VI. Reconstruction Resources

1865 to 1877

  • 6.01 1860 Acres of land improved and unimproved
  • 6.02 1870 Acres of land improved and unimproved
  • 6.03 Plan for Freedman’s Village (in color and black & white)
  • 6.04 Harper’s Weekly Freedman’s Village
  • 6.05 Photograph of Freedman’s Village
  • 6.06 Regulations for the Government of Freedman’s Village (poster and text)
  • 6.07 1870 Census population

Source 6.01: Kennedy, J. C. G. Agriculture of the United States in 1860: Compiled from the Original Returns of the Eighth Census, under the Direction of the Secretary of the Interior. Washington: G.P.O., 1864. Print. This link takes you to a series of pdfs on this topic. <http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1860b.zip>.

Source 6.02: United States. Census Office. 9th Census, 1870. The Statistics of the Wealth and Industry of the United States: Embracing the Tables of Wealth, Taxation, and Public Indebtedness of Agriculture, Manufactures, Mining and the Fisheries: With Which Are Reproduced, from the Volume on Population the Major Tables of Occupations, Compiled from the Original Returns of the Ninth Census, June 1, 1870. By Francis Amasa Walker. Washington: Govt. Print. Off., 1872. Print. This link opens a zip file with pdf tables of data. <http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1870c.zip>.

The Civil War had many social, political, and economic impacts. Comparing the acres of improved and unimproved land in Arlington from 1860 (S6.01) and 1870 (S6.02) is one measure of the environmental and economic impact of the Civil War in Arlington.

Comparing statistics for states in the South and North is also meaty analysis opportunity. More agricultural census schedules are available here.

Source 6.03: Office of the Quartermaster General. “Freedmans Village near Arlington Hights, Va., July 10th, 1865. Genl. [ground] Plan No. 9.” War Department 10 April 1865. National Archives and Records Administration. Web.

Source 6.04: Freedman’s village, Arlington, Virginia. 1864. Illus. in: Harper’s Weekly, v. 8, 1864 May 7. Retrieved from the Library of Congress.

Source 6.05: Freedman’s Village, Arlington, Va. [photographed Between and 1865, Printed Between 1880 and 1889, 1861] Image. Retrieved from the Library of Congress,

Source 6.06: Office of the Quartermaster General. War Department. Regulations for the Government of Freedman’s Village, Greene Heights, Arlington, Va. and the Government Farms, Mechanical Shops, Hospitals, Homes, Schools, &c., Connected Therewith. Washington, D.C.: PHILP & SOLOMONS, Printers and Stationers, C.1863. Print.

Freedman’s Village in Arlington is a rich opportunity to connect local history with national history. In addition to the links below, here is an informative article from the Arlington Historical Magazine.

Further sources:

  • United States. National Park Service. “Freedman’s Village.” National Parks Service. U.S. Department of the Interior, n.d. Web. 16 Aug. 2016.
  • Freedman’s Barracks, Alexandria, Va. [photographed Between and 1865, Printed Between 1880 and 1889, 1861] Image. Retrieved from the Library of Congress.

Source 6.07: United States. Census Office. The Statistics of the Population of the United States: Embracing the Tables of Race, Nationality, Sex, Selected Ages, and Occupations Compiled from the Original Returns of the Ninth Census, (June 1, 1870,) under the Direction of the Secretary of the Interior. By Francis Amasa Walker. Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1872. This link opens a zip file with pdf tables of data. <http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1870a.zip>.

This census schedule for 1870, which also has aggregate figures for 1850 and 1860, demonstrates migration demographics influenced by the Civil War and the founding of Freedmen’s Village.

In the 1870 census, the city part of Alexandria was broken out into wards and the country part, which is essentially Arlington, was broken out into three districts: Washington, Arlington, and Jefferson. This 1900 map shows these districts (look for the faint dashed lines that begin at where Aqueduct Bridge reaches Rosslyn and where the proposed Memorial Bridge reaches the Little River near Arlington Cemetery).  

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