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Liberty Was Not Absolute For Anyone In The Beginning Stages

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Liberty was not absolute for anyone in the beginning stages of America. An anonymous author wrote, “God gave mankind freedom by nature and made every man equal to his neighbor.” Unfortunately, for the African American slaves, women and the Native Americans, freedom was hard to obtain until the American Revolution changed the principals of independence.
African Americans have an extraordinary past that includes the lifestyles before slavery, during slavery, and the beginning of the abolition and petitions which lead to their freedom. Many people are unaware of the African American lifestyle before slavery took place. Much like the Europeans, African Americans lived similar lifestyles with homes and families, rich and poor classes, enjoyed …show more content…

The new independence talks about having freedom and unfree labor but that’s not the case for African Americans. The abolition and emancipation was a slow process because veterans of the war were promised 300 acres of land and a slave. This made the process difficult for whites to accept the fact that if the slaves were granted freedom, they would possibly have their land taken as well as their slaves. Another possible cause for the slow start of slave freedom is that all the founding fathers owned slaves which then made people think that it’s okay to own slaves as well. Slaves began to run away from their masters to British lines and would try to pass as freeborn. General Henry Clinton offered sanctuary to any slave that escaped to British lines. Soon, Northern states and the upper parts of the south began emancipation of slaves. Free communities started to emerge which led to families, schools, churches and leaders to grow and live. Finally, African Americans had their freedom back and began to start a community.
Women before the American Revolution were viewed as weak, less important and not as intelligent as men. The rights and freedom of women were nonexistent; women couldn’t vote, own property, sign contracts and/or wills or divorce their husbands. The man of the family had total power and authority over their wives and children. The common role for a woman was to cook, clean, sew, take care of the family garden and care

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