Abolishment Of Slavery

The landowners took advantage of their tenants by overcharging for land and underpaying for the crops. The tenants began falling deeper into debt. They could not leave until they paid off their debt, which was nearly impossible. Although former slaves had been freed, they were still facing many struggles in free life. America’s plan for reconstruction had good intent, but did not give African Americans the equality they deserved.

Post-Reconstruction US was a very difficult time for many groups of people within the US. These people, specifically blacks, struggled to get and maintain jobs due to Jim Crow laws and severe racism and segregation. Sharecropping also limited the amount former slaves could rise on the social ladder, as it was basically a legal form of segregation. Doc. 7 shows this by proving that very little blacks were actually born in Philadelphia, a city notorious for its black population.

The book focuses on the Great Migration of Blacks in the 20th century to the West or North. Similar to other migrations, there was a catalyst. For this period of history from 1915 to 1975, it was deep racism. The South, while maybe not individually, had a penchant for expressing its belief in the inferiority of Blacks. It ascribed a level of worth that was even lower than that of animals to Blacks.

This led to continued to tensions between not only the north and south but also the blacks and the whites in America. According to The Unfinished Nation, the per capita income of African Americans increase from about one-quarter to about one-half of the per capita income of White citizens (365). Sadly certain

More job opportunities began to open up therefore, there was an increased need for skilled workers. Companies thought it was a great idea to hire African Americans who would be more than willing to work, grant them a smaller pay and have their business continue to thrive in the prosperous decade. The white leaders of the industry often took advantage of policies to ensure that African Americans would be confined to the least desirable jobs with the lowest wages (Phillips 33). Within the jobs, workers would also be faced with discrimination. The African Americans would receive death threats in their place of work almost daily and were made to feel as if they were only there to benefit the economy (Phillips 39) For many years in American History, African Americans only received training to be skilled workers, as it didn 't seem necessary for them to receive any further education (Blanton 1).

During this time period, blacks had many different statuses. Some were slaves forever, some were like indentured servants. They were allowed to actually own property, get married and after they served their time they were freed. Slaves were at the bottom of the social order but the individuals above them were not much better. The white people that were poor did not have as many hardships because they always thought at least they were not slaves, even though they were towards the bottom of the social structure.

On top of this, he argues that the white middle class are unrelenting with their methods of depriving black advancement in American society. Knowledge of this incites many blacks to occupy dead-end jobs, or to settle for mediocrity in the face of adversity. A large number of black males in America find themselves forced to take jobs that offer no security, or socioeconomic growth. He also contends that many blacks are not very literate and therefore left behind in cultural revolutions like the information age. For twelve months between 1962 and 1963, Liebow and a group of researchers studied the behavior of a group of young black men who lived near and frequently hung around a street corner in a poor black neighborhood in downtown Washington, D.C. Liebow’s participant observation revealed the numerous obstacles facing black men on a day-to-day basis, including the structural and individual levels of racial discrimination propagated by whites in society.

During the early 1800’s, President Thomas Jefferson effectively doubled the size of the United States under the Louisiana Purchase. This set the way for Westward expansion, alongside an increase in industrialism and overall economic growth. In fact, many citizens were able to thrive and make a better living in the agricultural business than anywhere else. All seemed to be going well in this new and ever expanding country, except for one underlying issue; slavery. Many African Americans were treated as the lowest of the classes, even indistinguishable from livestock.

More specifically, he argues that the common goals freed slaves faced between 1830 and 1860—racial animus and Southern planters’ resistance— resurfaced again in the early 1900s. The planter class used their financial and political wherewithal to subjugate black laborers in a state of perpetual servitude—ex. sharecropping. “Keep the Negroes in the South and make them satisfied with their lot.” In response, the Negro Rural School Fund employed industrial supervisors to teach black educators. James Anderson also recounts the urbanization of the South and its impact upon the public education landscape. He sheds light upon the absence of black high schools in rural areas in the years following Reconstruction.

Score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity. But 100 years later, the Negro still is not free.” ( King, para.

To keep this from happening farmers made the sharecroppers indebted to them keeping the sharecroppers from having any money to support themselves. As stated, sharecropping had drastic effects on the relationship between black people and white people. Examples of this are shown when the article states: “Well, I’ve had so much trouble with these black people, I’m going to employ white people” (Painter para. 13) Additionally, the overall actions between black and white people rose wages (Painter para.

All things considered, this argument was convincing. In reality, one-third of the South’s population was black, and held an economic weight in society especially because of the emancipation of slaves. If whites ostracized blacks from working in the South, even as meager farmers and industrialist, the southern economy would falter as a

“The South grew, but it did not develop,” is the way one historian described the South during the beginning of the nineteenth century because it failed to move from an agrarian to an industrial economy. This was primarily due to the fact that the South’s agricultural economy was skyrocketing, which caused little incentive for ambitious capitalists to look elsewhere for profit. Slavery played a major role in the prosperity of the South’s economy, as well as impacting it politically and socially. However, despite the common assumption that the majority of whites in the South were slave owners, in actuality only a small minority of southern whites did in fact own slaves. With a population of just above 8 million, the number of slaveholders was only 383,637.

Since day one of US history, there has been and will probably always be a social, economic, and racial divide. “Open Letter to The South” is a poem that addresses the issues of not only the racial division in this great country, but it also concentrates on the issues that all working class American’s face, even in today’s society and economy. In the poem, Langston Hughes speaks against the words of Booker T. Washington “Separate as the fingers.” He speaks about how whites and blacks should come together and become one, no matter their birth rights or history. He mentions

Pertaining to the rights of African Americans a new south did not appear after the reconstruction. While they were “free” they were often treated harshly and kept in a version of economic slavery by either their former masters or other white people in power. Sharecropping and the crop-lien system often had a negative impact on both the black and white tenants keeping them in debt with the owner. Jim Crow laws, vigilantes and various means of disfranchisement became the normal way of life in the South. It was believed that white people were superior to black people and when they moved up in politics or socially they were harassed and threatened.