“NOT AS SLAVES…BUT AS FREEMEN”: COOLIES, FREE LABOR, AND RECONSTRUCTION IN THE AGE OF EMANCIPATION

Abstract

During the years known as Reconstruction, the Southern United States transitioned from slavery, along with many other societies throughout the world. Southern planters and reformers debated how to deal with this post-emancipation society. As formerly enslaved individuals fought to gain rights as citizens, their former owners looked for ways to construct a new system of labor that would reestablish control in the South. Many advocated the importation of Chinese laborers, often referred to in the nineteenth century as “coolies.” Opponents argued that this was an attempt to reinstitute slavery in another form. However, supporters argued that the workers would not be “coolies,” but rather free contract laborers. Using Southern newspapers from 1860-1870, especially the Memphis Daily Appeal, this thesis explores an often unheard of movement for Chinese labor in the South, the eventual failure of the movement, and how this movement informs our understanding of Reconstruction in the Age of Emancipation.