Freedom for African Americans Has Turned Into Slavery Essay Example

also known as plantations. The West Indies was really the heart of the slave trade.

This place was almost like preparation for slavery. In the middle and mist of slavery not all slaves were the same or stayed in the same colonies and places. A lot of the slave trades differ from one another like the African slave trade and the Atlantic slave trade. The central premise was that many of the African Americans used the war to their advantage on hoping to be freed. It was a great struggle between Great Britain and France. This did not go as planned. It causes huge problems. “After the war ended, British officials decided that Americans should be taxed to pay their share of the costs of empire and that their commerce should be more closely regulated” (Page 71). The majority of the slaves joined the side of the Patriots. Former President George Washington freed all the slaves who fought in the war.

The intended result was that the slaves thought they would be freed and be free, but that was not the case. This is where the Proclamation comes in to play on how it impacted the slaves who were free and still enslaved. When George Washington freed the slaves who served in the war, the African American slaves started enlisting in large numbers. But as the numbers grew, African Americans so their chance to be free so a lot of them ran away. “The American Revolution failed to end slavery as many of the enslaved had hoped. In fact the Constitution would strengthen the institution overall” (PowerPoint 10). The South had too much riding on slavery as

far as economy and labor. Only Georgia and South Carolina saw that slaves should be treated just like the whites. They made it to where the slaves who served in the war were freed, or they bought their freedom back and were freed. African Americans were really focused against their own will and not allowed to speak for themselves. Slavery was not an option. It was two ways to be labeled as a slave. Some African American people were forced into slavery and others were born into it. But the African Americans that were slaves had enough. When people are treated so badly, they will rebel against the enemy.

The second stage is the rebellion stage. African Americans had enough of the cruel punishment because of the color of their skins. This is when brave leaders like David Walker took a stand. David Walker wrote a set of appeals hoping that the white people would see the wrong in slavery. David purpose of his appeals was to help bring slavery to an end. David stated in his appeal, 'America is as much our country, as it is yours.--Treat us like men, and there is no danger but we will all live in peace and happiness.' He said, “Everybody should get treated fairly and have the same opportunities as any other race. Even though it seemed like whites against the blacks, not all whites were for slavery. Some whites were against slavery and would risk their lives to try help blacks escaped from slavery. Then came the Fugitive Act which means that law enforcement and even regular citizens had to help catch runaway slaves. This act made

it even harder for African Americans to receive help from the other side. Now the whites would be thrown in jail for aiding or helping blacks escaped.

Blacks did not know who they could trust. Majority of the Northern whites were against slavery and the majority of the Southern whites was for slavery. This caused conflict between the whites. Southern wanted the slaves for free labor. The abolitionists wanted slavery to end so of course, they would help the slaves who ran away. Shortly after this slavery was abolished. The problems came from the abolition of slavery and the Civil War. It seems like ending of slavery started a uproar. Historian Eric Forer stated, “Reconstruction was not merely a time period, but the beginning of an extended historical process: The adjustment of American society to the end of slavery” (PowerPoint). Slave owners had to get use to slaves being free. Blacks were on the rise of buying property and wanting their own land. So the whites came up with a black and white document known as a contract. The contract stated, “In exchange for the use of land, a cabin, and supplies, sharecroppers agreed to raise a cash crop and give a portion, usually 50 percent, of the crop to their landlord. Landowners extended credit to sharecroppers to buy goods and charged high-interest rates, sometimes as high as 70 percent a year, creating a system of economic dependence and poverty.” This was just another way to hold the blacks down and to not let them get ahead. The southerners had the hardest time adjusting to slaves being free.

The final stage is the blacks taking back what

is theirs, which is their freedom. 'The 14th amendment (1868) gave African Americans their first clear-cut definition of citizenship and strengthened their position as individuals in complex social order” (PowerPoint). Blacks challenged this and held public offices in Southern states during the reconstruction process. Mississippi blacks' positions in office were not nearly as large as states like South Carolina and the northerner states. Whites had to think of ways to stop African Americans or to at least try and scare them. African Americans did not fit into this idea of racial etiquette designed to favor whites in any black/white interaction. The whites felt threaten by the blacks, so they form a hate group called the Ku Klux Klan. The Klan used violence and brutality in areas where African Americans were a large minority and where their votes could determine the outcome of local elections.

The Klan was a group that committed crimes and did not get caught. It hid the faces of people who hated the thought of blacks being free. Another brave African American leader was Booker T. Washington. “Booker T. Washington emerged in the midst of worsening social, political, and economic conditions for African Americans” (PowerPoint). He wanted blacks to get more education from the South. He did not like the thought of blacks going up North just to get an education. He wanted blacks to be educated. Washington had everybody’s attention rather it was good or bad. Washington stated, “Cast down your bucket where you are”. Washington felt strong about blacks getting their education where they were from. He felt that the blacks in the South should not have to go up North

to get an education.

He built an institution to help with farming agriculture. Another leader named Du Bois thought blacks should focus on being leaders, not farmers. So not all African American was on Washington’s side. Marcus Garvey was another African American trying to make a platform for other African Americans. Even though Garvey was not a slave, he did not want to go against his black people by not helping out. President Franklin D. Roosevelt challenged Congress in an effort to change the nation away from the foreign policy of neutrality. 'Roosevelt insisted that people in all nations of the world shared Americans entitlement to four freedoms: the freedom of speech and expression, the freedom to worship God in his own way, freedom from want and freedom from fear' (PowerPoint). FDR could not ignore what was going on in Europe, but the same things were happening in the United States. 'African Americans leaders argued that black troops be given the same training as whites and that existing army units accept black officers and enlistment men based on training and not color' (PowerPoint).

Blacks were tired of not getting the same treatment as the white military people. When Jim Crow laws came into play, this made the blacks rebel once again. The blacks had to go to the back of the bus, and barred away from the voting booth. Jim Crow made it where the blacks and whites were still separated. The used signs like “Whites Only” and “Blacks Only”. This brings up another African American leader named Martin Luther King Jr. He was a leader of the campaigns, marches, and protests for African Americans to be

treated equally as whites. Martin was locked up right before a big famous march and protest. While sitting in jail, Martin wrote a letter. The letter was written to support the nonviolent resistance to racism. 'Dr. King asks how the clergymen can express their unhappiness with the demonstrations while ignoring the whole reason they're happening in the first place. He patiently explains that the Black community has no choice' (PowerPoint). King was assassination. In my opinion, blacks did not really start getting their respects until Martin Luther King dies. His death allows equality and justice to come into the United States.

In conclusion, in order for African Americans to obtain first-class citizenship and equal rights, they had to experience social, political, economic and educational struggles. In my opinion they did just that. Nothing came easy for the African American people. It is crazy how they had to earn their freedom when that was something they supposed to have regardless. In today’s time blacks have everything they paved the way for. Blacks get to go anywhere and do anything they ever wanted to do. They do not get judge because of the color of their skins. African Americans ancestors would be proud to see what we have overcome today.