The Importance Of Freedom From Slavery In The United States

The 13th Amendment, created out of the ashes of the American Civil War, declared that “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." It was an end to the harsh cruelty that was brought upon African Americans for generations; however, a loophole exists within a simple phrase: “except as a punishment for crime…”. Even though all Americans are considered free under the 13th Amendment on paper, in reality this cannot be further from the truth as people were still considered a slave to the state if they committed a crime. Over time though, this “hands-off” doctrine approach gradually started to shift throughout the 1960s and 70s because the Civil Rights Movement stretched far beyond just African Americans. For prisoners, it was a justifiable call to action for basic human rights.

In 1865, slavery was abolished, by the Thirteenth amendment. This Amendment brought humongous changes and a large number of problems. (Lecture 1) After the destruction of slavery, it left nearly four million African American with no property, little training, and few rights; which made the definition of freedom for African Americans the central question on the nation’s agenda. The big question of the time period was, “what was freedom for African Americans?” (Give me liberty! An American 550)

The Civil War was fought over the “race problem,” to determine the place of African-Americans in America. The Union won the war and freed the slaves. However, when President Lincoln declared the Emancipation Proclamation, a hopeful promise for freedom from oppression and slavery for African-Americans, he refrained from announcing the decades of hardship that would follow to obtaining the new won “freedom”. Over the course of nearly a century, African-Americans would be deprived and face adversity to their rights. They faced something perhaps worse than slavery; plagued with the threat of being lynched or beat for walking at the wrong place at the wrong time. Despite the addition of the 14th and

The 13th amendment abolished slavery and freed millions of African Americans. This was supposed to improve their lives and give them a new beginning. However, more than 30 years after the abolishment, their situation has not improved. Their right to vote was revoked in many southern states during the early 1890s. Less than 40% of black children were enrolled in schools in Georgia by 1880. Between 1880 and 1918, over 2400 African Americans were hanged. Africans had the lowest paying jobs and very few owned land. Jim Crow laws were established in many southern states to legalize segregation. Their situation was disastrous and wasn’t improving. Four respected spokespersons presented their ideas to fix this racial inequality crisis. The four courageous people who offered their alternatives were Ida B Wells, Booker T. Washington, Henry Turner and W.E.B Du Bois.

The passing of the 13th amendment changed the lives of African Americans in the South, by giving them the freedom to live their own life, without doing labor. The freedoms and rights they had, allowed them to go on with a new life and not having a master who controls their every move. They had a choice to leave slavery and be a free man, or continue their life as a slave with their former masters. For example, the Not Free Yet Worksheet states, “We was made to leave or go back and live as slaves.”. This shows how the white men of the South wanted the slaves to leave to the North and be free, or to work as slaves as they did previously. However, fighting for freedom was still a difficult task for the slaves to do, but that didn’t stop them from

The 13th Amendment says “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States.” (Doc C) Although many years later African Americans still were not being treated like people, abolishing slavery was a big step to the stop of harsh treatment toward African Americans. The citizenship, and the right to vote are granted to African Americans by the 14, and 15 Amendments. The passing of these Amendments insured that the African Americans are people.

Although the end of the Civil War and the beginning of the Reconstruction brought great hope to America’s four million former slaves, the efforts of Congressional Reconstruction ultimately failed to establish equal rights for the freedmen because the racist mindset still dominated American society at the time and Democratic influence steadily overcame Republican control in Congress. Despite the Union’s victory, the end of the Civil War brought many significant national problems, including an economically and culturally devastated South and the protection of the freedmen. After a period of Reconstruction under Lincoln and then under Andrew Johnson, it was Congress’s turn to determine the path of Reconstruction. While the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment and the Emancipation Proclamation were large steps in the freedmen’s road to equality, it was never going to be that easy to attain true equality for all. The Southerners’ mindset was still fixated on the idea that freedmen were naturally inferior.

