25:["$","title",null,{"children":"Military Occupation and the Southern Labor Movement, 1865-1880 | Digital History: Labor and Violence | Observable"}] 49:T87c,## Introduction The relationship between military occupation and labor organizing during Reconstruction represents one of the most consequential yet understudied aspects of post-Civil War America. This project visualizes how the presence and withdrawal of federal troops directly influenced labor conditions for formerly enslaved people across the South between 1865 and 1880. By mapping military garrison locations against strike activity, we reveal a complex relationship in which military presence both enabled and constrained new labor arrangements. The data demonstrates that areas with sustained military occupation experienced more favorable conditions for Black laborers, while rapid troop withdrawal often corresponded with the deterioration of labor rights and the implementation of exploitative labor systems like sharecropping. Although troop presence was not the sole factor, the increase in labor activity among African Americans was facilitated by military presence in the region. As Gregory Downs argues, "To make Emancipation's new rights concrete, soldiers and agents of the newly formed Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands reached deep into the Southern countryside to impose the force of government." The imposition of Emancipation allowed African American workers to negotiate their wages under the force of arms. When we examine the relationship between the forced emancipation of formerly enslaved people through military occupation from 1865 to 1880, some patterns emerge that demonstrate the impact of troop removal on freed people's ability to continue fighting for their labor rights. By using historian Gregory Downs and Scott Nesbit's *Mapping Occupation* alongside the locations and years of major labor strikes during the same period, historians can observe how these two events are interconnected. The following visualizations analyze the relationship between these two occurrences. While the occupation was not the sole cause of the rise in strikes, it was one factor in a broader narrative about the labor movement in the South during the Reconstruction period. 4a:T4f5,## Reconstruction Troop Levels Methodology From 1865 to 1880, the South was occupied by a large force of white and Black Union troops. The locations of these troops were divided into distinct military districts. **(include the military district sentence in this section)** By looking at this map, one can see the locations of all troops and 25 labor strikes from 1865 to 1880. By analyzing the concentration of labor strikes in the South during this period, one can observe a significant number of strikes occurring in the agricultural regions of the South. The narrative of labor strikes tends to focus on strikes within factories in the northern United States during the same period. However, agricultural workers also asserted their power concurrently. Concentrations of strikes during the years following 1873 especially highlight the increased demands placed on workers after the Panic of 1873, coinciding with the continual removal of troops from the region. As seen on the map, all areas were occupied at all times. This reveals the critical spatial relationship between military occupation and labor activism. It shows how freed people's ability to negotiate fair labor contracts was hindered or assisted by their region's presence or lack of military troops. 4b:T893,## Troop Levels and Labor Strikes In this map, by manipulating the dropdown, one can see the locations and concentrations of troops alongside the significant labor strikes during that year. Beginning in May of 1865, troops started moving to posts throughout the South. The dropdown menu allows users to view troop movements and observe the increase in their concentration in key southern states. For example, Louisiana and Texas experienced higher troop levels by the end of 1865. The military presence varied significantly across the South, with lasting consequences for labor relations. In Louisiana, the dense concentration of troops around New Orleans facilitated the creation of more favorable labor contracts for formerly enslaved people, as military authorities often intervened when planters attempted to impose unfair terms. Meanwhile, in regions like southeastern Virginia, Black troops played a crucial role in protecting freed people's interests, with regiments like the 25th Corps stationed across rural counties, creating what historian Gregory Downs describes as spaces where Black workers could more effectively assert their labor rights. It is important to remember that Texas was on the border of indigenous nations fighting against the encroachment of white settlers. The concentration of troops in Texas served a dual purpose beyond Reconstruction policy. While supervising the transition to free labor in the state's cotton-producing regions, these forces protected frontier settlements from conflicts with indigenous nations. This dual mission often thinned military resources, creating uneven enforcement of labor protections across the state. By contrast, states like Mississippi saw troops concentrated primarily along major waterways, leaving interior plantations with less direct military oversight and creating zones where planter authority remained largely unchallenged, despite nominal emancipation. By the end of the official reconstruction period in 1877, the map shows a cluster of labor strikes in Mississippi and South Carolina. These regions experienced work stoppages and other forms of resistance as federal troop levels dropped dramatically since 1865.4c:T1a1d, Military Troop Levels Timeline (1865-1880)

Federal Troop Levels in the South (1865-1880)

125K

1865

90K

1866

95K

1867

85K

1868

70K

1869

60K

1870

50K

1871

45K

1872

42K

1873

35K

1874

30K

1875

25K

1876

12K

1877

10K

1878

1879

1880

What I'm seeing...???

Federal troop levels dramatically declined from 125,000 in 1865 to just 8,000 in 1880.

The most significant reduction occurred between 1876 and 1877, coinciding with the end of Reconstruction.

Legend

Over 100K troops

80K-100K troops

50K-80K troops

30K-50K troops

Under 30K troops

4d:T121e, Labor Strikes Timeline (1865-1880)

Labor Strikes Timeline (1865-1880)

1865

1866

1867

1868

1869

1870

1871

1872

1873

1874

1875

1876

1877

1878

1879

1880

Labor Strikes

Major clusters of labor unrest occurred in 1872 (4 events) and 1876 (6 events). As troops departed the South, white's began to attempt to control their laborers. This resulted in an increase in stikes due to a fight for better working conditions and wages.

