Freedom. What truly is freedom? There are many definitions of freedom. One of those definitions includes that freedom is the ability of an individual to be or do what they want of free will, with no restrictions applied to them. During the Reconstruction era (1865-1877), where the South left the Union and fell into shambles as trying to declare themselves as an individual state, but then they were returned to the Union by the Reconstruction Act of 1867, there was an issue about the freedom of African Americans abolished of slavery. However, before the Reconstruction Act was executed, there was controversy between different plans on how to rejoice the South back into the union; Lincoln’s plan versus the Radical Plan (AKA Wade-Davis Plan). Lincoln’s First of all during Reconstruction, Andrew Johnson, former president after Lincoln was shot in 1865, and other White supremacist went behind the House of Representatives back and established a forum called the Black Codes. The Black Codes limited the rights of African Americans in the South, and that they must obey all White superiors. This is the opposite of what the Reconstruction Amendments stood for, giving all African Americans freedom and rights from slavery. Next, to accommodate the effects of the Black Codes, there has been statements made from various former slaves during Reconstruction. Former slave, Henry Adams, discusses of his so called “freedom” given by the government with the justifications of the Black Codes. He exclaims how after the Civil War, he was beaten by White men for testing to see if he was truly a free man by following the Reconstruction Amendments and not the Black Codes. However, the Black Codes never stated any punishment for not following the given regulations. In other words, there was still racism happening down in the South, and African Americans were not considered equal and free during Reconstruction to White supremacists for they still considered African Americans as slaves. Lastly, referring back to how African Americans were given the “free” ability to take part in the U.S. Congress, it was not absolutely true. Viewing closer at the document of the “Elected Black Officials during Reconstruction”, out of the thousands of African Americans that were elected there was only 17 African Americans Officials. If African Americans were truly free and had equal rights, established by the Reconstruction Amendments, then there would not just be only 17 African Americans Officials out of roughly 500 total Congressmen. African Americans were not given the equal liberty that they were granted as when Lincoln died and Andrew Johnson
With the civil war coming to an end, the congressman of Illinois presented a fresh, new concept. This modern idea stated that the United States of America was a new nation and “for the first time, it had been wholly free.” Many of the white men from this time period were against the change and pursued their old way of life, which prevented the newly made amendments from going into full effect. Freedom in the south during the reconstruction era of America was very controversial. There were many different conceptions of what freedom was. It was thought to be land, others thought it had to do with money, and some even though it was not having a master/not being a slave. The definition of freedom swayed back and forth depending on whose point of
Reconstruction(1865-1877) was the time period in which the US rebuilt after the Civil War. During this time, the question the rights of freed slaves in the United States were highly debated. Freedom, in my terms, is the privilege of doing as you please without restriction as long as it stays within the law. However, in this sense, black Americans during the Reconstruction period were not truly free despite Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. While legally free, black Americans were still viewed through the lens of racism and deeply-rooted social biases/stigmas that prevented them from exercising their legal rights as citizens of the United States. For example, black Americans were unable to wholly participate in the government as a
Imagine that you are an escaped African slave. After years of being a slave you’ve finally done it, you escaped the terrors that is slavery. You are looking forward to the freedoms that you have heard are promised in the north. However, these “freedoms” are all what they were made out to be. Blacks in the north were to some extent free in the years before the Civil War. This can be shown by looking at four areas of society: political and judicial rights, social freedoms, education and job opportunities, and religious freedom.
Although many laws were passed that recognized African Americans as equals, the liberties they had been promised were not being upheld. Hoffman, Blum, and Gjerde state that “Union League members in a North Carolina county, upon learning of three or four black men who ‘didn’t mean to vote,’ threatened to ‘whip them’ and ‘made them go.’ In another country, ‘some few colored men who declined voting’ were, in the words of a white conservative, ‘bitterly persecute[ed]” (22). Black codes were also made to control African Americans. Norton et al. states that “the new black codes compelled former slaves to carry passes, observe a curfew, live in housing provided by a landowner, and give up hope of entering many desirable occupations” (476). The discrimination and violence towards African Americans during this era and the laws passed that were not being enforced were very disgraceful. However, Reconstruction was a huge stepping stone for the way our nation is shaped today. It wasn’t pretty but it was the step our nation needed to take. We now live in a country where no matter the race, everyone is considered equal. Reconstruction was a success. Without it, who knows where our nation would be today. African American may have never gained the freedoms they have today without the
In the words of President Abraham Lincoln during his Gettysburg Address (Doc. A), the Civil War itself, gave to our Nation, “a new birth of freedom”. The Civil War had ended and the South was in rack and ruin. Bodies of Confederate soldiers lay lifeless on the grounds they fought so hard to protect. Entire plantations that once graced the South were merely smoldering ash. The end of the Civil War and the abolishment of slavery, stirred together issues and dilemmas that Americans, in the North and South, had to process, in hopes of finding the true meaning of freedom.
Up north all blacks were free. The population of blacks in the north was about 1% in 1860 after the American Revolution. The blacks up north had minimal rights. The blacks could not vote, because of stipulations or they were just told that they could not vote by laws of their area. The New York Convention created one stipulation that was created to exclude blacks from voting in 1821; the law stated that blacks could not vote if they did not own property. Most blacks were having a tough time getting jobs in the south. So if a black person could not generate income how were they supposed to buy a home?
