Frederickson’s title “The Black Imagine in the White Mind” leaves little doubt regarding which side of the argument the author takes on this subject. Within his essay, he stresses the point that racism under the doctrine of “white supremacy” had a vast influence on the failure of Reconstruction. This doctrine of white supremacy stated that white men were superior to colored men, although colored men were now freedmen. Frederickson contends that although the Civil War was over, racism within the south did not disappear overnight which lead to strong opposition from southerners to conform to the North’s pursuit of equality among all races. Southerners were extremely bitter with the fact that colored men would have civil rights equal to theirs. …show more content…
In “The Black Imagine in the White Mind”, Frederickson draws thought-provoking attention to one certain writer and defender of slavery, Van Evrie, and the way his works may have contributed to Reconstruction’s failure. For example, in 1868, Van Evrie, changed the title of one of his well-known books from Negroes and Negro “Slavery” to White Supremacy and Negro Subordination encouraging racism to live on. Racism went by a new name now, “white supremacy.” Also, in 1868, Edward A. Polland, a Richmond journalist and writer, aligned with Van Evrie’s opinions, published a book titled The Lost Cause Regained. According to Polland, Negros were “inferior” to white men which justified slavery. His book’s main audience was Southern white men who were in agreement about slavery. His book fueled the white man’s desire to remain superior to African-Americans. A Nashville publisher, Buckner Payne, writing under the pseudonym “Ariel,” published a pamphlet titled The Negro: What Is His Ethnological Status? Payne proposes that Negros were created before Adam and Eve in the biblical sense, making them a “separate and distinct species of the genus homo.” He belittles Negros by comparing them to a He argued that because some of the sons of Adam intermingled with this lower species, God punished mankind by sending the flood. He dehumanizes African-Americans when he states they are beasts and man will be punished and “exterminated” if he gives his daughter’s hand to a negro in marriage. Payne maintained this is exactly what would happen if African-Americans were allowed to be equal to whites. The two races would eventually begin to crossbreed which would result in the tainting and corruption of the entire white race ultimately leading to its
Making Whiteness: the culture of segregation in the south, 1890-1940 is the work of Grace Elizabeth Hale. In her work, she explains the culture of the time between 1890 and 1940. In her book she unravels how the creation of the ‘whiteness’ of white Southerners created the ‘blackness’ identity of southern African Americans. At first read it is difficult to comprehend her use of the term ‘whiteness’, but upon completion of reading her work, notes included, makes sense. She states that racial identities today have been shaped by segregation, “...the Civil War not only freed the slaves, it freed American racism
In Matthew Frye Jacobson's article called "Free White Persons in the Republic, 1790-1840", concepts of "probational whiteness" and "fitness for self-government" are scrutinized. This article is mainly related with racism, so this word is defined by Meriam-Webster Dictionary as "a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race or racial prejudice or discrimination." According to this definition racial differences have created problems among mankind for centuries. Jacobson draws a portrayal of perception of race and tells about the different phase of racism, especially after 1790 in America.
...isely. This book has been extremely influential in the world of academia and the thinking on the subject of segregation and race relations in both the North and the South, but more importantly, it has influenced race relations in practice since it was first published. However, Woodward’s work is not all perfect. Although he does present his case thoroughly, he fails to mention the Negroes specifically as often as he might have. He more often relies on actions taken by whites as his main body of evidence, often totally leaving out the actions that may have been taken by the black community as a reaction to the whites’ segregationist policies.
As an unabridged version of his other book, Eric Foner sets out to accomplish four main goals in A Short History of Reconstruction. These points enable the author to provide a smaller, but not neglectful, account of the United States during Reconstruction. By exploring the essence of the black experience, examining the ways in which Southern society evolved, the development of racial attitudes and race relations, and the complexities of race and class in the postwar South, as well as the emergence during the Civil War and Reconstruction of a national state possessing vastly expanded authority and a new set of purposes, Foner creates a narrative that encompasses some of the major issues during Reconstruction. Additionally, the author provides
Assumptions from the beginning, presumed the Jim Crow laws went hand in hand with slavery. Slavery, though, contained an intimacy between the races that the Jim Crow South did not possess. Woodward used another historian’s quote to illustrate the familiarity of blacks and whites in the South during slavery, “In every city in Dixie,’ writes Wade, ‘blacks and whites lived side by side, sharing the same premises if not equal facilities and living constantly in each other’s presence.” (14) Slavery brought about horrible consequences for blacks, but also showed a white tolerance towards blacks. Woodward explained the effect created from the proximity between white owners and slaves was, “an overlapping of freedom and bondage that menaced the institution of slavery and promoted a familiarity and association between black and white that challenged caste taboos.” (15) The lifestyle between slaves and white owners were familiar, because of the permissiveness of their relationship. His quote displayed how interlocked blacks...
Imagine a historian, author of an award-winning dissertation and several books. He is an experienced lecturer and respected scholar; he is at the forefront of his field. His research methodology sets the bar for other academicians. He is so highly esteemed, in fact, that an article he has prepared is to be presented to and discussed by the United States’ oldest and largest society of professional historians. These are precisely the circumstances in which Ulrich B. Phillips wrote his 1928 essay, “The Central Theme of Southern History.” In this treatise he set forth a thesis which on its face is not revolutionary: that the cause behind which the South stood unified was not slavery, as such, but white supremacy. Over the course of fourteen elegantly written pages, Phillips advances his thesis with evidence from a variety of primary sources gleaned from his years of research. All of his reasoning and experience add weight to his distillation of Southern history into this one fairly simple idea, an idea so deceptively simple that it invites further study.
