Control is an interesting thing for it comes in many different disguises; it can be masked as power, as freedom - but these are merely illusions.
People believe that they are truly free when they have control over others and are the ones in the powerful positions (positions of power). They strive for control and power in their lives hoping that it will offer them salvation and freedom and in return make life easier and give them an upper hand. However, freedom is unobtainable.
The antebellum south is a perfect example of this. The white southerners had complete control over slaves and the actions of African-Americans so they believed that they were in fact free. They were content, secure, and comfortable with their slaves because they had the ability and the authority to monitor their actions and treat them however they chose. This control gave them a sense of freedom and security. But no – this feeling was nothing more than an illusion of freedom and a false sense of security.
Henry in The Known World by Edward Jones believed in this false freedom. He was in fact born into slavery on a large plantation with minimal rights and maximum work but he grew to have a strong bond with the master William Robbins. Although he had more privileges than others on the plantation, he still had very little control over his life and his situation. When he was finally bought out of slavery he made the decision to become a slave owner and run a plantation with his own hired help. This is because he desired the control Robbins had. He believed that the more control he had the freer he would actually be.
Although Henry was a prominent person in the community and was in the control of many...
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...mistakes and avoid any similar reoccurrences in the future— but this is far from the reality of what is happening. We have it all wrong. Society is forming a prejudice of all African American people based on slavery, while we are supposed to use these events to learn to avoid these kinds of beliefs again. The African American people will always be affected by the aftermath of slavery and the thoughts of society. They will continue to be an easy target for prejudices, discrimination, and misconceptions until we, as a society, can learn to use the past as a tool for improvement rather than something to base prejudices from.
The common illusion in this country is that everyone is equal and everyone has the same rights; we have overcome slavery. This is not the case. Instead we have a distorted vision of the truth - an illusion of freedom and an illusion of equality.
...ican. Henry made great effort to constantly put God first in not only his life, but in the messages that he shared with people. Amongst this, he loved his nation, especially the people of Virginia. The opinions he had regarding the Revolutionary war, were vividly explained in this speech. Mr. Henry was passionate about peace, and the love that God had for the world. He had a very strong faith, and never hesitated to express what he had learned in his Bible studies. Specifically in this message, Henry used several different Biblical themes as a way to draw in his audience. In using his knowledge of the Bible he was able to precisely get the point a crossed that he was trying to make clear. Henry believed in the freedom of the people just as God had intended it to be. If this would mean to fight for that right, then he was ready to put forth everything that he had.
To wrap it up, African Americans lived an unfair past in the south, such as Alabama, during the 1930s because of discrimination and the misleading thoughts towards them. The Ku Klux Klan, Jim Crow Laws and the way they were generally treated in southern states all exemplify this merciless time period of the behavior towards them. They were not given the same respect, impression, and prospect as the rest of the citizens of America, and instead they were tortured. Therefore, one group should be never singled out and should be given the same first intuition as the rest of the people, and should never be judged by color, but instead by character.
We saw the Thirteenth Amendment occur to abolish slavery. We also saw the Civil Rights Acts which gave full citizenship, as well as the prohibiting the denial of due process, etc. Having the civil rights laws enabled African Americans to new freedoms which they did not used to have. There was positive change occurring in the lives of African Americans. However, there was still a fight to suppress African Americans and maintain the racial hierarchy by poll taxes and lengthy and expensive court proceedings. Sadly, this is when Jim Crow laws appeared. During this time African Americans were losing their stride, there was an increase in prison populations and convict labor, and the convicts were
The United States will forever have a bad rep for what happened to those who were once enslaved in this country. The two sides of this controversy, being Pro Slavery and the Abolitionists, set one of the main splits in this country that was supposedly a place for anyone to have “freedom”. What started this affair was the overall reality that African Americans were represented as unusually different, there were many reasons for the white man to justify slavery, and what became the practice of being racial prejudice. The ideas behind what the Pro Slavery activists believed versus the Abolitionists, each to their own, have an attitude towards what they thought was right and wrong for the well being of their country, but
America has forever long been looked upon as the land of opportunity, yet for just as long struggled with the actual attainment of equal opportunity by all of its citizens. The lines of this inequality have b...
Also, Henry refused to support the Constitution because it was lacking a bill of rights. He called it, "the most fatal plan that could possibly be conceived to enslave a free people." In other words he thought that without a bill of rights, we (the people) would be enslaving ourselves. Henry thought that the Constitution didn't protect the basic freedom of the people. Henry believed that people wouldn't be safe from a powerful government without the bill of rights.
Over the years most of us have read a great deal about the institution of slavery and it’s effects on this country and the African American race as a whole. The fact of the matter is most of us have only learned certain information about slavery. There are only certain facts and historical figures that we lean about. No to say that the information we get is wrong, but we were not taught the whole story. This could be due to the approach of different instructors or because school curriculums are supposed to focus on the interesting facts and stories about slavery. The fact of the matter is there are some areas that go untouched when learning about slavery in most schools. Reading the book Black Southerners was something different for me. It was like some one opened a door and when I entered in I found hidden facts and knowledge about an institution that has a tremendous effect on my country and this history of race.
