Slave Labor: The Role Of Sanitation Workers In Memphis

Arkansas has one of the most rich historical backgrounds that still has not been fully discovered. There have been huge impacts made in Arkansas since 1819, when Arkansas became part of the Union. One of the major impacts that was made in Arkansas was the institution of slavery. When slavery was introduced to Arkansas, it caused major growth to the population, economy, politics and the culture of the state. For these reasons, the history of Arkansas needs more attention so there will be a full understanding of slavery.

In this assignment I will be taking a further look into the history of slavery. When thinking of slavery the immediate thought that comes to mind is all the negative aspects of the system. Prior to this research, I was unaware of slave systems that were not based on the long labor hours and the torture of slaves. Granted, there were still forms of slavery that practiced these brutal rituals, where slaves were treated as animals and were malnourished. One prime example of this, is the book titled “Am I Not A Woman And A Sister”, looks at the history of a Bermudan slave named Mary Prince. Another example of slavery that will be incorporated in this paper will come from a source about a woman slave named Semsigul, born in Caucasus an area that

Not only were the workers not treated well, the building was also very unsanitary and unsafe. They worked on top of each other in cramped spaces where there were just lines and lines of sewing machines. The exit doors were locked in order to stop the workers from leaving to go to the bathroom. Only the foreman had the keys to unlock the doors.There were four elevators that had access to the factory floors but only one of them were in working condition. In order to get to the working elevator, the workers had to go down a long narrow hallway. This elevator was only able to hold 12 people at a time. Factory floors had no sprinkler system and the entire building only had one fire escape that was not big enough for all of the people in

Slavery was a big problem in the south in the 1800’s. Slaves were whipped, shot, and tortured in every way possible. They were often auctioned off for money, so they had many different friends and families. Nightjohn was a free slave who had something no one could ever take from him. He had letters. He shared these letters with a female slave named Sarny for some tobacco. Slaves weren’t supposed to know letters, so they had to have private lessons and no one could know.

The flood happen early March of 1867, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It rained for four days non-stop the waters roto 56 feet tall that is taller than CSAS. The north had just won the Civil War. Slavery had just ended. Chattanoogans were being very self-reliant because they didn't want to ask they north for help because they just won the Civil War.

During the reconstruction ex-slaves probably defined freedom a number of different ways(good and bad), but the fact remains that freedom for an ex-slave and freedom for a white person during the reconstruction era were drastically different.

Around 1300 black sanitation workers walked off the job in attempt to protest. Memphis’s mayor at the time, Henry Loeb had declared the strike illegal and refused to meet with the black protest leaders.

Rosa Parks once said, “Racism is still with us. But it is up to us to prepare our children for what they have to meet, and, hopefully, we shall overcome.” Rosa Parks was an African- American women in Montgomery, Alabama, who believed in civil rights for African-Americans. It was a time of segregation, the separation of blacks and whites. For instance, blacks were required to sit in the back of the bus, and white people sat in the front of the bus.

Meany and the AFL-CIO also used their considerable political influence in helping to shape the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965.Union activists were a key part of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom as well. The Industrial Union Department of the AFL-CIO endorsed the march, as did 11 international unions and several state and local labor councils. A. Philip Randolph, then-president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, was a key organizer of the event. UAW President Walter Reuther was a speaker at the march, condemning the fact that African Americans were treated as second-class economic citizens.King's final act in pursuit of social and economic justice was in support of the sanitation strike in Memphis, Tennessee. After his death, then-President Lyndon B. Johnson sent the undersecretary of labor to settle the strike, and the city acceded to the demands of the working people, leading to the creation of AFSCME Local 1733, which still represents sanitation workers in Memphis.In 1964, Meany sent a letter to all AFL-CIO affiliates outlining a new pathway that would directly support housing construction and homeownership.

Although this shined a light on the issues, I wanted to aim “at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach." I had attempted point out how badly the animals were treated by workers, rather than the sanitation of the workplace. To reveal the harsh reality Chicago’s famous industry, Jurgis becomes the “shoveler of guts” and through his time there, he witnessed the horrendous state at which men were in labor – their fingers cut off due to working with knives in speed up assembly lines, workers with skin diseases in the pickling room, working in areas with no light or ventilation, and men carrying 100 pound meat and breaking their backs. The company scammed the laborers by making the assembly line faster to get more work out of the men for the same pay. Furthermore, sanitation of the workplace was an immense issue. Many men had tuberculosis and coughed blood, onto the floor, and with no area to urinate, many did it in a corner and did not wash their hands after doing so. With all that being said, the meat was dumped into the same floor where all of this occurred, usually also accumulating dead rats and their

Cincinnati is a beautiful city on the Ohio River in southern Ohio that has a very rich history. The city was founded in 1788 and soon blossomed into a thriving city. One important part of Cincinnati’s history was its involvement in the underground railroad and abolitionists. Based on the Ohio River it posed as a perfect place to cross on the way to freedom. It also was close to the border with the south during the civil war, causing it as a marker of entrance into the northern part of the united states during the war.

In 1830 slavery was originally sited in the South, where it lives in various structures. African Americans were imprisoned on diminutive farms, big plantations, in cities and towns, within homes, outside the fields, and in industry and transportation. Even if slavery had such a great series of faces, the fundamental concepts were always similar. Slaves were considered possessions, and they were possessions for the reason that they were black. Their rank as property was inflicted by aggression actual or threatened. People, black and white, lived jointly within these limits, and their lives as one took a lot of forms (Solomon, 1855).

Throughout history, African Americans both free and enslaved were not treated equally nor permitted with the same rights as white men. African Americans were enslaved and not allowed to vote or hold public office. Since the 15th century, African Americans have been treated less than human, some even experienced brutal punished for justifiable mistakes. The use of African American slave labor was an enormous contribution to agriculture and labor. It became a part of southern state’s economy within America. Additionally, African Americans were forced or born into slavery where they endured harsh working conditions with zero pay and often times were punished by their masters. Even slaves that became emancipated or paid for their freedom were also treated differently than whites. Notably, blacks did not have the same privileges as whites and were forced to carry a “freedom card” wherever they went. Failing to do so would lead to severe consequences, such as being forced back into slavery. Once African Americans were considered free, they faced additional discriminations such as not being able to vote or serve as a figure in public office. Due to this and additional factors, African Americans were almost entirely incapable of defending themselves against whites. Since the start of the 17th century, African Americans, free and enslaved were punished for their skin color and were considered the lowest scale by not being allowed to the same opportunities and rights and white men.

The New Orleans slave market was extremely large and lucrative because its location on the Mississippi allowed for easy trade between Europe, Africa and the Caribbean. In fact, it was the largest slave market in the United States. About 17,000 slaves resided in the city, out of a total population of 100,000. In other Southern cities, the slave market generally spanned only a few blocks, but in New Orleans it was present everywhere, from upscale hotels to the business district, to boats docked in the harbor. The slave market was a major facet of the New Orleans economy, so there was no abolition movement in that area. In 1829, it became illegal to house slaves in the French Quarter, so they were kept in pens. Cotton and sugarcane were the most

Texas has tried to reshape history by; erasing the word “slaves” and describing the Atlantic slave trade as though they were bringing “millions of workers” to slave master plantations in the South (the next page has a picture right out of one of Texas’ history books). Most definitions of workers are vague defining it as; a person or thing that works and a laborer or employee: Nothing really on rather this labor is willingly or forced upon a person and I only say that in leu of “Child labor” (not really going into that subject). I’m pretty sure a consensus would describe a worker as a paid voluntary person. A former slave wouldn’t describe slavery as being a worker, that’s for sure.