Imagine yourself wrongly convicted of a crime. You spent years in jail awaiting your release date. It finally comes, and when they let you out, they slap handcuffs around your wrists and tell you every single action you do. In a nutshell, that’s how the Black Codes worked. The southerners wanted control over the blacks after the Civil War, and states created their own Black Codes.
Chapter sixteen begins with the reconstruction period of the civil war. From previous history classes I have learned more in depth about the war and why the North was fighting against the South, but overall I think the most important part to look at from the civil war is the end of it and what was to come after it, which was the reconstruction era. Lincoln had just released his emancipation proclamation and freed the slaves. As happy as this may seem it was actually quite the opposite. Attitudes of white southerners towards black in the south hadn 't changed a bit after the Emancipation Proclamation. In 1865 Carl Schurz was sent by President Andrew Johnson to investigate the current conditions of the confederacy after they were defeated in the civil war. While there he shared in his “Report on the Condition of the South” that southerners have a belief “so deeply rooted… that the negro will not work without physical compulsion”. Overall this just shows how the attitudes of white southerners were no different. They truly believed that the blacks weren 't able to work or function without force. Many northerners and abolitionists, such as Wendell Phillips, at this time saw this and actually said that Lincoln didn 't do enough. They wanted him to do a complete overhaul of southern society. Personally I understand where these people were coming from. They were people who really wanted all the issues to be resolved. Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation was a step in the right direction, but he could have done more. Schurz even noted that “negroes who walked away from the plantations, or were found upon the roads, were shot or otherwise severely punished”. Former slaves weren ...
Beginning with the 'black codes' established by President Johnson's reconstruction plan, blacks were required to have a curfew as well as carry identification. Labor contracts established under Johnson's Reconstruction even bound the freedmen to their respective plantations. A few years later, another set of laws known as the Jim Crow laws directly undermined the status of blacks by placing unfair restrictions on everything from voting rights all the way to the segregation of water fountains. Besides these restrictions, the blacks had to deal with the Democratic Party, whose northern wing even denounced racial equality. As a result of democratic hostility and the Republican Party's support of Black suffrage, freedmen greatly supported the Republican Party.
when the president had declared the free slavery, but not every single black was free from their master. That what President Lincoln try to do, but nothing happens. the only thing happened was war and so many people die. Alexander tells us about the civil war, she said “ civil war had to be won first, hundreds of thousands of lives lost, and then - only then we 're slaves across the South set free.” why they had to fight to get freedom When “ The contitvtiral amendments guaranteeing African American will have “equal protection of law” and have right to vote.” Did black people really got equal protection from law as white? Not at all black become less power and in the camps that was like worse than where they use to be
All African Americans thought with the creation of civil rights, they would be free to do what all Americans could do. In the context of civil rights, emancipation means to be free from slavery. The process took much longer than they expected. Many fled to the North to gain their freedom, which was rightfully theirs. Legal slavery was removed from the North, but the population of slaves between the first emancipation and the end of the Civil war doubled, from roughly 1.8 million in 1827 to over four million in 1865. It was very difficult for southern farmers and those who owned slaves to immediately give up a lifestyle they were accustomed to and remove their slaves. White southerners viewed African Americans as their workers. They have lived with this mindset for so long, causing their transition to be challenging compared to the transition of the slaves in the north.
History has a way of repeating itself. We are part of a world where equal rights are still being debated today. During the Reconstruction era from 1865-1877, there were many attempts made to rebuild and restore the remnants left by the Civil War. At the forefront of Reconstruction was the main priority of eradicating slavery. This was accomplished initially by the 13th Amendment, with the 14th Amendment naturalizing all citizens, regardless of race and the 15th Amendment extending the right to vote to all African Americans. This amendment gave all African Americans a political platform and allowed them the ability to vote for fellow African Americans into political office. They also had some amount of social services that were provided by the
Freedom is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. In America there is numerous of choices that someone may make on a daily basis. If someone were allowed to make their own choices and were being told what to do; then they would not be free. When someone is allowed to speak when they want to, and say what they want; such as their opinion or view of something. Being allowed to have a right to speak is one of the most important characteristics of being an American. Thinking and stating your opinion in any predicament it a strong part in being a citizen because people in the United States are known for being able to think in their own ways. Freedom can stretch too many things such as being able to do as they please, they are not forced into doing anything that someone may want. The citizens of the United States are not made to do anything that one may not want to do; like
In the years after the Civil War, a period of reformation began in the United States known as the Reconstruction Era. In this transformative period, the meaning of freedom – especially freedom for African-Americans – was a major topic of discussion. More specifically, after the Civil War, the dilemma over how to extend true freedom to African-American individuals in the South then came about. However, creating a social system to fairly grant this freedom to African-Americans in the South was no easy feat because there were opposing interpretations of freedom at the time. To explain, there was a debate over the meaning behind freedom, and whether it meant simply not being enslaved, having equal rights, being able to vote, or owning property.
Throughout history freedom has had many different meanings and definitions; based on race, gender, and ethnicity. According to the dictionary freedom means the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint (“freedom” def. 1). Freedom may seem like something given to everyone however it was something workers had to fight for. Not everyone believed that workers’ rights needed to be changed, which led to a long battle between workers, employers and the government. To the working class people freedom meant making higher wages, having regulated hours, workable conditions and the right to free speech.