Although the Civil War is celebrated as the time of emancipation, emancipation was not the primary issue at stake. This leads to wondering how the Emancipation Proclamation and the 14th amendment actually affected the life of the average black. If emancipation was a side effect or an afterthought, what did it really mean? Truly, although blacks were legally freed after the war, they were in many ways still enslaved to the white man. But although the majority of whites in the South did desire and often succeed in keeping the “freedmen” under their control, some few truly did desire to see blacks succeed in the world. Also, the status of blacks during the war was intriguing; for the North, blacks from the South and Northern blacks were treated the same. And that same was inferior to the whites of the North. Before the Civil War, the black man was thought to be inferior to the white man. He was susceptible to diseases that did not affect the white man. Diseases like drapetomania “that induces the negro to run away from service” reduced the black man to a biped animal, incapable of thinking for himself. His decisions were based solely on animalistic instincts and influences such as disease and misleading temptations. In the Dred Scott case of 1857, blacks were decided to not be citizens of the United States of America. Consequently, they were not entitled to any more protection than a cow and could not sue for their freedom. They were not able to dispute the issue. They had no identity outside of their master, they were entirely tied in every legal way to that person’s decisions. Even when a man might admit that blacks are indeed human, blacks would still be looked upon as inferior. Abraham Lincoln, acclaimed liberator, declared tha... ... middle of paper ... ... Peculiarities of the Negro Race. Colby, A. (1872). The First-Class Men of Our Town. Conway, T. W. (1865, August 26). Report to Congress. Shreveport, Louisiana. Decision of the Supreme Court in the Dred Scott Case. (1857, March 7). New York Daily Times . Foner, P. S. (2003). Frederick Douglass on Slavery and the Civil War. In F. Douglass, & P. S. Foner. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications Inc. Gooding, J. H. (1863, September 28). Morris Island. Gooding, J. H. (1863, July 20). Morris Island. Jenkins, D., Redman, A. N., Wilson, G. W., White, H., & Myers, F. (1865, August 9). To the People of Ohio and Indiana. Richmond, Indiana. Lincoln, A. (1858, September 18). Response to Negro Equality. Charleston, Illinois. Lincoln, A. (1863, January 1). The Emancipation Proclamation. Mississippi Black Codes. (1865). Mississippi. Yellowley, H. A. (1862, November 16).
While the formal abolition of slavery, on the 6th of December 1865 freed black Americans from their slave labour, they were still unequal to and discriminated by white Americans for the next century. This ‘freedom’, meant that black Americans ‘felt like a bird out of a cage’ , but this freedom from slavery did not equate to their complete liberty, rather they were kept in destitute through their economic, social, and political state.
Foner, Philip S. The Life and Writings of Frederick Douglass, Volume II Pre-Civil War Decade
...fred D. “Frederick Douglass.” Encyclopedia of African-American Literature. New York: Facts on File, 2007. 144-146. Print.
This story was set in the deep south were ownership of African Americans was no different than owning a mule. Demonstrates of how the Thirteenth Amendment was intended to free slaves and describes the abolitionist’s efforts. The freedom of African Americans was less a humanitarian act than an economic one. There was a battle between the North and South freed slaves from bondage but at a certain cost. While a few good men prophesied the African Americans were created equal by God’s hands, the movement to free African Americans gained momentum spirited by economic and technological innovations such as the export, import, railroad, finance, and the North’s desire for more caucasian immigrants to join America’s workforce to improve our evolving nation. The inspiration for world power that freed slaves and gave them initial victory of a vote with passage of the Fifteenth Amendment. A huge part of this story follows the evolution of the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment more acts for civil rights.
During the post-bellum period, both Blacks and Whites fought to define the social structure of the New South following the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment. Blacks sought to express their freedom in the simplest terms through the control of their own political, economic, and social life. Nonetheless, humiliation and injustice defined freedom for Blacks in the New South as institutions, both federal and local, failed to support the rule of law. A rigid framework crafted through means of power and fear came to define the social status of the “New Negro”. However, within the framework existed a small amount of fluidity which acted as the motive power for African Americans as they transitioned from a long freedom struggle into the Civil Rights movement. The rigid social framework coupled with the small amount of fluidity acknowledges the harsh realities awaiting Blacks daily during the Jim Crow era while suggesting the opportunities afforded to Blacks indicates an overall improvement in quality life as opposed to the institution of slavery.
middle of paper ... ... Douglass, Frederick. A. A. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Atlanta: Kessinger Publishing, 2008. 8.
In the years leading to the Civil War, there were many events that sparked wide spread controversy and severely divided the nation. Dred Scott an African American slave whose owner brought him from a slave state to a state that outlawed slavery where he attempted to sue for his freedom. In the year 1854, a mere 6 years before the start of the war, the Supreme Court in Dred Scott v. Sandford handed down one of its most controversial rulings to date. Known as the Dred Scott Decision, the Supreme Court lead by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney issued a 7 to 2 decision, rendered that Africans whether they were free or slaves were not citizens and that they had no legality to sue in Federal court.
Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. The Classic Slave Narratives. Ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. New York: New American Library, 1987. 243-331.
On January 1, 1863 President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that all people being held as salves would be free from that day forward. But, what were black people really emancipated from? Up until the mid-twentieth century black people in the United States were still segregated, the portrayal of their community was the stereotypical version created by whites in the media. It wasn’t until late in the civil rights movement that there was a call to black Americans to be loud and proud of whom they are. Activist “Stokely Carmichael, in his book, Black Power, clearly articulated the meaning of black power [as] “a call for black people in this country to unite, to recognize their heritage, to build a sense of
Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave. Professor David Hennessy, 1845.
Douglas, Frederick. Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (The Harper Single Volume American Literature 3rd edition) 1845:p.1017-1081
Described as being poorly educated, indigent, feeble, and ill prone, Dred Scott seemed consistent with society's definition of the black slave. However, he was an articulate man who changed our society and American standards. Married to Harriet Scott with four (4) children, Dred wanted to provide his family with a sense of dignity and decency that a free man's status would warrant him. He was the cause of a change in how society viewed Negroes. In this research paper you will find out why Dred Scott v. Sandford made every black man ask themselves the question, am I free or have I been deprived of my freedom? Nonetheless, if you read on I can offer you a complete and accurate depiction of Dred Scott v. Sandford and the repercussions that it had upon our society.
Warren, Chief Justice. “Loving v. Virginia (No. 395) .” Legal Information Institute. N.p., 12 Jun
It wasn’t easy being an African American, back then they had to fight in order to achieve where they are today, from slavery and discrimination, there was a very slim chance of hope for freedom or even citizenship. This longing for hope began to shift around the 1950’s. During the Civil Rights Movement, where discrimination still took place, it was the time when African Americans started to defend their rights and honor to become freemen like every other citizen of the United States. African Americans were beginning to gain recognition after the 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868, which declared all people born natural in the United States and included the slaves that were previously declared free. However, this didn’t prevent the people from disputing against the constitutional law, especially the people in the South who continued to retaliate against African Americans and the idea of integration in white schools....
Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. Cambridge, MA: Belknap, 1960. Print.