had little faith in the Union’s commitment to unfettered freedom for former slaves; the treatment of contrabands in New Bern hardly presaged a promising future. For instance, the Union army provided small relief packages of flour, beef, bacon, and bread to seventy-five hundred fugitive slaves and their families. But white citizens received sixteen times more rations. And while white military workers earned $12 a month, black workers, who helped build military fortifications, were paid $8.