1. The ratification of the 13th amendment to the U.S. constitution marked a historical achievement for the freedom of African slaves in America. Even with this amendment freed slaves, especially in the south, endured many hardships. Many freed slaves in the south still dealt with horrific conditions that existed during the Civil War. Also, slavery by another name was introduced by the state level with legal and prison systems leasing black convicts to corporations for work. Lastly, Africans received much backlash from their white counterparts with many different acts of violence occurring because of this new amendment. The passing of the 13th amendment can be seen as just paperwork, and the true nature of this country can still be seen

First of all, the 13th Amendment was the single most important measure of the 19th century because of the immense changes it made to the United States both societally and economically. The emancipation of the slaves helped hasten the end of the American Civil War for the benefit of the Union. Soon after losing the Civil war, the Confederate states in the south were forced to reunite with the Union and surrender their right to the enslavement of African Americans. The enactment of the 13th amendment was the first step to give African American’s equal rights. Without a doubt, African American rights were not the only thing the abolishment of slavery accomplished. The southern reliance on slavery for economic prosperity

In 1865, the United States government implemented what was known as Reconstruction. Its’ purpose was to remove slavery from the south, and give African-American’s the freedom in which they deserved. However, the freedom that they deserved was not the freedom that they received. With documents like The Black Codes restricting them from numerous privileges that white people had and the terroristic organization known as the Klu Klux Klan attacking and killing them, African-American’s were still being oppressed by their government as well as their fellow man. Slavery may have been abolished, but African-American’s were not yet given the freedom and rights that their white counterparts took for granted.

As expressed in the United States Constitution, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.", which finally got rid of slavery. Subjection was currently gone in the decision of law. In any case, subjection still ruled it's fear all through The South. In the political perspective, The Thirteenth Amendment just changed the composed law. The appropriation of The Thirteenth Amendment was the start of a the privileges of all in the United States. Notwithstanding, The Amendment prompted political contradictions and changes in the years going before. The Thirteenth was a defining moment in American history, driving society to change their perspectives on how they see African Americans, and different races. The Amendment changed subjection, yet in actuality nothing truly changed until the mid-twentieth

Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, and the passing of the Thirteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution were historical milestones in which the ever controversial topic of racial equality was first challenged. In theory, these two movements laid the groundwork for a racially equal United States of America. A country in which every member, regardless of skin color, or race were to be treated equally under the eyes of the law and to one day be treated as equals within all realms of society. As historic and powerful as these movements were, they did

With the ratification of the 13th Amendment in 1865 that stated, "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subjected to their jurisdiction", gave the African American their long-awaited freedom and that their old lives where they were beaten and mistreated as a slave were now long gone. However, even with the abolishment of slavery due to the 13th Amendment the violence and hatred towards the former slaves still lingered. The government may change the laws but changing the people's hearts and minds is a

After the Union victory in the Civil War in 1865, about four million slaves obtained their freedom in the United States of America thanks to the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. One former slave, Houston Hartsfield Holloway, wrote about it, in a very peaceful way "…we coloured people did not know how to be free and the white people did not know how to have a free coloured person about them." But we will come back to this point later on, because we first have to deal with the situation in the United States at this time. From a foreign point of view, the South of the United States of America is considered tough in its consideration of coloured people. This esteem, although it is rudimentary, is still applicable. It is founded on past acts of southern politicians: from 1865 to 1877 the country had been reconstructed socially, politically and economically but because the South was not pleased of the abolition of slavery, it instituted the Black Codes in order to carry on white supremacy. If Afro-American people were now free, they started being physically separated from white Americans. This separation was new, as it did not exist before the Civil War. Even if the situation of former slaves was improved, the South came with a great price to afford freedom for coloured people. I suggest we study the historical context to understand

The United States of America is known for its claims of democracy, equality, and freedom for all of it’s citizens. These claims are the foundation of America’s independence and essentially its entire history. But “claims” are simply all they were in history. While many achieved equal democracy and freedom, the African-American population of the US was exempt from these “inalienable rights” and heavily oppressed by society. The cruelty of slavery and oppression as a whole reached its peak in the 19th century bringing upon the abolitionist movement, which eventually aided in the historic removal of slavery and the continued fight for equal right of citizenship for African-Americans. Of the many abolitionists who fought for