| Abstract | This dissertation argues that both Confederate-sympathetic civilians and soldiers serving as the Union occupational government worked to reestablish ¿the Union as it was¿ in Civil War and Reconstruction-era New Orleans. Although ostensibly these two disparate groups seemed to be serving the same purpose, their objectives were different. Union soldiers sought to put an end to the armed rebellion and either coax or coerce the rebels to return to the Union. Commanders like Benjamin Butler succeeded in eradicating summer disease, but also enraged people all across the South and even across the Atlantic with his infamous ¿Woman Order¿ which many perceived as waging war on women. Nathaniel Banks relieved Butler and is an example of a more conciliatory commander. Banks reformed the local labor system, mustered several units of African American soldiers, and worked with President Lincoln to reincorporate Louisiana into the Union. Southerners worked toward different goals, and their efforts resulted in pro- and former Confederate civilians retaining many of their antebellum privileges despite wartime developments like emancipation. The efforts of Confederate-sympathetic people hindered educational, political, and commercial progress for Afro Americans, regardless of their prewar status. Confederate resistance could not stop Union soldiers from capturing the city of New Orleans, but it did stem the social and legal gains of African Americans in postwar society. |
