Freedom vs Independence
While reading Eric Foner's book I came to appreciate the difficulties the freed black slaves encountered for example, how the previous slave owning class continued to manipulate the freed slaves. Also, I was impressed at the great sacrifice they made when attempting to become educated. Last of all I was surprised at the severity of persecution and abuse of blacks that was still considered legal after they were "freed". When the label of slave was removed from the black American, it was meant to clarify that they were human beings.Human beings eligible to participate in America's society and culture. However, racism denied them the privileges of the American citizen. Although they were no longer slaves, they were still considered to be savages, unintelligent, and the lowest class of person in the United States.Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. The Proclamation set the American slave population free. However, it did not indicate how new Black citizens would be incorporated into the free society. Emancipation would redefine how blacks saw themselves and their aspirations, and it would redefine the labor system. Blacks believed that they could equally share in prosper
Blacks saw emancipation as their opportunity to become involved with society without the burden of being owned by someone. "In one Democratic Alabama county in 1870, a black woman was brutally beaten by a group of whites was ordered to raise $16. Blacks desperately wanted to move up in social standing and become educated. Hideous crimes committed by both Southern and Northern whites against blacks mostly went unpunished. Southern states as a whole began to encourage literacy and education. "The Ku Klux Klan emerges as a military force serving the interests of the Democratic party, the planter class, and all those who desired the restoration of white supremacy"(p. With these contracts, planters tightened authority and presided over all details of the lives of blacks. Southern planters would not accept that blacks were free Americans and could leave the area. Whites perceived emancipation as "uncompensated liquidation of the nation's largest concentration of private property and a redefinition of the place of blacks in American society"(p. They wanted to participate in all forms of activity they had been denied because of their color. They wanted to work hard for the chance of a better life for their children. wanted full control of the blacks as a labor force.
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