Nature Of Freedom In Gem Of The Ocean By August Wilson

The 10-play cycle, Gem of the Ocean, written by Frederik August Kittel, better known as August Wilson, takes place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at 1839 Wylie Avenue. The play is centered on a young man named Citizen Barlow. Before he traveled from the South to the North, Barlow once worked at the local mill and stole a can of nails. Another man was accused of stealing the missing material and was to be arrested but instead chose to end his own life; rather than be known as an “unjustly identified as a thief.” Citizen Barlow is a new fellow in town and learns of Aunt Esther’s talent of cleansing souls. The anxious Barlow sets out to find, the 287 year old, Aunt Esther for guidance because his past is haunting

In the 1930’s black people were highly discriminated against. This was mainly because many black people started to migrate form the south to the north in order to find employment. Many

During the Great Migration, African Americans began to build a new place for themselves in public life, actively confronting economic, political and social challenges and creating a new black urban culture that would exert enormous influence in the decades to come.

Seattle, Tacoma and Portland would see an increase of over 30,000 migrants, changing the demographics of many cities, to one of African-American decent. Portland offered fewer opportunities for blacks, being regarded as less “accepting” of the cultural difference. Many blacks would move to the Tacoma-Seattle area, where growth and prosperity with defense-related jobs were more abundant. The growing surrounding areas were providing a vast amount of available jobs and housing for black buyers, with less discrimination (as witnessed prior on the east coast).

The Great Migration was a relocation of 6-7 million African Americans from the rural south to the cities of the North, Midwest, and West from 1916 to 1930 which had a huge impact on Urban life in the United states. They were driven from their homes by unsatisfactory economic opportunities and harsh segregations laws, many blacks headed North, Where they took advantages of the need for industrial workers that first arose during the first World War. Between 1910 and 1930, The African American population decreased in the South and increased in the Northern states by about forty percent as a result of the migration. This “Great Migration” was on the largest internal movement of people in the history of the United states and it is a shift that impacted culture, politics, and economics as a new African American communities struggled

Specifically, white efficiency expert Dwight Thompson Farnham said, “A certain amount of segregation is necessary at times to preserve the peace” (Doc. 3). This reveals how despite the popular belief in the south, the north also had segregation and racism prevalent. To further support this idea that segregation was still prevalent in the North is Document 7. Specifically, the black population grows over time, but the blacks scattering throughout the city does not change at the same rate. Even though black population is growing, they still are in a part of town they is predominately black only (Doc. 7). Next, a white-owned newspaper discusses the topic of the poor quality of life for Negros in the north: “…the decent, hand-working, law-abiding Mississippi Negros who were lured to Chicago by the ball of higher wages, only to lose their jobs, or forced to accept lower pay after the labor shortage because less acute” (Doc. 4). This reveals how African Americans did not have jobs where they had sustainable income, appreciation, and reasonable hours, which was the complete opposite of what they expected. In all, from the perspective of white men in the north, white men believed that black men should be separated and be working in poor and unbearable conditions. The black individuals had an ideal picture of life in the north, but the white men clearly explain the difference between expectations and

Around 1914 to 1920, over 500,000 African Americans had gathered their belongings and embarked on a journey to the North. World War I and the economic boom that accompanied it created the conditions that made the entrance of black migrants into northern industries possible. However, until then European immigrants had been arriving at an annual rate that surpassed the North’s total black population, thus providing employers with

The journal article begins by introducing an African American couple who resided in Russellville, Kentucky. James Wright held an occupation as a corn cutter while his wife Gladys worked as a cook in a white home. The time span of their journey occurred at the beginning of the great depression all the way through World War II. Seeking better employment opportunities, James traveled to Louisville. Although, his first couple trips were in vain. His resilience and determination eventually lead to a job working for International Harvester. During an era of many trials and tribulations, James found a way to support himself and his family by migrating from a rural to an urban area. By sharing this anecdote the author establishes a mood of hardship

In 1879 Thousands of African Americans migrate out of south to escape oppression. There was a better way life and opportunities in the industrialized North and in the West. African American weren’t taught to read so their job opportunities were limited. White people believed teaching blacks to read would hold blacks back. They were forced to be home makers (maids for white people) or

The South was a complete mess after the Civil War. The early part of the 20th century brought many changes for African Americans. There was a difficult challenge of helping newly free African American slaves assimilate among their white counterparts. They suffered from crop failures, economic hardships, and the early failures of Reconstruction in the south. So as result many Southern African Americans migrated to northern cities in search of employment and a chance at a better life. However, Southern African Americans migrating to northern cities quickly discovered that they were not able to enjoy the same social and economic mobility experienced by their European immigrant counterparts arriving around the same time. There were many

The role of African Americans changes in a positive way between 1860 and 1880. According to the illustrations of “A Georgia Plantation” April 1881 adapted in 2001 by McGraw Hill in “The American Record” (document 4) it shows a map of Barrow Plantation between 1860 and 1880, the differences are significant because the houses of tenant farmers who were former slaves of the Barrow family increased in a high number. The meaning of the images is that former slaves could become landlords. Also, this was just the start . Charles Dudley Warner with “The South Revisited”, 1887 (document 5), states “Instead of a South devoted to agriculture and politics, we find a South wide-awake to business… The South is manufacturing a great variety of things needed in the house, on the farm, and in the shops, for home consumption, and already sends to the North and West several manufactured products.” [...] “the more encouraging for the self-sustaining life of the Southern people is the multiplication of small industries in nearly every city I visited…”. According to what Charles Warner talked about, the economic change that had occurred in the South by 1887, literally went a big step forward the increase of more manufactured products and the amount of many new industries, everything

August Wilson’s plays relate directly to his African heritage, and were and are a part of his success. His expression of the struggles of the blacks

During the early twentieth century, the United States was enduring significant social and economic changes due to its transformation into a commercial and industrial world power. As the need for labor escalated within many urban areas, millions of Europeans emigrated from Southern and Eastern Europe with the hopes of capitalizing upon these employment opportunities and attaining a better life. Simultaneously, many African-Americans migrated from the rural South into major cities, bearing the same intentions as those of the European immigrants. The presence of these minority groups generated both racial and class fears within white middle and upper class Americans. The fervent ethnocentrism resulting from these fears,

At the start of the twentieth century, America was still facing racial inequality post-Civil War and segregation of whites and blacks after the Reconstruction Era. With the blacks being fed up with their current conditions, they participated in the Great Migration, in which they moved from the South to the North for a better life filled with more opportunities; blacks were ready for real reform of American society. Realizing the seriousness of this

The immigrants from abroad and the African-Americans both left their homelands of restricted opportunities and sought to find better ones. The African-Americans came without proper clothing and skills, unaware of the future obstacles ahead. Their environment and surroundings were significantly different in the South than the lively cities in the North. Before migrating, the African-Americans lives consisted of mainly working in the fields in the blistering, hot sun, or working as servants or tenants for white property owners; they had never laid eyes upon a building or factory. For the immigrants, coming to urban America was an enormous change as well. They were oblivious to the American culture, American politics and economics, and were unable to read or speak English, in most cases. While settling in the northern cities, there were certain harsh conditions that the African Americans along with the immigrants experienced. They both were forced to live with their families in small, unsanitary living spaces due to the intense persecution and racialization from American outsiders. Families in neighborhoods grouped together, and each family member contributed economically to the family income. To relieve these challenges and harsh conditions, both African-American and immigrant groups were obliged to do certain tasks in the new, metropolitan surrounding.