4e:T71d,## Labor Strikes and Troop Level Timeline Data The above timeline shows troop levels from 1865 to 1880. At the war's end, approximately 125,000 federal troops spread through the region. However, troop levels had already dropped as early as 1866. The timelines above chronicle the parallel decline of federal military presence and the rise and fall of organized labor movements, revealing how the gradual withdrawal of Union troops corresponded with increasingly restrictive labor practices. This chronological representation demonstrates the critical turning points in the post-Emancipation labor landscape—from the initial promise of the Freedmen's Bureau and labor contracts in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War, through the pivotal labor organizing efforts of the 1870s, to the ultimate erosion of labor rights as federal protection waned. Southern whites reasserted control over the regional economy and pushed black laborers back onto the land with less and less compensation. The timeline also reveals how national economic factors intersected with military withdrawal to reshape southern labor systems. The Panic of 1873 struck just as military occupation was entering its final phase, creating a perfect storm of conditions for the deterioration of labor rights. As economic pressure mounted on both planters and workers, freedpeople increasingly found themselves with less leverage to negotiate favorable terms. This economic pressure coincided with the emergence of the crop-lien system and debt peonage, which replaced formal slavery with economic bondage in many areas. The data show that in regions where troops remained longer, such as parts of Louisiana and South Carolina, Black workers maintained a greater ability to resist these exploitative arrangements through organized labor actions.4f:Tb03,## Labor Strikes Increase The Labor Strikes Timeline reveals a pattern of worker activism that directly corresponds to the changing dynamics of federal power in the post-Civil War South. As illustrated by the visualization, strike activity surged notably in 1872 and reached its zenith in 1876 with six documented events, precisely as federal military occupation began to recede and white landowners attempted to reassert control over the labor system. This pattern demonstrates how freed people actively resisted deteriorating working conditions through collective action, with the concentration of strikes reflecting both increased worker organization and the mounting economic pressures that accompanied the end of Reconstruction. The marked decline in strike activity after 1877 coincides with the final withdrawal of federal troops and the consolidation of Democratic "Redeemer" governments across the South, revealing how labor's capacity for organized resistance diminished as control tightened over economic and political institutions. Several prominent strikes illustrate this resistance pattern in the face of declining federal protection. The 1876 rice workers' strike in South Carolina's low country represents a pivotal moment, as hundreds of Black agricultural laborers collectively refused to accept wage reductions imposed by plantation owners. This action occurred precisely as the last federal troops were preparing to withdraw from rural districts in the state. Similarly, the 1874 sugar plantation strikes in Louisiana's Terrebonne Parish demonstrated how workers leveraged the remaining military presence to protect their protest activities, staging work stoppages that would have faced violent suppression just a few years later. Beyond formal strikes, freed people developed various forms of everyday resistance as military protection waned. These included strategic mobility between plantations to secure better terms, coordinated slowdowns during critical harvest periods, and the formation of mutual aid societies that provided economic support during labor disputes. Women played crucial roles in these resistance efforts, often organizing community support for striking workers while maintaining household economies that reduced dependence on planter wages. The regional variation in strike patterns reveals how federal withdrawal followed different timelines across the South. In Virginia and Tennessee, where Reconstruction ended earlier, labor militancy declined more rapidly. By contrast, the 'redeemed' Deep South states of Mississippi, Alabama, and South Carolina saw a final surge of organized resistance between 1874-1877, as workers made last-ditch efforts to preserve gains made under military protection before the Compromise of 1877 formalized the end of federal 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Southern Labor Movement, 1865-1880","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","tool":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":286,"value":"$49","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","tool":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":203,"value":"Plot.plot({\n title: \"Total Troops 1865-1890\",\n subtitle: \"Labor Unrest during Military Reconstruction\",\n projection: \"albers\",\n tip: true,\n width,\n r: {\n domain: [0, 10000]\n },\n color: { legend: true },\n marks: [\n Plot.geo(nation),\n Plot.geo(states, { strokeOpacity: 0.25 }),\n Plot.dot(troops, {\n x: \"lon\",\n y: \"lat\",\n tip: true,\n r: \"Troops_Total\",\n symbol: \"circle\",\n fill: \"Blue\",\n }),\n Plot.dot(labor, {\n x: \"Long\",\n y: \"Lat\",\n tip: true,\n r: \"Date\",\n symbol: \"circle\",\n fill: \"red\" // Added red color for labor data\n })\n ]\n})","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","tool":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":295,"value":"$4a","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","tool":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":39,"value":"Plot.plot({\n title: \"Total Troops 1865-1890\",\n subtitle: \"Labor Unrest During the Military Occupation of the South\",\n projection: \"albers\",\n tip:true,\n width,\n r: {\n domain: [0, 10000]\n },\n color: { legend: true},\n marks: [\n Plot.geo(nation),\n Plot.geo(states, { strokeOpacity: 0.25 }),\n Plot.dot(troops, {\n filter: d => d.date.getTime() === dateToViz.getTime(),\n x: \"lon\",\n y: \"lat\",\n tip:true,\n r: \"Troops_Total\",\n symbol: \"circle\",\n fill: \"Blue\",\n }),\n Plot.dot(labor, {\n filter: d => d.Date === yearToViz,\n x: \"Long\",\n y: \"Lat\",\n tip: true,\n r: \"Date\",\n symbol: \"circle\",\n fill: \"Red\"\n })\n ]\n})","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","tool":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":110,"value":"viewof