Ira Berlin’s, “The Long Emancipation,” entails the truths and evidence that the abolishment of slavery was nothing near a swift and easy task as it had traditionally been assumed. She describes the struggles black Americans had to face in their fight for freedom, and what they had to endure throughout the struggle for emancipation. In addition, Berlin explains how black Americans found a means to prosper in their own way, despite all odds being against them in America. Ira Berlin counter-argues the idea that emancipation was quick and simple, explains the use of Revolutionary ideas in the struggle for abolition and securing a black culture in white society, and how these ideas stirred conflict between black Americans and white Americans.
Ira …show more content…
Slave-owners did not believe black Americans had the right to be independent, be granted citizenship or equal rights, and did not want abolitionists sacrificing their top class in society. However, it was their Bible and Declaration of Independence that the black abolitionists reasoned and supported their claims with. The use of Revolutionary ideas by black abolitionists put all white slave-owners in a situation of hypocrisy. The same ideals of freedom, independence, that all men are created equal and have certain inalienable rights, were the ones used by colonists, many of them slaveholders, to fight for their removal from Britain. This strategy put slaveholders in a tough position and made their counter-arguments almost invalid, but they refused to let abolitionists win that easily and would hold out their ideas that slavery was necessary and that abolition would ruin America. Ira Berlin’s, “The Long Emancipation,” describes the true struggles that black Americans faced in their war for freedom. She details the ideology used by abolitionists, specifically referencing their strong use of Revolutionary era concepts. As well as, mentioning their failures, and small victories, that led the way to black Americans creating a place for themselves in
Ira …show more content…
Slave-owners did not believe black Americans had the right to be independent, be granted citizenship or equal rights, and did not want abolitionists sacrificing their top class in society. However, it was their Bible and Declaration of Independence that the black abolitionists reasoned and supported their claims with. The use of Revolutionary ideas by black abolitionists put all white slave-owners in a situation of hypocrisy. The same ideals of freedom, independence, that all men are created equal and have certain inalienable rights, were the ones used by colonists, many of them slaveholders, to fight for their removal from Britain. This strategy put slaveholders in a tough position and made their counter-arguments almost invalid, but they refused to let abolitionists win that easily and would hold out their ideas that slavery was necessary and that abolition would ruin America. Ira Berlin’s, “The Long Emancipation,” describes the true struggles that black Americans faced in their war for freedom. She details the ideology used by abolitionists, specifically referencing their strong use of Revolutionary era concepts. As well as, mentioning their failures, and small victories, that led the way to black Americans creating a place for themselves in