Virginian Luxuries Analysis

The United States during the nineteenth century can be described in many different ways. Most people will remember it as the time period of the American civil war and the end of legal slavery in southern states. The most defining attribute was the struggle of power between differing races and genders, as the slaves were on the verge of independence, while women across the country made countless efforts to obtain the same freedoms white males enjoyed.
1) In the illustration of “Virginian Luxuries” the message of white supremacy is displayed. One the left side you have a white man that is presumably a slave owner who is clearly using his power over the slave woman for sexual purposes. On the right side of the picture, it shows another slave owner …show more content…
On the left side you have the male who is the father of his family, and he wants to remain head of the household and make all of the decisions. He is getting support by the child behind him and his neighbor. The right side is basically mirrored by having the mother of the family fight for the pair claiming to more fit for authority and has support of her daughter and her friend who is the wife to the neighbor on the left. It seems that both sides prefer to have authority to the other gender as opposed to having an equal amount of power. The illustration shows a struggle of power in the household between the male and female. Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s “Declaration of Sentiments” takes inspiration from the “Declaration of Independence” and takes some of its main ideas and modifies it to fit the current issue in equality. Stanton reveals that men have subjugated women for centuries and deprive them of their natural rights, much like the slaves before them. She claims that women have no voice, no authority, and are second rate citizens to their male counterparts. Males in society deem the women to abandon their aspirations and instead live a dependent life that is dedicated to their …show more content…
In reality the African Americans were not treated like equals and many Southern leaders manipulated or added legislature to ensure that the African Americans would not be equal to white citizens. I believe that in practice the reconstruction amendments failed to do provide absolute equality to the African Americans. The black people may have been freed, but white people were still above them in terms of power and status. Naturally the African Americans would have to gradually obtain equality within society rather than achieve it