Introduction
Slavery is a process whereby a human being is owned by another human being. A slave works without pay and is a possession of his owner. The slave is provided with clothing, food, and shelter by his or her owner, known as the master or mistress.
Around 1800 to 1870’s hostile opponents of slavery started to rise up especially in the north. Their advocates who were mostly whites like, Lucretia Mott and William Lloyd Garrison were abolitionists that united with several liberated blacks, together with previous slaves like Frederick Douglass, Henry Highland Garnet and Sojourner Truth, women like, Harriet Tubman, Susan B. Anthony who advocated women’s right in 1821, Sarah Parker Remond, antislavery Lecturer and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper who was a writer in1826 to opposed slavery in public speeches and civic writings.
In 1862 subsequent to the liberation of slaves, the African Americans position in after civil war until the starting of the new century did not witness any major change. A great deal of legislation was conceded to aid African Americans in this era. The prevention of segregation in public services by the civil right act of 1875 and some changes that had taken place in the government earned African Americans more rights. Still through the legislation of government, the recently called liberated men were still mistreated by the majority of the citizens and ironically, before long there were constrained and discriminated once more during the rulings of government on imperative cases of that time.
Reconstruction as a Chance to Offer African Americans a Better Life
Reconstruction was proposed to offer African Americans the opportunity for an improved and innovative life. A lot of them lived with their formal masters subsequent to their freedom, even as most had gone looking for prospects through schooling as well as property possessions. Though, the task was not an easy one. There encountered so many things on their way, mainly supremacists that were white with laws and limits they laid on African Americans.
Commencing through the black codes put in to law by Johnson who was the president as part of reform plan, a curfew was placed on African Americans as well as the possession of identification. Work contracts recognized in President Johnson’s Reconstruction still restricted the librated men to their particular plantations. Some years shortly, a new set of laws acknowledged as the Jim Crow openly degraded the position of African Americans by introducing inequitable limitations on everything from the right to vote all the way to the separation of water fountains.
Besides to these limitations, African Americans had to agree with the Democrats whose northern party arm denounced racial impartiality. As a consequence of democratic unfriendliness and the support of the Republican Party of African American sufferings, librated men wholly gave their support to the Republicans (Halliburton 256).
Because of the collapse of President Johnson’s Reconstruction, legislature projected its own plan. One of the several laws that were issued under this plan was the 14th amendment. In the midst of so many things, this alteration restricted former leaders of Confederate from occupying political office, and librated men were given their nationality. The refusal of this alteration by the south, mainly because of the proceedings of their past Confederate leaders that were then in state office gave way for the implementation of the 1867 Reconstruction Act. This caused a breakdown of the government in the south and gave the military power above the South.
This gave the librated men the franchise to ballot under latest state constitutions, and obligated the states from the south to give approval of the 14th amendment. By the addition of black American votes in elections in the south, and with the aid of the Carpet Baggers and Scalawags Republican political Party took power above the American South. All through this era, the position of librated man was appreciably improved, and around 1868 several states in the legislature had Black American representatives.
The 15th amendment was passed in 1870, restricting the states from disenfranchising any person the right to vote on relation to color, race, or prior state of servitude. Although allowing racial groups like African Americans the right to take part in a ballot, it was purposely left unlock for explanation by the states, illiterate people and women were deny suffrage.
Several states in the South, in 1877 beginning with Georgia, took gain of this by issuing a succession of laws and a tax was put on voting. Shortly After, a plan was established in Mississippi around1890. The plan expected the electorate to pay tax some months previous to voting, and to show that they were educated and may well as know the constitution of their state. This followed a prompt action taken by the state of Louisiana to pass the initial Grand Father Clause.
The clause stated balloting and property achievements by not permitting folks whose grandfathers were not qualified to take part in elections prior to 1867. The entire figure of qualified electorate in the South depreciated swiftly as an outcome. Most factions that were regular in the body of slavery were at this time ordinary under law. Judicial actions as an outcome of 1875 Civil Rights Act yielded no good result. It was later reasoned out by the judicially that ordinary persons could not be controlled by rule above issues of discrimination.
This gave way to create the belief of separate but equal which was cancelled by afterward judgments of cases like Plessy versus Ferguson. Subsequent to the introduction of the separate but equal policy, America started experiencing what was known as the laws of Jim Crow (Haskins 322).
Librated men were not only segregated in opposition to judicial rulings. Whites from the south both wealthy and underprivileged were harshly opposed to liberation. The underprivileged feared the opposition in the work force, and the affluent advocated this approach to maintain a strong separation between blacks and whites. During the early time subsequent to Reconstruction there were several attacks on blacks, however as time proceeded this attacks were more.
Radical groups such as the Ku Klux Klan stood up to torture and commit cruelty in opposition to both African Americans and core Republicans. A dominant Republican named Fredrick Douglas said discrimination has been conquered, slavery cancelled and harmony proclaimed but still our mission is not accomplished. We are still facing the same challenge of the past opponent of freedom and advancement. The South these days is a blood field. The fighting related with discrimination was a terrible problem. While groups like the Ku Klux Klan carried out its activities only in the South, unfairness of a minor kind was also common in northern states.
During last part of 18th century lots of whites took up cruelty to drive away African Americans from neighborhoods surrounded by white. Whites prearranged defensive associations so that houses in white surroundings could by no means be sold to any African American. It was very clear in the makeup of a lot of diverse cities in the north. These states had particular housing districts for African Americans. Marginalization was still at its highest peak in the northern states were most of the civil rights struggles started.
Conclusion
After the Civil War, America witnessed tremendous development concerning black suffrage civil rights. Several laws were approved to offer blacks more rights. Regrettably, several bills were passed by state assemblies to oppose. Like Jim Crow and Black Code laws. Liberation was received by the north only at the cost of African Americans. Liberation held the position of north over the South; it is remarkable to understand that despite the fact that the North supported liberation, segregation based on color was common there as well as in the South. Several employment contracts still bounded librated men to plantations and the only reasonable job that was obtainable was that of household servants and farm work, like it was the case for African Americans during slavery (Bullard 499).
Works Cited
Bullard, Sara. Free at Last: A History of the Civil Rights Movement and Those Who Died in the Struggle, 1800-1877. England: Oxford, 1993.
Halliburton, Warren J., comp. Historic Speeches of African Americans, 1800-1900. California: Watts, 1993.
Haskins, James. Freedom Rides, 1800-1888. Michigan: Hyperion, 1995.