Applying for land
Former slaves could apply to lease abandoned or confiscated land held by the Federal Government. After President Andrew Johnson began to pardon former Confederates,...
Corps d’Afrique
Tens of thousands of freedmen and runaway slaves served in the regiments of the United States Colored Troops and other state units. The men in this photograph, taken...
Enjoying the water
A fisherman’s family enjoys the waters of Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana. Photographer John Messina took this photo in July 1972 as part of the Documerica...
Financing Louisiana…
In 1803, representatives from the United States agreed to pay $15 million to purchase 828,000 square miles of land from France. Cash-poor France, preparing for war...
Free to be married
This is a marriage certificate issued to Peter Thompson and Maria Hall, both former slaves, in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, on January 28, 1867. While many...
Removed from their land
This register recorded census-like data on Cherokee Indian family groups. More than 70,000 members of the Cherokee, Seminole, Creek, Chickasaw, and Choctaw tribes...
Rights guaranteed in three languages
Through the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, France sold more than 800,000 square miles of land to the United States for $15 million—doubling the size of the fledgling...