The primary sources I selected to write about have do with the horrible years of the Reconstruction

In the history of the United States, African Americans have always been discriminated against. When Africans first came to America, they were taken against their will and forced to work as laborers. They became slaves to the rich, greedy, lazy Americans. They were given no pay and often badly whipped and beaten. African Americans fought for their freedom, and up until the Civil War it was never given to them. When the Civil War began, they wanted to take part in fighting to free all slaves. Their opportunity to be soldiers and fight along side white men equally did not come easily, but eventually African Americans proved themselves able to withstand the heat of battle and fight as true American heroes.

At first, African American slave labor was not commonly used considering there were many white indentured servants at the time and they were beginning their attempts to enslave the Native Americana. Within a few centuries, however, African American slaves were easier to control and did not need to be paid to work or, because they could not talk back against white men, needed to be treated with respect. According to A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn, “by 1700, in Virginia, there were 6,000 slaves, one-twelfth of the population. By 1763, there were 170,000 slaves, about half the population” (32). The use of African slave labor became more common and was mostly used in the South, and was only used in the south after the Missouri Compromise in 1820 (Kennedy, et al, 247). Even though they were a large portion of the colonial population, African American slaves were seen only as property or half human, and were consequently given very few rights, even if they were free and no longer slaves.

In America, the lives of Africans did not get any easier. Once the demand for labor began increasing dramatically, more and more Africans were imported to America. Originally, white people and black people worked together in the plantations. As a result of the increase in Africans in these British colonies, less white people took jobs on plantations. Eventually, enslavement became based on race. Numerous slave codes were developed, which included denying slaves the right to be out past sunset and denying slaves the right to meet in groups of three or more. These Africans forced to live enslaved in America were treated as if they were inferior to white people. It is discouraging to think about the fact that this country, though it was long ago, once accepted this kind of social injustice.

For the greater part of the nineteenth century, black people were slaves for white men. The Fourteenth Amendment was placed into effect to protect the rights of the black community after emancipation. It stated that, “all persons born or naturalized in the United States” would be supported under the doctrine. However, this article failed to uphold the rights of the newly freed slaves. The blacks, ridiculed and scorned by the public, were greatly suppressed by the white backlash. The states put into effect laws that would suppress the blacks even further, even though they were protected under the Amendment. The states made stipulations on rights the African Americans were granted, like the right to own land, vote, and even hold certain jobs. Voting was a major controversy for the newly freed slaves, they wanted the chance to be heard through politics. Nevertheless, they were still denied the simple right to vote in many of the states if they could not meet the prerequisites for reading or could not pay a voting tax. They made contracts for them to work for white men, just as if they were slaves and nothing changed. Black people were still waiting for their salvation under this new piece of legislation, but were unable to grasp it through the government. African Americans stood for their newly given rights under the Constitution and were denied by the people who put

The first African Americans that were put to work in Jamestown were not treated in the way that people traditionally think of early slavery. In fact they were treated just as the indentured servants that had come from England were treated. This does not mean that they were treated with any sympathy or given easy work, but that they just were not discriminated by the color of their skin. In the beginning of the 1600s all servants had the same dream, to one day be free. In 1641, a black slave by the name of Anthony Johnson, was freed and given his own land to start his new life as an American (Johnson et al, Africans, 39). At this point in time the only things that separated people were if you were an owner or a servant and if you were a Christian or not. At some point in the mid 1700s something changed the way that the colonists saw things. All of a sudden there was no longer equal treatment of white and black slaves, the darker the color of ones skin was the worse off their life became. In 1640, three slaves tried escaping to Maryland but were unsuccessful, when they were brought upon the court two of the

The original purpose of Reconstruction was to restore the buildings and the economy of the south the best they could, but without the immoral element of slavery. But, reconstruction under the Johnson Presidency was a failure for a few reasons: 1) Convict Leasing, 2) Sharecropping, 3) the Ku Klux Klan, 4) Segregation in schools, even in the North, 5) Carpetbaggers/Scalawags, 6) misleading statistics, and 7) racism.

