But as Schurz reported in 1865, and the slaveholders themselves admitted, “the transition of the southern negro from slavery to freedom was untarnished by any deeds of blood, and the apprehension [of African American violence] … proved utterly groundless.” There was violence in the South, but it was usually at the hands of white outlaws, bushwhackers, and unreconciled Confederates. Black people were victims, not perpetrators. Their collective restraint was remarkable.
