Irene Dublin Essay
Irene Dublin
Professor Dr. Lauren Braun-Strumfels
History 202: U.S. History from 1877 to the Present
March 3, 2015 Although by definition each groups meaning of freedom is the same, however, the freedoms each group needed were different. Freedom for African-Americans meant that they would have the same equal rights as those that White Americans had. For factory workers, freedom meant that they would have unions and better pay. For women, freedom meant that they would have the same freedoms as men. Over time these much needed freedoms in each group would change immensely but freedom itself as defined in our vocabulary still rings true today. African-Americans yearned for the same freedoms that Whites were so easily given. They fought and died in order to go from a slave to a freed man. However, once they fought in the Revolutionary War the equal rights they had anticipated would be given to them, were not. Leaders in the South felt that the new government was corrupt and favored blacks. The reconstruction period never occurred because white southerners needed blacks for their labor force and did not want to see them having the same equal rights they had like, voting, holding office and enjoying equality before the law. (Foner) The only thing that African-Americans were left with was sharecropping. The freed blacks were to be given to them with accordance of Special Field Order 15 land but were denied of the land and the land was given back to its former owners. (Bram) In the book, “Voices of Freedom”, a letter that was sent to President Johnson from a freed African-American goes as follows, “Shall not we who are freedman and have been always true to this Union have the same rights as are enjoyed by others?” (Bram) Few former slaves acquired farms for themselves and most ended up working on white-owned land for a share of the crop. The Sharecropping Contract of 1866 was a contract for the Freedman to work on the land that they were once enslaved to work on for a
Professor Dr. Lauren Braun-Strumfels
History 202: U.S. History from 1877 to the Present
March 3, 2015 Although by definition each groups meaning of freedom is the same, however, the freedoms each group needed were different. Freedom for African-Americans meant that they would have the same equal rights as those that White Americans had. For factory workers, freedom meant that they would have unions and better pay. For women, freedom meant that they would have the same freedoms as men. Over time these much needed freedoms in each group would change immensely but freedom itself as defined in our vocabulary still rings true today. African-Americans yearned for the same freedoms that Whites were so easily given. They fought and died in order to go from a slave to a freed man. However, once they fought in the Revolutionary War the equal rights they had anticipated would be given to them, were not. Leaders in the South felt that the new government was corrupt and favored blacks. The reconstruction period never occurred because white southerners needed blacks for their labor force and did not want to see them having the same equal rights they had like, voting, holding office and enjoying equality before the law. (Foner) The only thing that African-Americans were left with was sharecropping. The freed blacks were to be given to them with accordance of Special Field Order 15 land but were denied of the land and the land was given back to its former owners. (Bram) In the book, “Voices of Freedom”, a letter that was sent to President Johnson from a freed African-American goes as follows, “Shall not we who are freedman and have been always true to this Union have the same rights as are enjoyed by others?” (Bram) Few former slaves acquired farms for themselves and most ended up working on white-owned land for a share of the crop. The Sharecropping Contract of 1866 was a contract for the Freedman to work on the land that they were once enslaved to work on for a
Cited: Give Me Liberty. n.d. Voices of Freedom. New York: w.w.norton & Company, 2014. 80-81. Bram, Henry et al. "Petition of Committee on Behalf of the Freedman to Andrew Jackson." Foner, Eric. Voices of Freedom. New York: W.W.Norton & Company, 2014. 4-5. Document. DuBois, W.E.B. "Returning Soldiers." The Cisis. 1919. Document. Foner, Eric. ""What Is Freedom?": Reconstruction." Foner, Eric. GIVE ME LIBERTY! New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2014. 577. Document. Foner, Eric. "Safe for Democracy." Foner, Eric. Voices of Freedom. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2014. 104-109. Foner, Eric. "The Progressive Era." Foner, Eric. GIVE ME LIBERTY! New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2014. 684-685. Document.