Examples Of Injustice In The Gilded Age

After the civil war, the struggle between African American freedom and white dominance were at its strongest. These struggles are what would lay the foundation for the lives of the African Americans for many years after. The plan for reconstruction started after the civil war ended and was the major attempt at trying to create an interracial democracy and fix society, as well as physical rebuilding the country. The ways of the society also were changing very much. The end of slavery led to a hope of economic freedom for the African Americans; allowing them to break free from the grips of white dominance.

White southerners felt that African Americans would not give their full potential in labor unless they were threatened with beatings. In a few cases, resistance caused masters to reduce work hours and improve working conditions. The domestic slave trade between 1820 and 1860 took a toll on many slave families. As the expansion of the cotton kingdom grew the need for money began the trade amongst masters and slave traders. Masters sold men, women, and children.

As a young country, the United States was a land of prejudice and discrimination. Wanting to grow their country, white Americans did what they had to in order to make sure that they were always on top, and that they were always the superior race. It did not matter who got hurt along the way because everything that they did was eventually justified by their thinking that all other races were inferior to them. A Different Mirror by Ronald Takaki describes the prejudice and discrimination against African Americans and Native Americans in the early history of the United States. We see how the leaders of this country, Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson, had prejudice thoughts about these two different ethnic groups, how prejudice was built into society and the

He sets the atmosphere of righteousness within the North by using long, lengthy sentences and words like “dreaded” to describe how the North and the South felt about the “impending civil war”. In acknowledging the morals and humanity of the enemy, Lincoln boosts himself up showing that he is the “bigger man” essentially. Lincoln also says that the government before the Civil War tried to do nothing else “than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it [slavery]” showing everyone that the North did not try to abolish slavery but merely contain it. By that logic, the South would be the aggressor seeking to tear apart the Union by their desire for economic gains beyond what they already have. This would naturally make the audience even more eager to fight for the side of justice and

(Washington Post). The white man has been ruling the country for centuries while creating inferiority. Many corporations may see mass incarceration as an incentive or profitable, but its a troubling solution to a bigger problem we need to recognize as a whole. When you control what people see eventually you can control or predict their actions. Degrading black men and stripping their rights and civil leaders was the first step in this Law & Order Agenda.

Thomas Paine’s writings, Samuel Adams’ leadership, and boycotting British goods greatly altered Americans’ perception of Britain and brought about the Revolutionary War. Samuel Adams’ interpersonal skills of leadership, organization, and coordination boosted him to the forefront of the revolution. As people grew more and more tired of the laws England had placed upon them, Samuel Adams rose up voicing his opinions of the independence they desired. The principle that it was “lawful to resist the Supreme Magistrate, if the Commonwealth cannot be otherwise preserved,” (Samuel Adams, 1740) which was his Harvard college thesis, followed him throughout his entire career. He publicly defended these rights, organized the Sons of Liberty, and staged many protests.

The American Civil War took place in 1861-1865 between the northern and southern states in America. The trigger of this conflict was due to the fact that the Northern states had been creating more factories and businesses, therefore producing a greater income. However, in the South – the local people had been utilizing African-Americans as slaves for their plantation and labor work. The people of the Northern states wanted to change human rights in the whole country, however the Southerners did not agree as this as they would lose more wealth and their independence. Thus, the economic factors outweighed the political and social aspects that influenced the Civil War.

Although theoretically black workers were free men, in fact, they had to put up with infringement of their civil, legal and property rights. Now the white owners were able to extend the life of the Negro and actively used it. As a result of prolonged service very soon turned into an open-ended. Moreover, the offspring of black slaves automatically inherit the status of their mothers, that is also turned into slaves. Fifth, in 1697, Royal African Company lost its monopoly on the slave trade that gave free rein to its competitors and has led to the expansion of trade in slaves.

After slavery, African Americans in the south were in a time of change. Though they were free from slavery, whippings, and auctions, I believe life became difficult for them even after slavery ended. Racism began to grow increasingly, as many could not accept the fact that there was no more slavery. It became stricter when the government in the South enforced laws called Black Codes. Those laws were set to grant only certain rights to people of color.

As the needs of indentured servants increased, the owners believed they were not obliged to commit to the request of their servant. As a result, owners found that buying African Americans into slavery would suffice their working needs. It turned out that African Americans bought into slavery worked harder, which caused higher production rates. Slaves were also renewable and cheap to buy, so if one passed away, owners would just buy another one from the market and continue on with their production. Also as adults died their kids would also take their place as well because the children of slaves were also enslaved, so when they old enough to do and learn the basics of slave labor they would be put to work too.

The purpose of the Underground Railroad was to free slaves from the ownership of slave owners, and did just that. Over 100,000 thousand slaves were freed from slave owners, and they managed to live their own lives. While slaves escaping did bring about anti-black sentiment from the Southern States most clearly seen in the Fugitive Slave Act, it brought support for abolition because white people could see that all the slaves were just as human as the rest of them. This may not have changed their beliefs of inferiority, but it did change their beliefs that African Americans deserved such cruel treatment. After the awareness of the slaves’ capabilities and the living in communities with slaves, white people in the North that still supported slavery changed their stance after seeing first hand that black people, not just the few free blacks, were similar to everyone else.

Southern states justified slavery by using many points. They used the economy, history, religion, legality, social, and humanitarianism. One reason was that if all slaves were freed, there would be a very high unemployment. Another reason the South had was that having slaves would boost the economy. Southern states defended slavery by using history:” Slavery has been legal for a long time before now, so it is a natural thing to do.” On the other hand, the main point was that slaves planting and picking cotton would heavily boost the economy.

The Reconstruction of the United States After the war, there were many things going on in the Unites States. The south had lost the value of their land and the cotton, their main source of money. The taxes went up due to new public schools and the need to rebuild cities that were destroyed in the south. During this time the civil rights amendments were passed as well. However, some people still wanted control over the former slaves.

Black politicians in Southern government were influenced to participate due to access to education and violence against former slaves. The Reconstruction period was a time of radical social and political change as former slaves, recently emancipated by President Lincoln, sought to take advantage of their newfound freedom by pursuing political positions within the new Radical Republican governments and seeking access to education for all blacks. Though they were met with violence, adversity, and injustice, educated black leaders recognized the importance of literacy to uplift their people from long lives of physical labor, and many of these leaders went on to become educators themselves before serving in the Reconstruction government. Aggressive

The end of slavery through the successful military tactics of the Union in the Civil War had the single most important impact as it pertains to education for the creation of educational opportunities for the newly freed African Americans. Prior to this, it was common knowledge that educating a slave was a criminal offense. The Morrill Act of 1862, named for Justin Smith Morrill, was designed to make education more accessible to more people of all socio-economic and social classes. Only, this Act did not take into consideration the education of black people. Due to systematic racism against this minority group, it was not until slavery was abolished that the second Morrill Act was implanted to focus on this long overlooked group.