dateToViz = Inputs.select(allDates)","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","tool":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":480,"value":"$4b","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","tool":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":298,"value":"## Troop Levels Timeline\nExplanation of Troop level visual","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","tool":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":273,"value":"$4c","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"html","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","tool":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":271,"value":"$4d","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"html","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","tool":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":489,"value":"$4e","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","tool":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":317,"value":"Plot.plot({\n marginLeft: 300,\n marginRight: 220,\n width: 1200,\n height: 600,\n x: {\n label: \"Year\",\n domain: [1864, 1878],\n tickFormat: d => d.toString(),\n grid: true\n },\n y: {\n label: \"Location\",\n domain: labor.map(d => d.Location)\n },\n color: {\n type: \"ordinal\",\n scheme: \"spectral\"\n },\n marks: [\n Plot.dot(labor, {\n x: \"Date\",\n y: \"Location\",\n fill: (d, i) => i,\n stroke: \"white\",\n strokeWidth: 1,\n title: d => `Location: ${d.Location}\\nEvent: ${d.Event}\\nYear: ${d.Date}\\nCoordinates: ${d.Lat.toFixed(4)}, ${d.Long.toFixed(4)}`\n }),\n Plot.text(labor, {\n x: d => d.Date,\n y: \"Location\",\n text: d => d.Date.toString(),\n dx: -5,\n textAnchor: \"end\",\n fontWeight: \"bold\",\n fill: \"black\"\n }),\n Plot.ruleX([0])\n ],\n title: \"Labor Strikes During Reconstruction (1865-1877)\"\n})","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","tool":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":562,"value":"$4f","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","tool":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":571,"value":"## Conclusion\n\nInsert conclusion here....","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","tool":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":428,"value":"# Sources\n\nBatzell, Rudi. * Organizing Workers in the Shadow of Slavery: Global Inequalities, Racial Boundaries, and the Rise of Unions in American and British Capitalism, 1870-1929. * The University of Chicago Press, 2024.\n\nDowns, Gregory, * After Appomattox: Military Occupation and the Ends of War. * Harvard University Press, 2015. \n\nDowns, Gregory & Nesbit, Scott. *Mapping Occupation.* Retrieved from https://www.mappingoccupation.org/map/static/about.html on April 2, 2025.\n","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","tool":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":12,"value":"# Appendix\n Geographic Data/Tables","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","tool":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"","database":"$undefined"},{"id":242,"value":"locations = [...new Set(data.map(d => d.Location))].sort()","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","tool":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":219,"value":"data = FileAttachment(\"Labor_Riots@1.csv\").csv({typed: true})","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","tool":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":5,"value":"troops = await FileAttachment(\"Troops.csv\").csv({typed: \"auto\"})","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","tool":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"troops","database":"$undefined"},{"id":60,"value":"labor = await FileAttachment(\"Labor_Riots@1.csv\").csv({typed: \"auto\"})","pinned":true,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","tool":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"labor","database":"$undefined"},{"id":116,"value":"dateToViz","pinned":true,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","tool":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":105,"value":"allDates = Array.from(\n new Set(troops.map(d => +d.date))\n)\n .map(timestamp => new Date(timestamp))\n.sort((a, b) => a - b)","pinned":true,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","tool":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":161,"value":"yearToViz = dateToViz.getFullYear()","pinned":true,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","tool":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":10,"value":"getPropertiesTable = function (gj) {\n const props = [];\n gj.features.forEach((feature) => {\n props.push(feature.properties);\n });\n return props;\n}","pinned":true,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","tool":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":22,"value":"import {us} from \"@observablehq/us-geographic-data\"","pinned":true,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","tool":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":29,"value":"nation = topojson.feature(us, us.objects.nation)","pinned":true,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","tool":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":34,"value":"states = topojson.feature(us, us.objects.states)","pinned":true,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","tool":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":37,"value":"counties = topojson.feature(us, us.objects.counties)","pinned":true,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","tool":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":192,"value":"import { ForceGraph } from \"@d3/force-directed-graph-component\"","pinned":true,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","tool":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":380,"value":"//viewof ordersForPlot = Inputs.radio([\"Paulist\", \"Redemptorist\"], {\n // label: \"Order\"\n//})","pinned":true,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","tool":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":367,"value":"//yearForFilter = 1877","pinned":true,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","tool":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":378,"value":"//viewof yearForFilter2 = Inputs.range([1852, 1894], { step: 1 })","pinned":true,"hidden":false,"mode":"ojs","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","tool":"$undefined","providerMetadata":"$undefined","attachments":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"}],"files":"$W50","stdlib":"1"}} 24:null