Ida B. Wells-Barnett is an investigative journalist who wrote in honesty and bluntness about the tragedies and continued struggles of the Negro man. She was still very much involved with the issue even after being granted freedom and the right to vote. Statistics have shown that death and disparity continued to befall the Negro people in the South where the white man was “educated so long in that school of practice” (Pg. 677 Par. 2). Yet in all the countless murders of Negroes by the white man only three had been convicted. The white man of the South, although opposed to the freedom of Negroes would eventually have to face the fact of the changing times. However, they took every opportunity and excuse to justify their continued horrors. There were three main excuses that the white man of the South came up w...
While parts of America presented and declared themselves as being against racism, they continued to not use their full power to better the lives of African-Americans. For example, Zinn points out that amendments such as the Fourteenth and Fifteenth gave the President enough power to crush racial discrimination, yet none of the men who took office attempted to use this power, and while Congress eventually declared laws that made segregation legal unconstitutional, the fight for equality continued to move to slow for black Americans. Using these points, Zinn discusses how America failed to see the signs that led to actions being taken by black Americans to gain equality due to the fact that white Americans believed progress towards equality was moving at a rapid pace. However, black Americans did not share this point of view, because even with laws for segregation declared unconstitutional, the lives of black Americans barely improved and they continued to face harassment and violence daily. When African-Americans began to protest, they faced harsh treatment by their oppressors, but leaders and Congress slowly began to recognize that African-Americans were no longer going to stay silent on the harassment and violence they faced, so they began responding to calls for change by passing laws such as passing the Civil Rights Act of 1968. In conclusion, all these points lead back to Zinn’s original point, which as that America should not have been surprised when black Americans finally decided they’d had enough and took action against their
Following the enforcement of emancipation and the passage of the thirteenth amendment in 1864, African Americans found themselves in a contradictory position of both newfound freedom and great discrimination. The newly freed slaves of America faced a society that mere years ago, considered them as nothing greater than property. During this period, two leaders of monumentally opposed schools of thought emerged in the African American community. Booker T. Washington, and William Edward Burghardt (W.E.B) Du Bois. These two thinkers were some of the most influential educators, authors, and orators of the American 19th century, and were also frequent critics of the other's methods and ideas. This was due to a sharp disagreement on the ‘right’ strategy for improving the condition of the black community. While they might not have agreed on the means, both of these remarkable men at least shared that common goal, and their efforts are best demonstrated by looking to the long standing success of institutions they founded and worked ( the Tuskegee institute and Atlanta University respectively). That being said, the diametrically opposed philosophies they supported still stand today, and each 'camp' can be identified in many contemporary debates over discrimination, society, and how to end racial and class injustice.
“There must be the position of superior and inferior” was a statement by Lincoln which formed the basis of discrimination towards black Americans as it highlighted the attitudes of white Americans. Although civil rights for black people eventually improved through the years both socially and politically, it was difficult to change the white American view that black people are inferior to white people as the view was always enforce by the favour of having “the superior position assigned to the white race”.
Reconstruction was needed and the period following the civil war, the reconstruction period, fostered many significant results and achievements especially for Constitutional amendments. While mending a broken country, the reconstruction period still left many fresh wounds. There was great successes and championships for former slaves and the blacks rights, but their was still lingering thoughts and acts of discrimination towards these groups. Reconstruction produced three amendments defending the people 's rights, yet discrimination towards blacks was peeking to new heights. Laws were not enough to change the hearts and minds of the people, which was at the core of the issue. With the unfortunate loss of the nation’s leader, it would be almost a hundred years later until America had leaders strong enough, in the nineteen sixties, that could change the ideas of racism and
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...
Furthermore, despite the Federal government’s attempts to combat white vigilance, violence was still continuously used against African Americans. Although higher education was now available to African Americans with the opening of universities such as Howard and Fisk, many ex slaves remained uneducated and therefore maintained an inferior position in society. Like French political observer Tocqueville noted, although slavery no longer existed, ‘racial prejudice’ continued. This allows us to draw the conclusion that while the reconstruction period succeeded in aiding African Americans in the fight for civil rights, its goals were not full-filled.
The North’s negligence also contributed to the end of Reconstruction. The North had failed to notice the many racially motivated atrocities that occurred in the South durin...
In “From Notes on the State of Virginia,” Thomas Jefferson includes some proposed alterations to the Virginia Laws and discusses some differences between blacks and whites. First, he describes one of the proposed revisions regarding slavery: All slaves born after the enactment of the alteration will be freed; they will live with their parents till a certain age, then be nurtured at public disbursement and sent out of state to form their own colonies such that intermarrying and conflicts can be avoided between blacks and whites. Next, Jefferson indicates some physical differences between blacks and whites, including skin color, hair, amount of exudates secreted by kidneys and glands, level of transpiration, structure in the pulmonary organ, amount of sleep, and calmness when facing dangers. As he notes, these differences point out that blacks are inferior to whites in terms of their bodies. In addition, Jefferson also asserts that the blacks’ reasoning and imagination are much inferior to the whites’ after he observes some of the art work and writings from the blacks. As a result, based on his observation, he draws a conclusion that whites are superior to blacks in terms of both body and mind. However, Jefferson’s use of hasty generalization, begging the question, and insulting language in his analysis is a huge flaw which ruins the credibility of his argument and offenses his readers.