406

1034 HISTORICAL ANNOTATION

Commons. Curran also fought in five duels, as both the challenged and the challenger.
DNB, 5:332-40.

475.28-29 fourteenth and fifteenth amendments are virtually nullified] Redeemers
in the southern states opposed the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments' enfran-
chisement of African Americans by limiting black voting power and indirectly keep-
ing Republicans from holding governmental positions. In Georgia a poll tax was
established, which restricted much of the state's underclass black population from
voting, while in Mississippi, Alabama, and other southern states gerrymandering
techniques were executed to weaken the remaining black vote. Additionally,
Mississippi rid itself of Republican officials by establishing strict bond requirements,
while North Carolina and Alabama even managed to restore the localized form of
government they maintained during the antebellum era by transferring power to select
county officials. By the mid-1870s such actions effectively discouraged many north-erners from continuing federal protection of southern blacks. Foner, Reconstruction,
422, 586-87, 590-91.

476.26-29 swindled out of. . . life and starvation ] Following the Civil War, ex-
slaves in the South were often abused by white landowners, who contractually mort-
gaged their crops at inflated fees of from $5 to $10 per acre. Black farmers of cotton
crops were particularly mistreated, since the ginning process required for the cotton
was controlled by white landlords who monopolized the market and forced tenants to
accept their high production fees. Additionally, white southern storekeepers tended to
price products at over twice their market value and charged high interest rates on
outstanding balances. As a result of such white-imposed credit systems, most rural
blacks in the South remained in debt-ridden poverty throughout the 1860s and 1870s.
Roger L. Ransom and Richard Sutch, One Kind of Freedom: The Economic
Consequences of Emancipation (New York, 1977), 159-70; Painter, Exodusters,
54-68.

477.18-19 When the Hebrews ... from the Egyptians] The Bible states that, upon
their emancipation, the Hebrews were "spoiled" by their erstwhile masters, and
received from the Egyptians everything they required. The emancipation of the
Hebrews from Egypt forms the core of what is known as the Exodus event found in
the Old Testament book of the same name. It was during this time that Moses
became the leader of the Hebrew people, ultimately leading them to Canaan, "the
promised land." Although the Exodus event was once believed to have been a his-
torical event, modern historians doubt in varying degrees the story's accuracy. Most
agree that, at the very least, the general historicity of the Exodus event explains most
reasonably the other known facts of that era and region. Conclusive dating of the
Exodus event based on extrabiblical sources is impossible, though a plausible period
from 1260 to 1220 BCE has been established. Exod. 3:1-19; Anchor Bible
Dictionary, 2:700-08.

477.20-21 serfs of Russia ... make a living ] Alexander II 's Emancipation
Manifesto of 5 March 1861 freed most classes of Russian serfs. those laboring on