Convict Leasing

Before, during, and long after the Civil War blacks were discriminated against in almost every form of life. They had to fight and be patient to be accepted as equals among their white counterparts; this process took form over a long period of time, and after many failures, blacks were truly equal in the eyes of the government. The thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments which were passed in the late 1860’s were supposed to bring political, social, and economic equality for the blacks; however, this was not the case, while in some facets of life blacks obtained more freedoms they had to wait many years after these amendments were passed to be fully equal to whites.

In South, torn between the economic benefits of slavery and the moral and constitutional issues raised, and white Southerners grew more and more defensive. They argued that black people were incapable of caring for themselves. They said that slavery was a benevolent institution that kept them fed, clothed, and occupied. Most Northerners did not doubt that black people being inferior to whites, but they did doubt the benevolence of slavery. The Civil War changed the future of the United States. The war began as a struggle to preserve the Union, but not a struggle to free the slaves, and many in the North and South felt that the conflict would decide both issues at last. Many slaves escaped to the North in the early years of the war, and several Union generals established abolitionist policies in the Southern land that they conquered. Congress passed laws permitting the seizure of slaves from the property of rebellious Southerners. On September 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln presented the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. On December 6, 1865, eight months after the Civil War ended, the United States adopted the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which outlawed the practice of

The Civil War settled the fate of slavery. The victory of the Union assured the freedom of enslaved African Americans. “The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution granted freedom, citizenship, and equal protection of the law to all born in the United States, and declared that the right to vote could not be denied because of race or color. In effect, these amendments grafted the Declaration of Independence onto the

In order to be successful as an author and engage readers effectively, one must incorporate certain elements. Ernest J. Gaines included multiple stylistic elements in his novel, “A Lesson Before Dying”, therefore, he is quite effective as a storyteller. One rhetorical device included in the novel was metaphor. Another device Gaines used in “A Lesson Before Dying” was personification. Furthermore, Ernest used allusions throughout the novel.

In the 1700-1800’s, the use of African American slaves for backbreaking, unpaid work was at its prime. Despite the terrible conditions that slaves were forced to deal with, slave owners managed to convince themselves and others that it was not the abhorrent work it was thought to be. However, in the mid-1800’s, Northern and southern Americans were becoming more aware of the trauma that slaves were facing in the South. Soon, an abolitionist group began in protest, but still people doubted and questioned it. When Frederick Douglass published his self-written narrative, people finally got a fully comprehensive view of the life of a slave. To debunk the mythology of slavery, Douglass presents the cold, hard truth, displays slaves true intelligence,

The British government was not looking for the best of the people. They were only thinking about what they wanted; the government was not interested in what the people wanted so they decided to make decisions on their own, which resulted in changes that form the United States today. Because of this, they were justified in rebelling and declaring independence.

After the Civil War, between the years, 1865 through 1870 the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments was adopted by the United States. The United States abolished slavery, providing equal protection for freed slaves, and prohibited discrimination of colored voters. The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments granted former slaves the freedom to pursue happiness, but in 1868, the “separate but equal” doctrine kept these amendments from bearing fruit. For nearly a century the “separate but equal” doctrine promoted segregation, and the Supreme Court it was constitutional to keep blacks and whites separate as long as they had equal rights to education, public transportation, and restrooms. However, the definition of equality in the south was very vague and ambiguous. Segregation also included all professional sports, but Jesse Owens and Jackie Robinson sought to change that. These legends faced unbearable

citizen would probably guess or argue that slavery doesn't exist today and that it ended once the thirteenth amendment was added to the Constitution. This misconception, again, is false, and slavery does in fact remain a prevalent issue in this country. Americans are unaware to these issues of slavery in different forms like trafficking because the media does not fully inform its audience on topics like these. News outlets would rather spend their broadcast time discussing possible international threats rather than focusing on the ones lying within our own borders. One example of current slavery in the United States is addressed in “Slavery in the Land of the Free” when readers are introduced to a young girl named Maria. A texan woman, named Sandra Bearden was looking for a maid to complete housework and look after her son, so she traveled into a poor village in Mexico and met Maria. Maria, being only twelve years old, saw this as an opportunity to move to the U.S. and receive better education which produced a better life. Sadly, Maria’s dreams were crushed because Sandra began to take advantage of her both physically and mentally. Her punishments for not working included: pepper spray in the eyes, a bottle broken against her head, jamming garden tools up her private areas,

