Before the Civil War it was very common for people to own someone of African descent
and keep them as slaves. Today people would think that it would be crazy for a man to own
another man and make him work for very little or no pay. So why did people back then,
especially in the South, think it was justifiable to own slaves? “Defenders of slavery argued that
if all the slaves were freed, there would be widespread unemployment and chaos. This would
lead to uprisings, bloodshed, and anarchy” (The Southern Argument for Slavery). People in the
Southern regions relied on their slaves to grow and pick all the major crops that were grown
there and they would be affected dramatically because there was roughly around three and a half …show more content…
It states
"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party
shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their
jurisdiction" (America’s Historical Documents). There was many questions after this amendment
was passed such as “Who was an American? Were the former slaves American citizens? What
form of labor would replace slavery?” (Brundage) and many more. Even with the thirteenth
amendment being passed the US still wasn’t sure how to treat former African American slaves and denied much of their basic rights that should’ve been granted to them now that they were
free from being slaves.
They debated on many questions on what the thirteenth amendment would really mean
and in what ways were the slaves free. “Even so, white northerners, and more so white
southerners, presumed that they would debate and resolve these questions with little or no
consideration of black opinion” (Brundage). The Southerners have always had slaves and it …show more content…
So even though the North helped the African Americans to be
free from the Southerners they still didn’t help them obtain any political rights. The whites of the
North and the South both voted and passed laws without and input from the blacks so they got to
decide what was considered freedom and what wasn’t and they left out most of their political
rights and didn’t even let the African Americans have an opinion on the matter. Even though the slaves were freed most of them still lived the same life that they lived
before because they didn’t have anything else to do. “Slavery was not abolished even after the Thirteenth Amendment. There were
four million freedmen and most of them on the same plantation, doing the same
work that they did before emancipation, except as their work had had been
interrupted and changed by the upheaval of war. Moreover they were getting
about the same wages and apparently were going to be subject to slave codes modified only in name. There were among them thousands of fugitives in the
camps of soldiers or on the streets of the city's, homeless, sick, and impoverished.
They had been freed practically with no land nor money, and save in
and keep them as slaves. Today people would think that it would be crazy for a man to own
another man and make him work for very little or no pay. So why did people back then,
especially in the South, think it was justifiable to own slaves? “Defenders of slavery argued that
if all the slaves were freed, there would be widespread unemployment and chaos. This would
lead to uprisings, bloodshed, and anarchy” (The Southern Argument for Slavery). People in the
Southern regions relied on their slaves to grow and pick all the major crops that were grown
there and they would be affected dramatically because there was roughly around three and a half …show more content…
It states
"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party
shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their
jurisdiction" (America’s Historical Documents). There was many questions after this amendment
was passed such as “Who was an American? Were the former slaves American citizens? What
form of labor would replace slavery?” (Brundage) and many more. Even with the thirteenth
amendment being passed the US still wasn’t sure how to treat former African American slaves and denied much of their basic rights that should’ve been granted to them now that they were
free from being slaves.
They debated on many questions on what the thirteenth amendment would really mean
and in what ways were the slaves free. “Even so, white northerners, and more so white
southerners, presumed that they would debate and resolve these questions with little or no
consideration of black opinion” (Brundage). The Southerners have always had slaves and it …show more content…
So even though the North helped the African Americans to be
free from the Southerners they still didn’t help them obtain any political rights. The whites of the
North and the South both voted and passed laws without and input from the blacks so they got to
decide what was considered freedom and what wasn’t and they left out most of their political
rights and didn’t even let the African Americans have an opinion on the matter. Even though the slaves were freed most of them still lived the same life that they lived
before because they didn’t have anything else to do. “Slavery was not abolished even after the Thirteenth Amendment. There were
four million freedmen and most of them on the same plantation, doing the same
work that they did before emancipation, except as their work had had been
interrupted and changed by the upheaval of war. Moreover they were getting
about the same wages and apparently were going to be subject to slave codes modified only in name. There were among them thousands of fugitives in the
camps of soldiers or on the streets of the city's, homeless, sick, and impoverished.
They had been freed practically with no land nor money, and save in