

A year later, in 1866, Congress passed a statute to the Amendment that made anyone in violation of enslavement be punished $5,000 and five years in prison.

Throughout the history of this significant amendment (from Reconstruction through Jim Crow) there were thousands of lynching, burnings, killings, and acts of re-enslavement of "blacks" throughout this country, yet, not one person was convicted and punished for violating the 13th Amendment. That was until 1936 (seventy years later) in the State of Arkansas.

Here's the story:
Paul D. Peacher, referred to as "Planter Peacher" and "De Law" (by local "blacks") was a cotton planter, former deputy sheriff and city Marshall of Earle, Arkansas (Crittenden County). Because a shortage of cotton pickers was affecting his business, Paul D. Peacher decided to take matters in his own hands. To address shortages in the labor force, Peacher acquired workers for his plantation by illegally arresting "blacks" and charging them with vagrancy. He would then take them before the mayor who would find them guilty and sentence them to 30 days of labor on Peacher's property. They were prevented from escaping by armed guards (excerpts Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture). According to Peacher, "I arrested those Negroes because they were loafing around town... They were loafers and a honky-tonk bunch." While in jail awaiting "trial" they were not provided food and were told to "sharpen their teeth and gnaw those bars" if they requested any (Time Magazine).

Peacher's actions equated to another form of slavery, peonage, which was outlawed in 1867 to help enforce the 13th Amendment.

Slavery v. Peonage
Peonage, also called debt slavery or debt servitude, is a system where an employer compels a worker to pay off a debt with work. Legally, peonage was outlawed by Congress in 1867. However, after Reconstruction, many Southern black men were swept into peonage though different methods, and the system was not completely eradicated until the 1940s." (excerpt from: "Slavery by Another Name" PBS.org).

Word of this "enslavement" reached a group referred to as the Southern Tenant Farmers Union who sent a representative to investigate.

Subsequently, according to Time Magazine, 1936, "the government charged that "De Law" as deputy sheriff, falsely arrested eight Crittenden County "blackamoors" for vagrancy, railroaded them through a Justice of the Peace Court, and forced them to clear timber off his plantation... The Negroes were enslaved, it was charged, because Peacher was short of labor due to a strike of cotton choppers in the vicinity."

*Note: the term the used in the government's case for the arrested "blacks" was "blackamoors." More on this reference to "blackamoors" in a later Freedmen Institute's exhibit.

The case was heard by Federal Judge John E. Martineau (former Arkansas Governor) and a jury that consisted of twelve whites. According to the article, during trial, Planter Peacher (De Law) sat sneeringly confident that the jury of twelve whites would acquit him. He was heard saying of the judge, "he don't scare me none. That jury will turn me loose."

To the surprise of everyone in the courtroom, the jury returned with a guilty verdict; however, they recommended that Peacher receive no time in prison. Judge Martineau, however, sentenced Planter Peacher (De Law) to two years of prison and a $3,500 fine. Planter Peacher, the State of Arkansas, and the nation were stunned. This 1936 case represented the first time since the 13th Amendment "abolishing" slavery was invoked, that anyone was convicted of slavery.

As part of this week's Freedmen Institute's collection, is the original December 7, 1936 Time Magazine and article entitled, "Slavery in Arkansas" and photos associated with the story, as well as video depicting how the court systems continued slavery well after the "Emancipation Proclamation" and the 13th Amendment.

Video link: "Slavery by Another Name"

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5s8ccKepCms

Week 12 Exhibit- Celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

In celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King's holiday, the Freedmen Institute presents a sample of the hundreds of original press photos in its collection. The selected photos reveal some of the actual struggles faced by Dr. King during the Civil Rights Movement. Many of the photos in the collection have the actual press room markings showing their actual preparation to publication. Included are photos from a recent visit to Selma, Alabama where Dr. King marched and Memphis, Tennessee where he was assassinated.

*It should be noted that the Associated Press, United Press International, and other news press agencies own the original copyright to these photos; however, these photos were purchased from these agencies and thus "watermarked" to the Freedmen Institute.