How Free Were Free Blacks In The North Essay

Before reading Slavery in the North by Shane White I was uneducated about slavery that occurred in the northern United States. In school we are taught about how bad the slaves in the south were treated and it never occurred to me that there was slavery taking place in the north as well. In the article Slavery in the North Shane White uses slave housing, cultural freedom and control over their own lives to show how slavery in the south was worse than slavery in the north.

The United States is a immigrant country, which faces varieties of problems. The African American problem is one of the most serious one. Racial segregation is a deep-rooted social problem, which reflects in every field in the United States. For example, education, labor market and criminal justice system. In the aspect of education, most of black children were not permitted to enter the school, because the white children studied there. In the aspect of labor market, the black people 's average wages were lower than the whites. They did the manual work. In the aspect of criminal justice system, the blacks were easily in jail. Badly, their sentences were also more serious than the whites. In general, the blacks live in the bottom of the American society. Martin Luther King delivered the famous speech I Have a Dream, ' ' I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. ' ' (1) However, it was difficult for African American to get the freedom. The 1776 Declaration of Independence announced that everyone are equal and freedom.But black slavery still occurred in the southern states of America. Then the Civil War broke out, African American kept struggling for land and political rights.

Were African Americans free during Reconstruction? After the Civil War in 1865 and for the next 17 years America was in Reconstruction, during this time period African Americans were referred to as freedmen and women or negroes. Many important things happened during these 15 years, one of them being the 13th Amendment being passed stating that all men were free (Doc. A). The definition of freedom is, the ability to do whatever you want and control your own actions, without external pressure. So were African Americans really free?

During Reconstruction, African Americans’ freedoms were very restricted. There were strict regulations on voting, relationships, employment, firearms, and other freedoms that white people had. African American faced disenfranchisement for years after being freed and becoming citizens. In What a Black Man Wants by Frederick Douglass, Douglass angrily demands the freedom to vote that every American deserved. He assesses the black man’s contribution to society and wonders why this contribution has not led to more rights. Those who were supposed to be fighting for the rights of freed slaves were not speaking up. Even the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society was not fighting for the rights of the freed slaves. Because of the restrictions on voting, African Americans did not have the same power over their own lives that white people had. Disenfranchisement is just one way white people limited freedoms of freed slaves.

leader. Freedom became a symbol for the nation, but not everyone in the nation was “free”. In the 1760s, the American Revolution changed the views of many living in the States. With much talk of freedom, people began to question the concept of slavery. As the States kept growing, the North and South started to gain different views of slavery. Because the North was industrialized and believed in factories while the South had huge cotton plantations that needed many workers, slavery was controversial. But one-by-one, Northern states began to outlaw slavery. Black slaves became free men, but because of the contrasting views, were often not treated as such. The question remains: how free were free Blacks in the North? Free Blacks in the North were not truly free and very restricted because of political, social, and economical limits.

Blacks in the North partially free. [Document B is an excerpt from a book by an Englishman, named Charles Mackay about his tour through the United States and Canada from 1857-1858. His book, Life and liberty in America: or sketches of a tour in the united States and Canada, is about the freedoms and limitation that the African Americans in the north had.] According to doc B which states that” he shall be free to live, and to thrive, if he can, and to pay taxes and to perform duties.” African Americans could live and thrive.African Americans were able to live and thrive so they weren’t slaves any longer which was good because they were free to do as they needed to.

Blacks couldn't do about anything in the north. So they weren't allowed to work at certain jobs, eat at places whites ate at or even use the same restroom. They may have been free but they still had to be careful on what they do, just because the north is free doesn't mean all whites still agree with it. Lots of time blacks were kicked out of areas because of the whites not liking them. Free blacks in the north had very limited freedoms.

The 1800s, was a time of prosperity, wealth, and slaves. New inventions were made which helped industrialize the country, and mass produce products. However, the African Americans were brought into slavery to help collect materials that made industrializing easier. Slaves were a key component to cotton picking in the South, though in the North, slaves were not a necessity, so one by one, states began emancipating their slaves. By the 1860s, there were 221,000 free blacks in the North, and the three regions are New England, the Mid-Atlantic, and the Midwest, which all became slave free states. Even though all states in the North became slave free states, other states, such as, Rhode Island took 58 years to officially outlaw slavery. Unfortunately, African Americans were looked down upon and discriminated against, since their skin color was different. Due to this matter, it made their lives more difficult, because they were not given the freedom they deserved. So, how free were the free blacks in the North? Even

The north wasn’t really into slavery they were more organic , and didn’t really think slavery would do something economical in America. African American slaves were used to basically help build the country which they called it the new world. Around 1793 the cotton gin

“The freedom of self, the equality of human, the independence of mind, and the right of heart.” Quoted by Thomas Jefferson in 1818. ‘How free were free blacks in North’ all depended on sociality. The lives of blacks were so complicated and restricted from normal human in North. Although ex-fugitive slaves in North could not be bought or sold, they were forbidden to associate with whites. “We are of another race, and he is inferior. Let him know his place and keep it.” Stated again by Charles Mackay. Restrictions of blacks included not doing things with whites in such manner. The most important cassette of life and humanity. Social rights affected the phase of civil life in the America. The freedom of society commenced by a declaration would change the way of life and living forever.

Freedom is being able to do anything you please, without anyone else influencing or forcing you to make the decision. Reconstruction, a dark period in the United States, tested the definition of freedom for African Americans. Reconstruction was the period following the Civil War. The South was in shambles after the long and dreadful war. Many of the buildings in the South were destroyed and the South’s industry was almost completely gone, as most of it relied on slave work.

On the other hand, free African Americans had many limitations in the North. In document B it states,¨ to attend us in our courts, to represent us in legislature… We are of another race, end he is inferior.¨

African Americans living in the North, as well as those in the South, faced multiple challenges. In 1860, tension grew between the North and South. Most southern states still held onto slavery, because their slaves were worth money, while the North was trying to abolish it. The North had many free African Americans, but the question is, were they actually free? Free Africans Americans in the North before the civil war were not actually free because, they had little to none political right, they were not allowed to associate with whites, and making a living, no matter what, was hard.

How were blacks set free? Some bought their own freedom from their masters, but as time passed, this type of exchange became quite rare. Most became

Meanwhile, in the south, Free blacks were still at risk and lived under the shadow of slavery.Free blacks were at risk of being captured and sold as a slave to wealthy plantation owners. Their