Slavery: Are African Americans Free Or Free?

Many people will tell you that African Americans were free during the reconstruction after the civil war, which on paper may be the case. Life during this time was getting better, however, it still wasn’t good. African Americans faced multiple different forms of oppression that would make it seem that they were in prison. A few of these were the black codes, and the government's reaction to the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments. However the amendments were not meant to have the states to poke holes in them, they were made to give freed African Americans the same right as everyone else.

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.

To be free means you have freedom and certain rights without anyone interfering with you. You can also do things at your own will. However, during Reconstruction African Americans were not free because whites abused the fact that they had rights and would overpower them. One example is the Ku Klux Klan.

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.

    Since the beginning of American history, the black race has been the inferior race during times of slavery and times of freedom for black people. They have had to fight to be seen as legitimate first-class citizens, whether that be through slave uprisings in the pre-civil war era, the civil rights movement in the mid-1900’s, or the Black Lives Matter campaign that was started in 2013. Though not everyone has lived an easy life, and not everyone will, the people who have had it the hardest were the enslaved African-Americans in the early stages of our country.

During slavery, most black slaves were denied proper education and many laws were passed in the South prohibiting slave literacy. Even free blacks in the century before and after the Civil War were limited in their access to quality education and career training.

Whites have always considered themselves superior to blacks, no matter if they were slave owners or not. Blacks were considered lower than humans, making them a main target of oppression of whites. So even when a small group of blacks were given their freedom, they weren’t truly liberated from the chains of slavery and oppression. Blacks were freed in the early 1800s, giving a limited amount of blacks the freedom they deserved. These blacks were usually rural, uneducated, and unskilled domestic servants who had to work hard to survive in the society that shunned them. Free blacks were still given restrictions and laws because of their status in society. In the early 1830s, a law in Virginia was made to prohibit all blacks from getting their education. They even took it to the level where free blacks who went out of state to educate themselves were not able to come back and return to their own state. The worst restriction was that blacks could not testify in court. When a slave owner claimed that a free black was their slave, they could not defend themselves, and would have to conform back to their slavery. Despite the terrible treatment given to blacks, some rose above the oppression and became successful, therefore achieving their goals and potentials of being a free black man, leaving a huge impact on society in the 1800s.

In document C it has a speech from a black graduating student that was top of his class, and if you read it is shows you that they aren't free it says something that makes them change.The blacks had no hope they might have been smart but they didn't need it for anything because most white people are running jobs in the north and it would mostly likely be impossible to get a job if your an African American so what's the point he says "should I be a merchant no one will employ me'' he also says "he wouldn't be let into a white persons office" how will he apply for a job when whites won't even speak to him. Blacks weren't free to begin with I don't get why people thought just because the blacks could do whatever they want with other blacks make them free. They wouldn't be able to make money and work endless the job had a black boss that is just straight unfair because most people in the north were white so they couldn't get a job very easy and if they were working for the whites it would probably be doing something like the south was doing like farm work or picking cotton and being a straight slave all over

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

Slavery has been entwined with American history ever since Dutch traders brought twenty captive Africans to Jamestown, Virginia in 1619. Slavery in America is a subject with minimal truths and stories rarely told. The public school system excludes the fact that eight of the first twelve American presidents were major slaveholders. Emancipation brought freedom, but not approximation. The civil rights movement killed Jim Crow, but shadows remained. Affirmative Action created opportunities, but racism continues.

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.

Do you know how slavery was before and after martin luther king jr and some facts to what he did to stop it. Even thought, slavery was prohibited in the late 19th century, even after a years the racism towards African Americans still stays. The African Americans were discriminated/segregated in many different ways such as having separate public services and schools from the whites. They were labelled “coloured”. They did not have the right to vote and were also physically abused.

An example of how the black people felt deprived of their freedom is they didn’t assimilate their freedom they were granted. Notably, in “I Have a Dream”, Dr. King said,“And so we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.” In the United States, Americans, promised the African American people freedom, the check. They wanted to be free and act as they please, but the white people wouldn't let them be free. Many of them had aspirations to perform unbelievable doings. Moreover, in A Raisin in the Sun, Mama said,“Oh-so now it life. Money is life. Once upon a time freedom used to be life-- now it’s money. I guess the world really do change...”(Hansberry 74). Walter couldn’t acquire freedom,

     The history of the United States is filled to the brim with an abundance of significant events. Over the course of this nation’s young history there have been numerous social institutions. Many have been a necessity in our development. However, the US was home to one of the greatest atrocities committed on mankind. The institution of slavery is not only the most embarrassing but most sever infraction on the natural rights of man. At times there were in excess of three million black Americans enslaved in this country. It was not the dismal living conditions nor the bleak existence they lived that led them into a resistance of slavery. It was the theft, the