HIS111 Week 3 Assignment Paper
White Women and African Americans After the American Revolution
by:
Julie Ann Burk
Tiffin University
BCJ Northwest 12
HIS111: American Society Since 1865
November 18, 2014
White Women and African Americans After the American Revolution
The American Revolution, as an anti-tax movement, centered on Americans’ right to control their own property. In the 18th century “property” included other human beings, such as African Americans and White Women, as well. This paper will show how white women and African Americans hoped for changes in their respective positions in society after the American Revolution and will analyze the degree to which their conditions actually changed. In many ways, the American Revolution reinforced an American commitment to slavery. On the other hand, the American Revolution also brought about radical new ideas about “liberty” and “equality” that challenged slavery’s long tradition of extreme human inequality. “The changes to slavery, most important African Americans, in the Revolutionary Era revealed both the potential for radical change and its failure more clearly than any other issue” (Retrieved November 20, 2014, from http://www.ushistory.org/us/13d.asp). Slavery was a central institution in American society during the late 18th century and was accepted as normal and even applauded as a positive thing by many white Americans. However, this broad acceptance of slavery, which was never agreed to by African Americans, began to be challenged in the Revolutionary Era. The challenge came from several sources, partly from “Revolutionary ideals, partly from a new evangelical religious commitment that stressed the equality of all Christians, and partly from a decline in the profitability of tobacco in the most significant slave region of Virginia and adjoining states” (Retrieved November 20, 2014, from http://www.ushistory.org/us/13d.asp). Likewise, the decline of slavery in the period was most
by:
Julie Ann Burk
Tiffin University
BCJ Northwest 12
HIS111: American Society Since 1865
November 18, 2014
White Women and African Americans After the American Revolution
The American Revolution, as an anti-tax movement, centered on Americans’ right to control their own property. In the 18th century “property” included other human beings, such as African Americans and White Women, as well. This paper will show how white women and African Americans hoped for changes in their respective positions in society after the American Revolution and will analyze the degree to which their conditions actually changed. In many ways, the American Revolution reinforced an American commitment to slavery. On the other hand, the American Revolution also brought about radical new ideas about “liberty” and “equality” that challenged slavery’s long tradition of extreme human inequality. “The changes to slavery, most important African Americans, in the Revolutionary Era revealed both the potential for radical change and its failure more clearly than any other issue” (Retrieved November 20, 2014, from http://www.ushistory.org/us/13d.asp). Slavery was a central institution in American society during the late 18th century and was accepted as normal and even applauded as a positive thing by many white Americans. However, this broad acceptance of slavery, which was never agreed to by African Americans, began to be challenged in the Revolutionary Era. The challenge came from several sources, partly from “Revolutionary ideals, partly from a new evangelical religious commitment that stressed the equality of all Christians, and partly from a decline in the profitability of tobacco in the most significant slave region of Virginia and adjoining states” (Retrieved November 20, 2014, from http://www.ushistory.org/us/13d.asp). Likewise, the decline of slavery in the period was most