Horace Greeley's Influence On African Americans

Ever since slavery has been established there has been negative and positive influences for white Americans. Some white Americans did not show any remorse for the African Americans and believed they deserved to be slaves. However, there were good white Americans like Horace Greeley that went to their grave to abolish slavery, and the brutality the Africans Americans faced. There was fairness for the African Americans because they were considered not human. People like D.L. Moody who was an evangelist that preached only his sermons to whites. Certain events like the yellow-fever epidemic of 1878 blamed the African Americans for the cause of it, yet some political leaders took it as an advantage to help stop slavery. These influences were not only bad influence, but positive as well.
Horace Greely was a political supporter for many famous people America. Greely supported Lincoln to help end slavery, and “…joined the radical antislavery faction of the Republican Party and demanded the early end of slavery” (Nevins, 1931). If only there were more people like Greely around the time of slavery then it would have been eradicated a lot early. When Horace Greely ran for

election in 1872 he made a speech and gave it in New York. It was a speech that targeted a lot of African Americans in a good way. He wanted to end segregation, and all of the other degradation the blacks were facing in the states at the time. Some whites in the south and north did not like that a White American was so supported for blacks. In the result of that speech some speculate it was the reason why he lost the election of 1872. Greely took a great risk to give that speech, and he might have known the consequences at the time. Horace Greely was one of the first white American bystanders to finally stand up for the African Americans.
D.L Moody was part of the evangelicals Christians that preached the religion in an Old Testament type of way. Evangelism is the belief that the only way to receive salvation was to be “born again” and accept the holy trinity within you. Some of his rivals did not agree with his sermons since they were ancient scriptures, and should not apply to the new world generation. How are Africans Americans involved with evangelic preacher? “Moody held revival meetings in the South but did so on a segregated basis” (Nathan 2012). Some may view Moody as a hypocrite but his sermons were based on self-preservation, and not for the caring of others like the typical Christian belief. The reason why Moody only preached to white Americans is a mystery to some individuals.
The yellow-fever epidemic was another influence that affected the white Americans thoughts about African Americans.

The yellow-fever started in Memphis, Tennessee in a restaurant and soon spread fast across the state and neighboring states. “Yellow fever, which is carried by mosquitos, originally came from West Africa and was brought to the United States on slaves ships” (History, 2009). The impact of the yellow-fever blamed and hated African Americans for spreading it in America. Some politicians that wanted to abolish slavery took this event as something positive for the black. The antislavery followers viewed yellow-fever as the slave owners fault since it was their slave ships that brought the infected to US soil. In the end, this influence both has a good and bad affect for the African American

race.
There are various amounts of influence that might prove to be better example, yet these are serious ones that have shaped the minds of many. Horace Greely, D.L. Moody, and the yellow-fever are good enough examples of influences that were either good or bad for the African Americans. Horace Greely might be known as a brave man to some and to some others a traitor to his race. D.L Moody a man of faith but also a racist that refused to preach his sermons to blacks. Lastly, the yellow-fever that caused a lot of problems for whites and blacks, but whose fault actually was it. These influences are not considered concerns to certain people, but they are events that have transpired some people’s lives. It is the consideration of these influences that make them count as historical people and events.