This week in the Civil War: March 16, 1864

Freedom for African-Americans in Louisiana

The New York Times reported on March 21 that African-Americans freed from the yoke of slavery by federal forces in control of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana constituted a ‘‘new success’’ for the Union government. The Times noted that many of those liberated by the advance of the federal army could not read or write previously. But in New Orleans alone, some 1,900 young African-Americans were already attending day schools and learning both reading and writing. The Times added that adults freed by the Union had also begun finding paid work. ‘‘Facts furnish the best proof of the success of any system; and, when we compare the condition of fifty thousand negroes in this State last year with their condition now, we need hardly allude to a thousand particulars,’’ The Times said.