The Slavery Of African Americans

In May of 1851, the black abolitionist and former slave, Sojourner Truth delivered her extemporaneous speech on racial inequalities, “Ain’t I a Woman?” at the Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio (“Sojourner Truth Biography”). This spontaneous speech of only a few minutes long was a landmark moment in American history. In her speech, Truth addressed her views on women’s rights and to advocate equal rights of men and women everywhere.

Sojourner Truth was an African American women who spoke for women’s suffrage and oppressed people in a fun, humor, and enthusiasm. In one of her speeches called “Ain’t I A Women” showed how she felt about the treatment women were receiving. She stated that “If the first woman God made was strong enough to turn the

The South, on the other hand, was highly dependent upon the institution of slavery. It was still primarily an agricultural society that needed as many laborers as possible in order for the plantation owners to make ends meet. According to historian Douglas Harper, “In 1793 came the cotton gin, which brought a 50-fold increase in the average daily output of short-staple cotton, promoted the rapid expansion of a ‘cotton kingdom’ across the Deep South, and made large-scale slavery profitable.” Because of this, the slave became an essential tool to the farmers of the south; more money became invested in slavery rather than in industrial improvements. Based upon the 1860 U.S. Census, there were almost a whopping total of four million slaves in the South alone. In fact, the more slaves an owner had, the more prestige. “Most slave owners owned fewer than five slaves, and only 12 percent of Southerners had twenty or more slaves. Many whites who had no slaves looked with envy upon the wealthy, and to a degree admired them.” This hierarchy had a clearly defined social structure which created distinctions between rich and poor whites as well as racial segregation. This agricultural society and its strict hierarchy only increased the social and racial disparities found in the southern region of the United States.

Slavery has existed for eons in human history, as we can trace slavery back to Babylonian times. The African Blacks were definitely not the first to be enslaved. However, it seems as if they were indeed treated the worst by their white masters than had any slaves before them been treated. The stories of the horrendous treatment endured by many slaves for the simple wish to be free are horrendous and heartbreaking. I believe there is no person better qualified to inform the world of the horrors of slavery, and to stand behind the idea of abolition, besides a former slave. This man was able to rise above every adversity thrown at him, he taught himself how to read, he observed everything going on around him, and learned from those experiences.

     Sojourner Truth is well known for her famous "ain't I a Woman?" speech at the 1851 women's Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio. Their Sojourner Truth spoke of the injustices of our society, within which women as well as Black-Americans were at the back end. No formal record of the speech exists, but Frances Gage, an abolitionist and president of the Convention, recounted the speech.

A valid point Howard Zinn wrote in A People's History of the United States was that African Americans were "ensnared" into American slavery for many reasons, those of which include desperate settlers, the helplessness of Africans outside their home country, the greed of colonists, the control against rebellion, and the consequences of black and white collaboration. I believe he makes a very valid point, for all his reasons have historical evidence to back them up.

The concept of equality changed from 1804 to 1865. 1804 was when northern states abolished slavery, this began the division that tested our nation, “...slavery divided the nation and states were forced to determine if the fight for equality was worth it.”₁. During this time, so many people thought equality was just concerning the rich, just among the white people who “worked hard”, to earn their pay. Little did they know, slaves were the ones who were working hard and not earning their pay. When the Civil War began in 1861, people in the U.S. were threatened because they felt that their jobs and hard work would soon be taken away if slaves became functioning members of society. Throughout the civil war, northerners begun to see what equality

No one issue can be claimed as the dominate issue that produced The Civil War. The war was caused by many disputes such as sectionalism, expansion of slavery, and abolitionist. Although there were many issues some were consider to be much more influential than the others. These include sectionalism and the expansion of slavery. The North and South could not seem to stop arguing over the expansion of slavery to the west as well as their many differences in other areas.

