Varying Concepts of Freedom

Introduction

At the end of Civil War, Union General William T. Sherman talked with the group of blacks of Savannah who were recently freed. The group was comprised of educators, ministers, and leaders of black community. What Sherman wanted was to know how these freed black group thought about their status now and how they survived in a society that once made them slaves. They answered clearly that freedom mean the capability to develop from one’s own labor and what was necessary to do this was the access to land.

What was Freedom?

The understanding of freedom of African-Americans was simply molded by their experiences as slaves and how they observed the free society surrounding them. African-Americans were delighted with the chance to demonstrate their freedom through liberation from regulations that were involved with slavery. Freedom during that time altered the roles of family members within their homes. Most the black women withdrew from their private life. There were beginnings of independent churches like the Methodists and Baptists where their ministers played a huge role in politics. Children of all ages enrolled in schools in the north that were facilitated by the independent churches (Foner, 2008).

Political freedom for the blacks only meant for them their right to vote. The right to vote mean empowerment and equality for African-American people. Being denied of such privilege would mean “the stigma of inferiority.” They demonstrated their patriotism through the South by organizing July 4th celebrations. Following their conquest to freedom and rights, they manifested their rights to land ownership. Most of the slaves insisted that with unpaid labor they were entitled to a right of a land.

Labor Vision: Thir...

... middle of paper ...

.... 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure. Retrieved on July 14, 2011 from http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/pubsres/policydocs/contents/1940statement.htm

National Archives. (2011). The Freedmen’s Bureau, 1865-1872. Retrieved on July 14, 2011 from http://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/freedmens-bureau/.

Radical Reconstruction. (2011). Retrieved on July 14, 2011 from http://www.sparknotes.com/history/american/reconstruction/section3.rhtml.

Sidorski, D. (2001). The Third Concept of Liberty and the Politics of Identity. Partisan Review. 57(4).

Vandervelde, L. (1989). Article: The Labor Vision of the Thirteenth Amendment. Retrieved on July 14, 2011 from https://litigation-essentials.lexisnexis.com/webcd/app?action=DocumentDisplay&crawlid=1&doctype=cite&docid=138+U.+Pa.+L.+Rev.+437&srctype=smi&srcid=3B15&key=bf596ebb76dfa2c8b7c67a18c880bf04