Role Of Freedom For Ex-Slaves In Modern African-American Society

During the reconstruction ex-slaves were trying to find their true definition of freedom. After spending hundreds of years in slavery, African Americans had become more dependent on their slave owners after the signing of the emancipation proclamation that freed slaves in the south on January 1st 1863. After the freeing slaves didn't know what to really do with themselves having all the family they've ever had on the plantation and No land to raise their families on so, the slave owners offered them their homes on the plantation and maybe a few pennies a day earned for the task that was previously assigned to them during slavery, but this isn't freedom. After the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 all slaves in the South were supposed to be

The newly freed men became scapegoats for the defeat of the South. The former slaves were a reminder of how much everything had changed after the war. Instead of working in the fields under white masters, they now competed for jobs with poor white farmers. The way that white southerners distinguished themselves from the freedmen was by the terrorism of the Klu Klux Klan (KKK). By joining the KKK a white southerner could take action backed by a large organization without fear of repercussions. At anytime the KKK could come to your door and hassle, berate, or even hang you simply because you were now free and had committed some tiny infraction. The testimony of Harriet Postle is a prime example that no freed person was safe. Her family committed no crime yet the KKK still burst down their door, and severely beat Mrs. Postle. The fact that she was around eight months pregnant didn’t deter the KKK from abusing her. Harriet Postle stated in her testimony that the KKK, “beat my head against the side of the house till I had no sense hardly left.” Now the freedmen lived in their own homes without a master, but any Klansman could come in and do what they pleased. Before the Civil War black men and women had no fear of the Klan because they didn’t exist. Now the newly freed person had the Klan breathing down their back along with the inability to assemble or go where they pleased.

As freed men they were now responsible for all of that, not only paid out of their meager profits, but also under the threat that others may be competing for the opportunity to do the same work on their respective plantations. After having been given their freedom, slaves were given aide by the government that was soon taken away, so ex- slaves declared that they had really not bettered their condition from their recent days of slavery (Foner 563). This proved to be true. Being forced to resort to sharecropping because of lack of government assistance, placed them back where they started as slaves. Ex-slaves had now become enslaved by their economic condition and become prisoners to their white slave owners, working while obeying their disproportionate compensatory rules. That was not freedom! So there was no real difference in whether or not they were called slaves or called

To what extent were African-American slaves “free” after the abolition of slavery by the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863? What challenges did they face after their emancipation? This is a subject of continued interest. History is rife with records of decades of untold torture and harrowing experiences. African-American slaves suffered at the hands of their captors and masters. They were denied all natural rights as human beings and forced to live like animals. A slave was viewed as one-third of a person and the property of their owner(s) and treated as objects, mere things. One would therefore assume that after their emancipation, life would become significantly better because the slaves were free to move away from

The era of eighteenth and ninetieth century was full of uncertainty and fear for many. It is the results of decisions that were taken during this period which not only helped in shaping the America today but also changed the outlook of many other countries. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, there were many forces and institutions activate who were playing role in the freedom of blacks. Other than the international forces, the most influential institutions were activated for and against the Black freedom in America. It is the result of those events that America is now called the United States.

African Americans were set free after the Civil War. After the Civil War the freedom of African American was really vague. Although they were set free they really weren't free. White people would say

During reconstruction, ex slaves defined freedom as being able to making decisions for themselves and their families. Being under the white control, slaves were not allowed to do many things and their experience as slaves changed their outlook on the definition of freedom. Because of their experience the slaves cherished freedom.

This cannot be furthest from the truth, they were considered free in word, but not deed (p. 506). To this day, many African Americans along with other ethnic groups that were oppressed are still tainted by slavery and its historical trauma. With this so called reconstruction of the new America, people of African descent demanded to be treated equal. The reconstruction period was a hopeful time for women who made a mark for themselves as far as acquiring financing and political independent (Gates & Smith, 2014). Can you imagine, personal freedom after coming from an era in which you had no options? After the Civil War supposedly broke slavery’s band, African Americans felt that this new nation shall be color blind, respect, and value women and men on their character rather than the color of their

The ex-slaves did experience some freedom, at times some of the Southern States could not completely put

Freedom for all races, religions, and ethnic groups has been a recurrent issue throughout American history. With different races living together come different morals, values, and beliefs which do not always fit together smoothly, and many problems arise when this sacred freedom is defined differently from one specific group of people to another. Although equilibrium of freedom was the goal in the 1800s, it was merely impossible to reach due to economic inequality from the different beliefs and understanding of freedom between the working poor and industrialists, the varieties of races and ethnicities, and lastly, the negative role of media throughout this time.

African Americans were not free after the Civil War. Although they were freed before it ended African Americans still had much hatred against them. They were excluded from all whites and many still felt as though they needed to defend and protect themselves. African Americans even after the Civil War had many people that disliked them. Their belongings were destroyed, men beaten and sworn at.

According to Ira Berlin's essay "The role of African-Americans in the abolition of slavery," despite the role of slavery in causing the American Civil War, Northerners and Southerners alike did not envision slaves having a viable role in fighting for their freedom. However, as the war progressed, it became increasingly clear that slaves could play a role in the conflict to help the Northern side. The Emancipation Proclamation and the subsequent conscription of African-Americans had a very practical purpose: it demonstrated that the Union was on the 'side' of enslaved blacks and enabled African-Americans to prove their readiness to become citizens. At first there was tremendous opposition to these policies: merely because people supported the Union did not mean they believed in equality of the races. Even in the North, there was initial resistance to returning slaves to their owners after war was declared. Anti-slavery congressmen took great passed a resolution declaring it 'no part of the duty of the soldiers of the United States to capture and return fugitive slaves" only with great effort (Berlin et al 428). As black Americans, including escaped slaves began to play a more and more critical role in the war effort and eventually, the abolitionist view began to become more accepted. Escaped and freed slaves served in military camps as cooks, nurses, laundresses and labor, and bridged the social

Good point. I did not think of it that way. “Free blacks to enslaved African Americans was simple they both were black”. They still had to fulfill the same duties and that was being slaves and working for nothing. The both could not stand up to White people or even allow to have any say so in a court of law. Free Black undermine slavery by talking other slaves to help come up with a plan to escape their White owners and masters.

During reconstruction, the meaning of freedom suited many different types of interpretation; the perception of freedom between former slaves and their slaves masters were very contradictory. To begin with, African-Americans had suffered severe abuse over those years of slavery, so to them, the meaning of freedom was basically a hope that in the future, they won’t experience all kind of punishment and exploration that they have been experienced so far. Besides that, formers slaves were demanding equal civil and political rights. In the same way, they valued their freedom by establishing their own schools and churches, reuniting families that were separated under

Before I start this essay that I am doing at 3:22am cause I wanted to party and chase females till 6:00am and was to tired to go to class. I’m going to start by saying I’m not going to bullshit you and act like I know but I do know that you promote debate and for students to have a mind of there own so personally I think the ex slaves redefine freedom by showing that blacks are humans and not property and that we can own land and be treated as humans and break a lot of the “social norm” or the force fed propaganda that blacks are here for whites enjoyment and that we are any less smarter then white people. And I’m not 100% sure but I think they took the high road instead of becoming free slaves and start a “kill all white people party”