Peonage Files of the U.S. Department of Justice, 1901-1945 — Fondren Library - Rice University

Most Americans think chattel slavery in the U. S.  ended in 1865.  They are sadly misinformed and have been purposefully misled. It ended in 1941 after FDR had his Justice Department issue an order ending the peonage system. 
"Microfilm. One of the most striking features of the economy of the South in the early 20th century was the extent to which its farms, plantations, mines, and mills availed themselves of a system of forced labor known as "peonage." This system developed from the practice of holding laborers in debt and forcing them to remain on the premises of their creditors to work off the debt. Peon laborers were thus bound to their masters' firms or plantations, often by means of violence and intimidation. Because the overwhelming majority of peon laborers were black, the system served to entrench racial as well as class divisions throughout the South. In many respects, peonage served as a holdover of the antebellum slave labor system. Here are the complete peonage files of the U.S. Department of Justice from 1901 (when the Justice Department began a massive crackdown on peonage) through 1945. These files include incoming complaints to the department from local U.S. attorneys as well as from private individuals and such civil rights groups as the NAACP. They also detail the Justice Department's response to each complaint and include correspondence between the department and the local prosecutor, internal legal memoranda, depositions of witnesses, briefs, and trial transcripts. Also published in this new collection are the previously restricted Federal Bureau of Investigation case reports, which have never before been available to researchers."