Introduction
California’s issues with slavery only had recently started when it was accepted into the Union as a free state. While the use of black slave labor as a mainstay of the state’s economy never materialized, the philosophy underpinned it would become essential in California politics. White southern migration skewed the political course of the state toward a pro-slavery conclusion since they were disproportionately represented in the parliament, courts, and California’s congressional delegation. They ensured enslaved people in the South and West were divided by a narrow, invisible barrier while also marginalizing antislavery leaders. California, in the pre-Civil War era, was turned by white southern sympathizers into a massive pro-slavery testing facility. Then some fought for the abolition of California’s free-soil law and the return of slave ownership to the Pacific coast. Finally, others sought political power and used a sizable patronage network to impose a pro-slavery policy platform on the state. Regarding Slavery in California, the Interim Report presents the history wholesome with reliable information, although it lacks details about the drawbacks of free land and the negative aspects of that phenomenon.
Discussion
Even though many white northerners made a living from the labor of enslaved Black people, many also started to worry about the future of slavery in the country. Nevertheless, racism was not only practiced by politicians from the South. California was not an exception to the Western free-soil agenda’s broad seam of anti-black hatred. Abolitionists wrote thousands of books and speeches to persuade their citizens that slavery was morally wrong and against God’s will. They also assisted thousands of people trying to escape slavery using a covert system known as the Underground Railroad (Waite 2021, 92). While most white northerners opposed abolitionism and were concerned that it would drive a wedge between the North and South, the movement’s notoriety and the deeds of freedom fighters sparked fresh hostility to the idea of slavery spreading westward. Self-interest drove the majority of white northerners to oppose the spread of slavery to the West. For free white people to access affordable farmland and the opportunity to amass riches without being forced to compete with rich enslavers and enslaved people, they advocated that additional western areas should be designated as free soil.
California’s pro-slavery political culture resulted from the expansionist goals of white southerners, not a purely local phenomenon. As Jefferson Davis knew better than anybody, it took cooperation from both political leaders of the country to transform the Pacific coast into the consumer of the slave states (Waite 2021, 92). His contact with benefactors and supporters in the American West attests to the size of this alliance in favor of slavery. Partisans from the South and the West pushed a plan to unite the regions and maintain the national dominance of enslavers. However, the report and the book indicate this point and emphasize that the concept of free land was made in favor of white people but not in the interests of African Americans. The law prohibited black people, Native Americans, and other ethnicities from speaking against white people in court. The prohibition from testifying was eventually extended to civil courts in 1851 and applied to Chinese immigrants (Waite 2021, 94). Leaders in California sought legislation to exclude African Americans from the state and mandate the expulsion of any enslaved people who had been transported.
Although the California ban on black immigration finally failed, the message that this would be a state for white people was very apparent. This information was stated both in the report and in the book, mentioning that enslaved people could not represent themselves in court, especially in cases when the question of their freedom was decided. Instead of defending the rights of African Americans, the miners who forced Green’s men and their slaves out of the gold mines in 1849 did so to lessen competition with whites (Waite 2021, 94). Black immigration into the state was almost prohibited by the California Constitutional Amendment that abolished slavery.
Furthermore, while some antislavery lawmakers disagreed with the foreign miners’ fee and the restriction on non-white testimonies, a sufficient number did so to get their message heard. Those facts are essential to the definition of the image of free land since they demonstrate that it was not made for black people to live independently but for white civilians to get more benefits from the mining. In the report, this part lacks some details, which did not contribute to creating a realistic image of that situation. According to estimations today, numerous enslaved African Americans worked in the mining districts in the early 1850s (Waite 2021, 98). Before the abolition of slavery took effect, many had already been relocated to California. Until 1852, it was unclear whether they were free employees who had been illegally bonded or enslaved (California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans 2020, 71). The report also mentions the confusion regarding the freedom of the African Americans who arrived in California before the abolition.
Conclusion
Overall, the report has certain distinctions from the book, but it is still informative and has all the necessary data, specifically regarding slavery in California. African Americans in California did not instantly become free since they were once enslaved people on the free territory. Antislavery campaigners were needed to ensure the emancipation of the enslaved people, but they were hard to come by, particularly throughout the Southern Mines, where enslavers frequently congregated. Both the report and the book referred to the fact that enslaved individuals could not speak for themselves in court, particularly when the issue of their freedom was at stake. Although some details are missing in the report and less specific in some information, it does not seem to affect the recommendation on reparations negatively.
References
California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African American. (2022). ‘Interim Report. State of California Department of Justice.
Waite, Kevin. (2021). West of Slavery: The Southern Dream of a Transcontinental Empire. North Carolina: The University of North Carolina Press.