Freedom
What is freedom? Freedom can be defined as “The state of not being imprisoned or enslaved.” In 1865 the Thirteenth Amendment ended slavery. African Americans were freed from their oppressors, they were freed of the slave` life, the sexual assaults, the denial of education, legal marriages and many more. With their new found freedom many African Americans didn’t have anywhere to go. They didn’t own land, or houses; most of their family members were sold away, so they had nothing. Novels like Eyewitness to America edited by David Colbert, After Slavery by Baker Bruce, Searching for Freedom after the Civil War by G. Ward Hubbs and The Two Reconstructions by Richard M. Valelly explain what African Americans went through after the thirteenth …show more content…
Abraham Lincoln, was a member of the anti-slavery Republican Party and he passed The Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. The Emancipation Proclamation declared "all persons held as slaves … shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free." Lincoln passed the Emancipation Proclamation as a war measure for the Civil War but it was a major stepping stone toward complete freedom, civil rights, and African American citizenship. Later on Lincoln realized that the country might view the Emancipation Proclamation as a temporary war measure, and not disallow slavery once the Civil War ended; the president and his administration focused on passing a constitutional amendment that would be permanent.
On January 31, 1865, the 13th Amendment was passed by Congress. It declared that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime where of the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." It was later ratified by the states on December 6, …show more content…
Searching for Freedom after the Civil War describes the Black Codes as “An act to regulate contracts with freedmen and to enforce the same” (114) The Black Codes were laws passed by Southern legislatures in order to punished unemployed freedmen as vagrants and apprenticed. The laws stripped African Americans of the right to vote, the right to serve on government, the right to own or carry weapons, and, in some cases, even the right to rent or lease land. Because of black codes, judges gave many young African American orphans to white plantation owners who would make them work involuntarily. Adult freedmen were forced to sign job contracts with their previous masters. Because of these contracts African Americans could not work for more than one employer, they received extremely low wages and horrible working conditions. If any of them tried to violate their contracts they were fined, beaten or arrested for vagrancy. If they were to get arrested they had to work for no wages, essentially being reduced to the very definition of a
What is freedom? Freedom can be defined as “The state of not being imprisoned or enslaved.” In 1865 the Thirteenth Amendment ended slavery. African Americans were freed from their oppressors, they were freed of the slave` life, the sexual assaults, the denial of education, legal marriages and many more. With their new found freedom many African Americans didn’t have anywhere to go. They didn’t own land, or houses; most of their family members were sold away, so they had nothing. Novels like Eyewitness to America edited by David Colbert, After Slavery by Baker Bruce, Searching for Freedom after the Civil War by G. Ward Hubbs and The Two Reconstructions by Richard M. Valelly explain what African Americans went through after the thirteenth …show more content…
Abraham Lincoln, was a member of the anti-slavery Republican Party and he passed The Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. The Emancipation Proclamation declared "all persons held as slaves … shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free." Lincoln passed the Emancipation Proclamation as a war measure for the Civil War but it was a major stepping stone toward complete freedom, civil rights, and African American citizenship. Later on Lincoln realized that the country might view the Emancipation Proclamation as a temporary war measure, and not disallow slavery once the Civil War ended; the president and his administration focused on passing a constitutional amendment that would be permanent.
On January 31, 1865, the 13th Amendment was passed by Congress. It declared that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime where of the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." It was later ratified by the states on December 6, …show more content…
Searching for Freedom after the Civil War describes the Black Codes as “An act to regulate contracts with freedmen and to enforce the same” (114) The Black Codes were laws passed by Southern legislatures in order to punished unemployed freedmen as vagrants and apprenticed. The laws stripped African Americans of the right to vote, the right to serve on government, the right to own or carry weapons, and, in some cases, even the right to rent or lease land. Because of black codes, judges gave many young African American orphans to white plantation owners who would make them work involuntarily. Adult freedmen were forced to sign job contracts with their previous masters. Because of these contracts African Americans could not work for more than one employer, they received extremely low wages and horrible working conditions. If any of them tried to violate their contracts they were fined, beaten or arrested for vagrancy. If they were to get arrested they had to work for no wages, essentially being reduced to the very definition of a