Once African American’s were freed they faced many social obstacles. Blacks wanted to immediately be given the same treatment to whites in the workforce, such as have one day off per week so they could have more free time with their families. Blacks had more than the right to request time off, but some whites in American thought that this request was unreasonable, mostly because white people now lacked the ability to exploit black labor (Ransom221). After slavery ended the South was in short supply for

The African Americans were given their own freedom as well after being free from Britain. The diversity had become denser and so trade had flourished, and America had become more social. In Document F, it would state, "In 1790, the first U.S. census counted 13,059 free blacks in New England, with another 13,975 in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Strictly speaking, none of them was "free," for their lives were proscribed politically, economically, and socially. While white indentured servants often became respected members of their communities after their indentures ended, free blacks in the North rarely had the opportunity to rise above the level of common laborers and washerwomen, and as early as 1760 they had formed ghettoes in the grimy alleys and waterfront districts of Boston and other Northern towns" This would show how the indentured servants became members of the community and had not been looked down from the rest of the other people. And how America was the land of the free and was not discriminating other people based on their race or ethnicity.  To sum up, the people of races were not judged and were accepted by the

For Example, slaves were forced to work several hard labor jobs without pay. Many slaves had to go through the fear of being sold and torn apart from their families. Even children were auctioned off and torn apart from their families at early ages. Some children were sold as an act to punish their mother or father. Not only did slaves not have equal right, but they also could not get legally married to their significant others. Then you had the ‘free blacks’ who were former slaves that had been emancipated by their master or decedents of free blacks. Free blacks were able attain property, get an education, and move around as they pleased. Although free blacks escaped the harsh conditions of slavery, they still had to face the white racism that came their way. As more and more whites believed that slavery was the answer to the race problem that was going on around them, they constantly became more suspicious of free

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.

African American’s, after the Civil War and abolishment of slavery, still found themselves in a racist and oppressive society. Though legally free, lots were still engaged in forced labor. Threatened with back lash by their so called “masters” they were trying to find their way as free people. Trying to find some sort of or create better reality in a vile society of people who still believed African American’s were only fit to be slaves. The onslaught of World War I gave African American’s an opportunity to leave the vile societies of the south.

African Americans had a tough time being socially accepted in America from the time they were brought on slave ships in the 1600’s. African Americans worked for slave owners following their every command whether it was picking cotton in the fields, cooking for the slave owners families or any demeaning tasks. Slavery took place until President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation January 1, 1863 which declared “that all persons held as slaves within the rebellious states are and henceforth shall be free.” After the Emancipation Proclamation, most slaves were on their own, they had to restart their lives. Much of them only knew hard field labor work. However, many wanted to pursue educational journeys. During slavery, slaves

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.

Around 1640, slavery was becoming the most common condition of blacks in America and fewer were accepted as indentured servants. This happened because the colonial ruling class felt that Africans had at least five advantages over white immigrant labor: they were strong, they were inexpensive, they had no government protection, there seemed to be an exhaustible supply of them, and their skin was black, so they could not blend in with the white population. (Bryant)

They began to pass a series of laws separating out Africans and their dependents, restricting their right and mobility, and imposing a condition of permanent slavery on them.” At this time, I believe because they were coming straight from Africa and was unfamiliar with the language, customs and traditions they were treated more harshly. They we amazing laborers and Colonist realized that’s without Africans, their enterprises would fall. Even though slavery ended in 1860s “race” as social status and the basic human identities remained. Since then we have been stereotype as lacking in intelligence, lazy, overly-sexed, loud, irrational, but we have come a long way thanks to all the people who fought for the segregation to end. It is still existent; at the same time, we are making progress look we have an African American president who served two terms. We are not fully there yet; we may see more changes in the years to