Immediately after the Civil War, freedmen and freedwomen faced an uncertain legal landscape, caught between former owners, reactionary state courts, and a still-potent federal military presence. A system of federal Freedmen’s Bureau courts provided many freedpeople with a forum to seek justice outside of often-hostile state courts. A remarkably complete set of documents from one Bureau Court in Leon County, Florida, reveals the extent to which freedpeople and local white legal elites used the new federal court for their respective benefits. The case of Bill, Charles, Jupiter, Randolph, et al. v. William A. Carr provides a new analytical framework to consider the post-Civil War legal landscape in the South. Not only were freedpeople eager to appear before these federal tribunals, but Southern white lawyers — facing immense political uncertainty in 1865 and 1866 — were willing to practice in Bureau courts. Both groups’ legal arguments reflected the most pressing issues of the time: fair contracting and compensation for freedpeoples’ labor; the desire for societal order and stability; and competing notions of subjugation over a recently enslaved group versus justice and equality for them. The success of black people in gaining access to the legal system benefited local white communities and especially white professional lawyers through fees, career advancement, and reputation. Meanwhile, the success of white lawyers in forums like the Bureau courts benefited freedmen, presenting them with skilled allies in new judicial spaces where their rights and freedoms could be articulated, defended, and advanced.

中文翻译：

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“他们可能会得到充分的正义”：比尔、查尔斯、朱庇特、伦道夫等人的案例。在佛罗里达州自由民局法院诉威廉 A.卡尔案

内战刚结束，自由民和自由女性面临着不确定的法律环境，夹在前所有者、反动的州法院和仍然强大的联邦军事存在之间。联邦自由人局法院系统为许多自由人提供了一个论坛，可以在经常充满敌意的州法院之外寻求正义。佛罗里达州莱昂县一个局级法院提供的一套非常完整的文件揭示了自由人和当地白人法律精英利用新联邦法院谋取各自利益的程度。比尔、查尔斯、朱庇特、伦道夫等人的案例。v. William A. Carr 案提供了一个新的分析框架来考虑南方内战后的法律格局。不仅被释放的人渴望出现在这些联邦法庭上，但南方白人律师——在 1865 年和 1866 年面临巨大的政治不确定性——愿意在局级法院执业。两个团体的法律论点都反映了当时最紧迫的问题：公平签约和自由人劳动补偿；对社会秩序和稳定的渴望；以及对最近被奴役的群体的征服与正义和平等的竞争观念。黑人进入法律体系的成功使当地的白人社区，尤其是白人专业律师通过收费、职业发展和声誉受益。与此同时，白人律师在诸如联邦法院之类的论坛上的成功使自由人受益，在新的司法空间中为他们提供了熟练的盟友，在那里他们的权利和自由可以得到阐明、捍卫和推进。