American Racial Beliefs

The Cause and Evolution of American Racial Beliefs Through History The American racial belief that Native Americans and African Americans were lesser peoples due to their color and intellect lead to the spark of the civil war in 1861, ultimately ending in the abolition of slavery. Such American racial beliefs also led to absurd justifications of slavery and a change in who should be free and who should not over time. Territories of the differing beliefs included the North (the union states) and the South (the confederacy) in early America. According to the American definition of freedom between 1619 and 1863, the whites were free men, as they were superior to the African Americans and Native Americans in both skin color and intellect.
The wealthy white males owned the plantations where slave work occurred, and they surely were not going to do the plantation work themselves.
So they participated in the widespread idea of slavery, buying and trading slaves and mastering them. In the late 1700s, Thomas Jefferson heavily believed that the African Americans and Native Americans were unfit for life in a republican society, due to their lack of education and intellect. In 1784, Thomas Jefferson addressed his views of the Indians and Blacks. He stated that the first difference between the Indians and the Blacks is their skin color. He made this remark, “the difference is fixed in nature, and is as real as if its seat and cause were better known to us.” [1] Thomas Jefferson stated that nature is causing the difference between the Indians and the Blacks. Jefferson attempts to justify his belief in slavery over inferior races, in particular the African Americans. Thomas Jefferson also states that the Blacks are inferior, this time in reason. He stated, “It appears to me that in memory
they are equal to the whites; in reason much inferior, as I think one could scarcely be found capable of tracing and comprehending the investigations of Euclid.”1 This statement is true, however largely due to slavery itself. Euclid was a Greek mathematician known for his findings in geometry, which were taught through education. No education was offered to the African American’s; therefore they are viewed as inferior in reason. Jefferson concluded by sharing his opinions about the Indians, he states “They (The Indians) will crayon out an animal, a plant, or a country, so as to prove the existence of a germ in their minds which only wants cultivation.”1 Jefferson shared that just because the minds of one race have not yet “Cultivated”, the superior whites shall master them. This is historically significant because it shows that the Native Americans and African Americans had been given a slim chance to become educated, and they were punished due to the lack of their intellectual gains. Around 1801, the Blacks rebelled, renewing the white man’s fear, imposing the idea of colonization, which was introduced by Virginia governor James Monroe. Jefferson, posed with a problem, either had to send these blacks back to Africa, which was considered the last resort, or locate a “Receptacle” for them. Meaning that he would have to find territory willing and able to accept these blacks. Some Blacks were free, however they were still being treated as slaves, being forced to separate from family and loved ones. Responding to a letter from James Monroe, Jefferson stated in his Nov. 24, 1801 letter, “could we procure lands beyond the limits of the US to form a receptacle for these people.”2 We can now reason that the Blacks were being held as slaves partly because the whites were afraid of losing power, which implies that whites think that the African Americans would be a powerful race if the chance arose. Jefferson wanted to move these troublesome blacks, but he does not want to dump them upon a region that is uninviting to them, because this will then cause bigger problems. Instead, he wants to rid them to the West Indies, he promptly states in the same document, “The West Indies offer a more probable and practical retreat for them. Inhabited already by a people of their own race and color.”2 Jefferson felt that the West Indies would be the easiest way to dispose of the troublesome blacks. In conclusion of the document, Jefferson states “Whenever the legislature of Virginia shall have brought it’s mind to a point, so that I may know exactly what to propose to foreign authorities, I will execute their wishes with fidelity and zeal.”2 By concluding with this statement, Jefferson is showing his contempt with the decisions of legislature, waiting to hear the final decision. Though slavery was well believed and practiced in early America, there was one man by the name of Abraham Lincoln who saw the good in life without slavery. January 1, 1863, under executive orders, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which occurred during the last two years of the American Civil War. The American Civil War was a War Between the States, where eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America. Approximately four million slaves were freed, and approximately one million served in the army, where their role was crucial in the victory over the confederates. Harry McMillan, a black slave who was freed by the emancipation proclamation of 1863, shared his account of slavery. Harry states he worked “Beginning at