The Use of History in the Works of Hughes, Clifton and McElroy

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.

In both the early and late 1800s, slaves worked every day for long hours with no pay. They faced discrimination from the white culture. The Emancipation Proclamation which was passed in 1863, led to the freedom of slaves that were held within the southern states. One would think that after the slaves were free, the states would go back to normal, but there were many things that whites did not like. Obstacles like segregation, which were posed on blacks, arose because of the idea that the white race was superior to the black race. In the novels, “They Had a Dream” by Jules Archer and “I Have a Dream” by Martin Luther King Jr., the cultural universals of values and communication aided African Americans in overcoming the obstacles they faced.

W.E.B Du Bois was an African-American Activist that earned a Ph.D. from Harvard University. That made him the first African-American in History to earn such a high degree at a high-class University. W. E. B. Du Bois was also a very talented writer one of his quotes were “The slave went free; stood a moment in the sun; then moved back again toward slavery.” The slaves gained freedom in 1865, which meant they no longer were forced to be property or work without payment. Some African-Americans uplifted themselves into the Middle Class in which were brought luck. They were delighted and strongly believed that education was vital for their people. They eventually were able to attend school and learn some skills. They received information to refine

Blackmon provides many stories in his book about what the slaves to forced laborers went through and how they felt about the new so called “freedom” they gained. The Black Americans prior to the Emancipation Proclamation have never seen the slightest clue to what freedom could even feel like. “Some of the old slaves said they too weren’t sure what “freedom” really was”

Freedmen’s life was working on a farm growing crops to help his family survive, but the landowner of the property that the freedmen is working on takes a lot of his crops. With that the freedmen have to pay their landowner for all the fee’s that come along with getting that land which makes them in debt. These African Americans were hoping that one day they will turn out to have a better life, but in the end they were all going to owe the landowner money. Freedmen changes politically, and economically but not so much socially because slavery was abolished, yet upper class people made rules to go against it so because of that it only changes freedmen’s life a little bit.

Most were enslaved and had no rights what so ever. According to Leon F. Litwack his map of “The Abolition of Slavery 1777-1865” shows that slavery was abolished in most states at the end of the Civil War.(Doc K) This means that many African Americans didn’t gain their freedom until decades after the Revolutionary War. They had it tough in the colonies because they were discriminated and harshly treated. Andrews a young African American student at free school in New York is giving a speech, he was valedictorian. Andrews explains, “No one will employ me; white boys won’t work with me. Shall I be a merchant? No one will have me in his office; white clerks won’t associate with me.”(Doc L). By saying all of the social and economic struggles he has by being African American it shows that no one will hire him in the workplace. Even though he was at the top of his class people won’t give him a job because of his skin color. Furthermore it displays that African Americans never got any freedoms from the revolution which makes it not

INTRO YO: Throughout history, all over the world, people have been enslaved and mistreated based on various arbitrary factors. From the slavery of cultures all over the world, to racial oppression of today, these people have been subjected to subhuman cruelty. In America, the turning point for this mistreatment was the late 19th century and early 20th century. With the civil war and the passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution, slaves and free African Americans gained more freedom. The best path for these African Americans of the 19th and 20th centuries is to combine the ideas of great African American leaders like Frederick Douglass, WEB DuBois, and Booker T Washington. The optimal path to freedom for the subjected people is to become educated, to value themselves, working hard, and proving to oppressors that they are equal.

Free blacks, they insisted were a degraded group whose presence posed a danger to white society. Slavery and racism were so deeply embedded in America life that black could never achieve equality if free and allowed to remain in the country. African American adamantly opposed the idea of colonization, galvanized free black to claim their rights as American resolutions insisted that blacks were American same freedom and right enjoyed by whites, by removed the word “African” from their name to eliminate a possible reason for not being deported from the land of their birth. ( chapter 12, page,

The working class can relate to the theme of the short story “Contents of the Dead Man’s Pocket,” by Jack Finney. More often than not, people strive to get to the top of their profession, but at what cost? The majority of people spend countless hours of their life working to provide for themselves and their loved ones. The irony of working all these hours to provide for your loved ones is that you will not see them nearly as much as desired because of work. In my opinion, the above passage is important to the story because Tom is now inside lying on the floor as a new man who knows what is important in life.

Black people lost their freedom as oppression began, their identity was lost. Their traditions and love for nature were nowhere to be found as they forgot their languages, origin, and cultures. Their destiny was in the hands of their masters even their future generations for they surrendered into slavery.

Most people understand that slavery was a terrible thing, but most might not fully understand the struggles that free colored men and women endured as well. While slavery was legal, free men would often be kidnapped and forced into slavery, and sometimes slaves actually escape to freedom. If an African American was considered a free man, he or she had to get official documentations stating so. Even after the documents were given to them, some of them still found themselves as slaves. There are many different stories about slavery, but just because a slave escapes from slavery, does not mean he or she is free from a slave’s mindset. Although they were in different positions in life, slaves and free African Americans experienced the same hardships, fears, and daily struggles.

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

Well in the period of the reconstruction which was during the year of (1865-1877) many African Americans were freed. During this time their life was greatly affected with mixed emotions due to the fact that they had their ups and downs and it was a time of a reconstruction and a time of disappointment.

Freedom is not being controlled by others and having the rights that others have. African American slaves were pushed and motivated toward this goal, this was the ultimate dream during the Reconstruction period. Reconstruction period was a time in U.S history that spanned from 1865 to 1877, this period was triggered when the civil war ended and the period ended due to the Compromise of 1877. This essay will provide evidence that African Americans were free during the Reconstruction period of the United States.

Being a free black in the time period of 1776 - 1861 may have sounded like a good thing. Yes, free blacks were living in the Northern states, free from slavery, but their rights were very limited compared to whites. Slavery was still very common in the Southern states. Slavery is when a person is the legal property of another and is forced to obey them. In this case, Africans were taken to America to obey their masters; which were whites. Slaves had to do hard agricultural work in the plantations for long hours under the blazing sun. Slaves also worked in their houses, cooked, cleaned, and cared for their children. It was clear why being a slave was not the ideal life. Although being a free black was safer than being a slave, free blacks did not have equal rights as whites did. Free blacks had very limited political, economic, and personal rights.