Sterling And Norton Reading Summary

The Sterling and Norton reading largely reflects the experiences of African American women during the 19th Century. The Norton reading covered five case studies of different circumstances before the Civil War in 1861. During that period, The North and South were deeply divided over the issue of the legalization of slavery – the former was pro-abolition while the South, deeply dependant on slaves to sustain their system of plantation economy strongly opposed abolition. Both sides agreed to compromises which eventually proved to be inadequate when new state were admitted. On the other hand, the Sterling reading addressed more on incidents during the reconstruction phase after the Civil War, especially the encounters with the Klu Klux Klan (KKK).The KKK was founded with the objective to maintain the “supremacy of the white race” and its members mostly held respectable jobs such as doctors and lawyers. In the context of these, I will
Their families were kept intact; they lived comfortably and had relatively more rights and freedom to do what they want to. Free women in Connecticut were described as living in well-sized houses and having the luxury of preparing warm winter clothing for their children . Also, the fact that the “coloured woman” could assert such a strongly-worded appeal to other free black women to sign the antislavery petition in 1839 tells of the rights that women have to voice out their thoughts and opinion without being oppressed. Similarly, Mary Still and other free women from Philadelphia formed the Female Union Publication Society so as to spread their cause of promoting “moral and religious publications”. African American women also appear to be participative in churches such as the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Therefore, the Norton reading has implicitly revealed to us the experiences of African American women in Free