daylight and continuing till 5 or 6 at night.”3 The man continued to share his horrible recollections of being a slave, and all the while solidifying Lincoln’s anti-slavery beliefs. The Emancipation Proclamation led to the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery in 1865. If it had not been for the Emancipation Proclamation of 1865, slavery would not have evolved but rather it would have progressed. The confederacy was radical and they were willing to ride out slavery for as long as possible, if it weren’t for Lincoln’s unpopular beliefs, and determination to end slavery, the abolition of slavery was not in the blue print for America in the future. Before the Civil War, however, commentators and peoples like Hinton Rowan Helper and General Ulysses S. Grant saw the differences between the North and the South, which foreshadowed the American Civil War. This foreshadowing lead to the evolution and eventual abolition of slavery, which was an argument often posed by Hinton Rowan Helper. In 1857, Hinton Rowan Helper published the impending crisis, which condemns the institution of slavery and gives reasons for which he believes. He stated, “The causes which have impeded the progress and prosperity of the south may all be traced to one common source!”4 Hinton Rowan Helper stated that the south was not successful due to their use and abuse of slavery. Helper continued to state that the only thing that the south can boast about is agriculture, and historically this proves to not be enough. The American Civil War broke out between the industrial North and the agricultural South. The war broke out due to many reasons, the most pertinent being the fight between slave and non-slave states and the election of Abraham Lincoln. During wartime, African Americans began to play a different role in history. On April 9th, 1865, Confederate General Robert E.
Lee surrendered his troops to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, at an old Virginia courthouse. Following the completion of his military assignment in 1865, General Ulysses S. Grant revealed to Edwin M. Stanton the reasons for the war’s outcome. He stated, “Believing us to be one people, one blood and with identical interests, I do and have felt the same interest in the ultimate welfare of the South as of the North.”5 This statement showed that as time went on, peoples began to realize that the US would not be successful unless the North and the South unite as one. This is not saying that Ulysses S. Grant and others did not see the clear differences between the two territories, however they saw past it for the greater good of a common country. The surrender ended the four-year Civil War, and sparked a new period in American history known as
reconstruction. Reconstruction was a new era in America, one where interracial politics was introduced, and controversies arose accordingly. Reconstruction began during the Civil War and ended in 1877, with the purpose of reuniting a country and fixing the labor problems that arose with the abolition of slavery. There were conventions arising everywhere in an attempt to accomplish this, one being the Colored people’s convention in Charleston, South Carolina. This convention had made a statement, “We ask for no special privileges or favors. We ask only for even-handed Justice.”6 The people of this colored convention are coming forward as free people of America, and demand to be treated as such. Though they have won the battle, they want to make sure that they have won the war. They keep in mind that justice has been achieved through war, not by decision, so it is clear to them that tough times are not yet over. In order for the abolition of slavery to stick and be successful, the Republican Party needs to gain and remain in power, over the slave driving Democratic Party. The blacks had responded to a white taxpayer’s appeal to congress in 1874, they stated, “This is their third effort to regain power.”7 The struggle is seemingly never ending for the African Americans and the Republican Party, however through the justice of their cause they continue to fight for rights and never give up. In the end of the lengthy period of Reconstruction, it proved to be a success in the long run. The American Civil War and the fourteen-year period of Reconstruction that followed came with it many hardships, including (but not limited to) political controversy and lingering hatred for African Americans. However, it clearly had successes, which in turn had benefitted society forever. All of the southern states had drafted new constitutions; ratified the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments; and pledged loyalty to the Union. Together, the Civil War and Reconstruction also settled the state’s fights against federalism that had been going on since the Virginia and Kentucky Resolves of the 1790s and the Nullification Crisis of the 1830s. Before the Civil War and the abolition of slavery, America was just a country, however seceding the Civil War and the success of abolition; America became a Union, the United States of America.

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[1] Hollitz, ch.6 doc.2, 123-125
2 Hollitz, ch.6 doc.7, 130-131
3 Hollitz, ch.10 doc.3, 227
4 Hollitz, ch.12 doc.3, 286-287
5 Hollitz, ch.12 doc.6, 291-292
6 Hollitz, ch.13 doc.6, 323
7 Hollitz, ch.13 doc.5, 321-323