The interpretation of freedom can sometimes be viewed differently among people, which creates the pursuit of liberty to be much more arduous. Property, the right to vote, and the color of your skin, all contribute to the equality or inequality we face when searching to create a society based on a populations overall needs and whether or not we have a voice in electing our representatives. Freedom is a burdensome idea that is defined differently among society and leads to several areas of conflict and confusion. Even though people have signed petitions and laws to create freedom, several instances have emerged documenting how freedom and equality are harder to gain. In order to eliminate oppression in any environment, it is necessary to level
African American history plays a huge role in history today. From decades of research we can see the process that this culture went through and how they were depressed and deculturalized. In school, we take the time to learn about African American History but, we fail to see the aspects that African Americans had to overcome to be where they are today. We also fail to view life in their shoes and fundamentally understand the hardships and processes that they went through. African Americans were treated so terribly and poor in the last century and, they still are today. As a subordinate race to the American White race, African Americans were not treated equal, fair, human, or right under any circumstances. Being in the subordinate position African Americans are controlled by the higher white group in everything that they do.
Americans should realize the magnitude of slavery’s consequences on African Americans as a whole. Blacks were brainwashed and stripped of self-esteem and taught to be ashamed of dark color of their skin. Many African Americans have effortlessly tried to advocate “Black Pride”, trying to re-instill self-worth and being proud of our distinct facial and body features, and darker complexions. African Americans had zilch to begin with after the abolishment of slavery in 1865. Slaves were promised a “mule/ and 40 acres” and they didn’t live to receive it nor did generations to follow; because the American government has yet to live up to its word. The fruit of the slaves’ labor was stolen from the “land of the free”. The victims of the White people’s African slave trade never experienced such freedom. This race deserves compensation for the mistreatment
“We hold these truths to be self evident; that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” If the confusion has not yet set in, then give it a moment. This nation, the United States of America, prides itself on being far superior to all other nations because here in America we are free men. We set ourselves on a pedestal above Great Britain because the Declaration of Independence clearly states that everyone inside the parameters of our country will be treated as equal as the same individuals neighbor. Yet for nearly three centuries, our nation was full of individuals, including our forefathers, who “owned” people that were regarded as less than themselves simply due to the fact that the pigments in their skin did not allow them to fall within the Caucasian race. The very legal document that had the word “Independence” written within it’s name and blatantly stated that it is obvious that no human is greater than any other because we were all made by the same god for the same reason, is the foundation of a nation that used innocent lives as fuel for slavery. It wasn’t until some educated individuals finally stood up and realized how incredibly wrong these two concepts are when put together. It is said that when the former slave Frederick Douglass
Since the beginning of American history, citizens who resided the country lacked the basic civil rights and liberties that humans deserved. Different races and ethnicities were treated unfairly. Voting rights were denied to anyone who was not a rich, white male. Women were harassed by their bosses and expected to take care of everything household related. Life was not all that pretty throughout America’s past, but thankfully overtime American citizens’ civil liberties and rights expanded – granting Americans true freedom.
With more support, there are more suggestions on how to make the dream of freedom come true. Freedom did not only include working conditions. It also involved religion freedom. The document “Sinners Bound to Change Their Own Hearts” points out that “…a person free to choose between a Christian life or life of sin” (Voices Doc. 58). People have the choice to choose the life they want, whether it is following God or if it is doing something that is against ones religion. Freedom of religion is one important aspect that people had arrived to the New World for. People wanted to practice their religion without being looked as a bad person. Now the people are choosing to go against their religion and feel good about doing it. The meaning of freedom of religion changed from what it stood for. Regarding individual freedom, there was always a whether slaves should be free or not. According to Andrew Fletcher in “Slavery and Freedom,” he suggests that “…they all be made slaves to men of property” (11). Those same people turn out to do crimes and are not able to live off their own, so he thought it was better for them to be slaves. As slaves they were free because they were working and making a living, but the slaves thought they should not be treated as laborers for the wealthy. Fletcher was willing to make the former slaves work as slaves again. Slaves had come out of
Throughout history, African Americans have encountered an overwhelming amount of obstacles for justice and equality. You can see instances of these obstacles especially during the 1800’s where there were various forms of segregation and racism such as the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan terrorism, Jim- Crow laws, voting restrictions. These negative forces asserted by societal racism were present both pre and post slavery. Although blacks were often seen as being a core foundation for the creation of society and what it is today, they never were given credit for their work although forced. This was due to the various laws and social morals that were sustained for over 100 years throughout the United States. However, what the world didn’t know was that African Americans were a strong ethnic group and these oppressions and suffrage enabled African Americans for greatness. It forced African Americans to constantly have to explore alternative routes of intellectuality, autonomy and other opportunities to achieve the “American Dream” especially after the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments were passed after the Civil War.
Freedom is a concept that people are often willing to die for and it is the cause of much fighting. However, few people ever claim to dislike freedom. This raises an interesting question: how can people fight over what is generally considered to be a positive idea? Does this mean that someone must be against freedom? The answer is that people cannot agree on what freedom is, thus numerous groups can claim to be "for freedom" while strongly disagreeing on the means by which to achieve it. These groups often argue vehemently and passionately, trying to convince the majority that their side is right. However, emotion is only one part of deciding who is more persuasive. I offer two examples of disagreements regarding freedom, as proof that freedom is neither tangible, nor a singular idea.