Sojourner Truth, a former slave, and a woman, gave a powerful, stirring speech at the Women’s Convention in Akron, Ohio during 1851. She engages with the audience at the Women’s Convention emotionally and personally through references to her life as an African American female slave and a mother. Sojourner Truth’s great speech “Ain’t I a Woman” displays ethos, pathos, and logos. In Sojourner Truth’s speech she states, “If my cup won’t hold but a pint, and yours hold a quart, wouldn’t you be mean not to let me have my little half measure full?”

Tocqueville anticipated the future these three races. For the Native Americans, Tocqueville anticipated that they were bound to vanish. With a specific end goal to survive, they should be acculturated or begun a fight were one of the two races could vanish. What 's more, Tocqueville anticipated that they will be secluded by the whites. For the Negros, he anticipated the racial blend will extend Negros race everywhere throughout the country. Additionally, they will be more acknowledgeable of their rights and battles will occur between those two races. Moreover, the bondage will be passed from one era to the next residual disgrace and disrespect to the Black race and hate to the white. At long last, Tocqueville proposed that intermix of

Modern and historical forces combine to keep the racial hierarchy in the dominant cultures control. Historically, slavery was diplomatically protected within our constitution safeguarding the control and ownership of African Americans. The three-fifths compromise written into the constitution in 1787, safeguarded slaveowners by greatly increase the representation and political power of slave-owning states (Laws, 2017). Slavery was widespread within the southern states until the year of 1865, when slavery and involuntary servitude were abolished, except for those duly convicted of a crime. Between 1866 and 1870, through congress a radical reconstruction era was executed ensuring guaranteed freedom and civil rights to former slaves. These turn of events, incensed southern slave owners giving rise to white Supremacy and the Ku Klux Klan. Such historical events and accounts help us understand present conditions for people of color through recognition of the enduring struggle of those who have fought slavery and racism.

Northern Republicans and Southern Democrats attempted to cure their complete opposition on the regulation of slavery by using federal power to coerce an end to the feud, yet the movement increased tension between the divided nation. By invoking both legislative and judicial power, politicians used laws which included slave codes and freedom laws as well as court decisions like Dred Scott v Sandford (1875) to convince or force the population into acceptance of stances on slavery. Each party viewed their tactics and ideas to be righteous, and though they intended for positive results, national outrage answered the governmental movement.

Back when there was Slavery it was unfair to some people, at least to the African Americans. By unfair I mean the whites, like most of us would torture the Africans. Some of the things the owners did was made the slaves work in fields without pay and they had no control over their own self, their owner did. But, if they were not doing, that the owners would do something bad like whip them with a whip with metal on the end.

A black African-American that was one of the many few who was born free in Wilmington, North Carolina went by the name of David Walker. Walker’s father whom died before his birth was a slave but his mother was a free woman. In the state’s laws Walker inherited his mother’s liberated status although, being free did not keep him from witnessing slavery. Walker traveled throughout his time in his younger days in the South, noticing the injustices of the slave system that the whites had going on. Even though Walker was a free slave he still seen and knew what slavery and racism was. Charleston, South Carolina is where he settled and eventually found a church home that goes by the name of African Methodist Episcopal church. A large population of free African Americans lived there at the time. In the year of 1822, a revolutionary plot was uncovered that resulted in severe cruelty of black churches which made things very difficult for the blacks during those times. Walker up and moved to Boston in the year of 1825 where he married a fugitive slave that went by the name Emily. He established a profitable secondhand clothing business and very active in helping the poor and needy even including the runaway slaves. During that time he joined a political organized black community group. Walker became involved with the nation 's first African American newspaper, that went by the name Freedom 's Journal out of New York City, in which Walker contributed some. He spent a lot of time

Racism has been around as long as we have, you could argue that it is a part of human nature- but is it? It all started with slavery; it was custom to use African Americans for a wealthy, white man’s dirty work. Later, the government called for the relocation and removal of the Native Americans to small reservations, so the european settlers could steal their land, and hunt the native animal species’ that the indian’s relied so heavily on to near extinction. Many of the indians on the reservations died of starvation, disease, or violence, while the government sat and watched.