The U.S. Supreme Court decided in the Dred Scott decision to refuse citizenship and constitutional rights to all African Americans, legally establishing the race as "subordinate, inferior beings whether slave or freedmen." During slavery, African Americans went through a plethora of mistreatment and separation. In the South, where slavery was most common, slaves would work long hours, for no pay while being mistreated. Plenty of white intellectuals tried to write articles and scholarly notes on the biological difference between African Americans and Caucasians. Our third President, Thomas Jefferson was one of these intellectuals that attempted to differentiate African Americans from Caucasians. Appiah writes “Not only, then is race, for Jefferson,
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Northern states wanted slavery to be completely over in the whole nation. Southern states thought otherwise and left the union. This caused our nation to go into a civil war. After the North won and the Southern states returned to the Union, Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery by passing the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, which freed slaves in each in every state in the United States. The 13th Amendment was also passed in an effort to abolish slavery. These two documents are very vital in African American history. African American males were finally able to vote after the 15th Amendment, which was passed in 1870. Even though slavery was illegal and no one could no longer be a slave, African Americans continued to struggle in America. African Americans in the south were under the hardships of slavery for more than two hundred years. They were so used to working on plantations and for white people wherever work was needed. “During the post-Civil War and Reconstruction Era, a slave’s fight for freedom turned into a mere fight for survival. The majority of slaves were released from their previous plantations penniless. Wages for African Americans also fluctuated in response to the perceived worth of that person and manual labor was considered easily replaceable during the post-Civil War time period. With income being an issue, few ex-slaves had the ability to own land.
Northern states wanted slavery to be completely over in the whole nation. Southern states thought otherwise and left the union. This caused our nation to go into a civil war. After the North won and the Southern states returned to the Union, Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery by passing the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, which freed slaves in each in every state in the United States. The 13th Amendment was also passed in an effort to abolish slavery. These two documents are very vital in African American history. African American males were finally able to vote after the 15th Amendment, which was passed in 1870. Even though slavery was illegal and no one could no longer be a slave, African Americans continued to struggle in America. African Americans in the south were under the hardships of slavery for more than two hundred years. They were so used to working on plantations and for white people wherever work was needed. “During the post-Civil War and Reconstruction Era, a slave’s fight for freedom turned into a mere fight for survival. The majority of slaves were released from their previous plantations penniless. Wages for African Americans also fluctuated in response to the perceived worth of that person and manual labor was considered easily replaceable during the post-Civil War time period. With income being an issue, few ex-slaves had the ability to own land.