During the 1800’s, Slavery was an immense problem in the United States. Slaves were people who were harshly forced to work against their will and were often deprived of their basic human rights. Forced marriages, child soldiers, and servants were all considered part of enslaved workers. As a consequence to the abolition people found guilty were severely punished by the law. Slavery in the US was firstly introduced in 1619 when tobacco and crops had to be grown effectively. Such people were discriminated and forced to work under strict regulations after being insufficiently paid. This was carried out both in the 17th and 18th Century until America literally divided into two parts leading to a tremendous, violent war named the American Civil War, which

A question that has left many Americans puzzled is, was the civil was inevitable? Could the United States of America survived without the famous war? Would America be split in half? To answer this question one must look back and the reason the civil war happened and how it affected America.

The African Slave Trade is the harsh movement from Africa to the New World. This began after the fall of Songhai 1590 CE. There were several reasons why the slave trade began. Death of Native Americans led to more demand for slaves. Production of wood, fur, coffee, tobacco, and sugar became reasons European countries rose power. They needed people to work for them to produce these products, SLAVES. They’re cheap and there were high demands for them.

The wealthy were in need of cheap labor, and with the amount of blacks being sentenced, most jails still functioning were overflowing with them. Leasing was designed for black convicts, and laws passed allowed towns and independent men to lease them for a price. They black convicts were put to work building railroads, levees or doing work for private owners. The convicts did work that free labor could not. Conditions were horrible and they were forced to work knee deep in muck, in malaria-ridden swamps, and to dynamite tunnels. Convicts that were leased to plantations experienced much of the same conditions they were subjected to during enslavement. “The prisoners ate and slept on the bare ground, without blankets or mattresses, and often without clothes.” They were forced to live in their own filth, bloodied floors and vermin infested quarters. Punishments were usually carried out with lashings, however, they were subjected to “natural punishments” such as exhaustion, pneumonia, heatstroke, dysentery, malaria and frostbite. Convicts were more vulnerable than free workers, and paid a greater price. They were forced to do the jobs no one else would, especially when working for the railroad companies. “Convicts regularly were blown to bits tunnel explosions, buried in mountain landslides, and swept away in springtime

Throughout history there has always been the debate, is America a land of opportunity? It is well known that situations in the past have not always been handled very professionally. With a semi-weak government and the idea that only certain criteria meeting men will amount to anything gives off the impression that not all is off to a good start. It is said that time heals all wounds, but if you look thoroughly through a history textbook it is evident that this is not always the case. To look back at things in the past you can easily tell that times were exceptionally different and harder. So to answer the question, America may have been a land of opportunity, but it was not an equal one.

Celia’s story derives from the nature of the specific issues and reveals her case by showing her relationship of race, gender and power in the antebellum South. Sixty-years old, widow, slaveholding farmer from Missouri, came to purchase a slave. One the way back to his form, the sixty-year old, owner raped the girl named Celia who is fourteen years old slave. Her sexual relationship continued by her owner and another slave. Then one day, Celia killed her master accidentally in the process of attempting resist from his sexual demands. Celia a slave argues that Celia’s case renders us important point about how enslave women protect themselves from sexual exploitation and the gender and racial oppression.

Post Civil War, African Americans started to gain rights to gain rights, and soon gain rights equal to whites. While there were some people/things standing in their way (KKK, Black Codes), in the end they got what they needed; Equality. Many acts and laws were passed to aid the new rights now held by African Americans, as well as the numerous people willing to help.