EOTO #1 Reaction

During the founding era there were many things that advanced slavery and things that helped to end slavery. The groups that presented the EOTO’s presented both of these sides. 

Some things that advanced slavery were the Missouri Compromise, the Kansas Nebraska act, the Fugitive Slave Act, Bleeding Kansas, Dred Scott v. Stanford, and the Election of 1860. The Missouri Compromise allowed for popular sovereignty. This was where when new states were admitted into the United States they were able to choose if they would be a free or slave state. The Kansas Nebraska Act increased slavery in the U.S. and its territories. This increased popular sovereignty. The fugitive slave act made the government responsible for returning slaves. It encouraged people to kidnap and catch slaves. This made it less safe for the slaves leaving to the North. Bleeding Kansas Instituted a policy allowing settlers to decide if territory would be admitted as a free or slave state. After this murder mayhem, destruction, and psychological warfare became a code of conduct in Eastern Kansas and Western Missouri. All these events helped to advance slavery in the United States.

The things that helped to end slavery were the Underground Railroad, the Election of 1860, the Anti Slavery Society, and the Fugitive Slave Act. The Underground Railroad was set up to help slaves escape to freedom. The Election of 1860 is when Abraham Lincoln was elected into office. This caused slaveholding states to feel pressure and eventually start seceding. This caused the outbreak of the Civil War which ended in the abolition of slavery. The Anti Slavery Society was an abolitionist society that believed slavery was a sin and slaveholders were sinners. The society had agents that traveled throughout the country producing lectures, distributing anti-slavery journals and organizing local anti-slavery societies. The fugitive Slave Act was a main factor sparking the Civil War. Free states saw the act as unfair and Northerners resisted the act because it made them responsible for enforcing slavery. All of these events helped to end slavery in the United States.

EOTO: Black Codes

Black codes are restrictive laws designed to limit the freedoms of African Americans and ensure their availability as cheap labor after the end of the Civil War. The primary purpose of black codes was to restrict African Americans' labor and activity. Black codes had an extremely negative effect on the African-American population in the United States.

They were first enacted in 1865 in many different Southern states. There was a loophole in the 13th Amendment that allowed for these black codes to be possible. The 13th amendment prohibits slavery and servitude in all circumstances “except as punishment for a crime”. What Southern states would do is criminalize simple activities like ‘loitering’ so that if a group of African Americans were standing in a group and talking it would be considered a crime. This would allow for slavery and servitude as punishment. Debt peonage was another way to institute servitude. Failure to pay fines allowed Southern states to order black people to work off their balances. This was considered debt peonage. This was easy to institute because African Americans were making such little money that any fee presented to them, they would be unlikely to pay. 

Another common form of black codes were ones that restricted voting. The Grandfather Clause was where a man could only vote if he had an ancestor that voted before 1867. This got rid of most black people’s right to vote because they couldn’t vote until the 14th Amendment was put in place. Literacy tests were another way to restrict voting rights. These tests would be presented by a law clerk and had to be passed in order to vote. African-American voters would be given a far harder test than white voters. The white voters would pass and be able to vote, completely outnumbering African Americans. 

Segregation was a way to socially isolate black people from the rest of the population. Separated public schools were particularly bad because they allowed for black children to get an inferior education to white people. Segregation in other places gave black people an inferior lifestyle to white people. Oftentimes the transportation or bathrooms or water fountains wouldn’t be as nice for black people as white people. This also created social isolation. 

Different states had different black codes. For example, Mississippi had a law that required African Americans to have written proof of employment for the following year. They were forced to forfeit earlier wages and subject to arrest if they left before the end of the contract. South Carolina law requires black people to have a job as a farmer or servant or else they have to pay a 50 or 100 dollar fine. 

Overall, the effect of black codes was seen throughout the nation. African Americans were segregated from the rest of the population. Their rights were being infringed on, and they were treated less than everyone else. Black codes trumped African American rights and were not stopped until the Civil Rights Act of 1866 was passed. African Americans were given the right to rent or own property, and bring cases before courts.

Gone With the Wind Reflection

Gone With the Wind is a 1939 American film set in the American South during civil war times. The movie gives a different portrayal of slavery that isn’t typically shown in film. Gone With the Wind shows the effect that the civil war had on the South. Scarlett O’Hara, the main character in the movie, falls in love with Ashley Wilkes who ends up marrying his cousin. Scarlett instead marries Charles. Charles ended up dying during the war. This is one focus of the movie; the portrayal of people dying in the war, and their families and loved ones finding out. A powerful scene in the movie that I enjoyed was where Scarlett was in mourning of Charles wearing all black, and still danced during the charity event. This violated the rules of mourning that are in place. 

The portrayal of all the characters was cool to look at. The settings and the costumes in the movie made the story be shown through a historical light. These aspects of the movie helped amplify the movie. 

The portrayal of African American slaves was debated on whether it is okay or not. While many aspects of the portrayal are disrespectful and not okay in today’s times, it is important to remember the time in which the movie was made. In today’s context, the disrespectful portrayal of African Americans would not be acceptable, however, in the 1930’s it is seen as okay. It’s also important to remember that it is a movie representing civil war times. African Americans were not treated well in this time period. The movie was more respectful then how slaves were actually treated in the time period. 

Overall, I really enjoyed the movie and I think it was a powerful portrayal on how the civil war affected everyone in America.

Town Hall Meeting Reflection

The town hall meeting presented different sides to slavery back in Civil War times. I took the side of anti-slavery through the perspective of Harriet Tubman. Many people who were once pro-slavery later became anti-slavery like Jefferson and Lincoln. In Jefferson's pro-slavery time, he believed slaves didn’t know how to not be under servitude. He sees slaves as inferior, and less intelligent and capable than children. This was the view of many pro-slavery individuals. Pro-slavery people believed slaves would not be able to survive outside slavery. After being in the institution of slavery for so long, slaves were used to the life they were living. 

Another pro-slavery view was state rights. Southern slave owners wanted each state to be able to make its own decisions. This was a 10th Amendment argument. They believed the federal government should not be able to make the Southern states abolish slavery. 

Another pro-slavery figure was Jefferson Davis. He was the first and only president of the Confederate States of America. Davis fought for slavery, along with the Confederate army he had. 

Another pro-slavery argument was the economic argument. At the time, slavery was a large part of the Southern and even some parts of the Northern economy. Plantations were the main food source in the South and the labor behind the plantations was completely run by slaves. Southern slave owners feared the abolition of slavery for the idea that their economy would be destroyed. 

The last main argument for pro-slavery was the religious argument. The Bible frequently allows slavery. Religious pro-slavery individuals believed it was their God-given right to own slaves. 

Overall, there was a great divide between those who wanted to abolish slavery and those who wanted to keep slavery. Pro-slavery arguments remained strong to those in the South. The anti-slavery arguments were beginning to grow to combat the pro-slavery movement.

Slavery in the 1830's, Anti-Slavery Spin

 Slavery in the 1830’s had many different views. The presence of slavery was less than most would expect. The opinions on slavery remained divided between the North and the South. In the South most still supported slavery. In the North, most were fairly against slavery. The conditions of slaves were horrible and relentless. 

In the 1830’s slavery lay primarily in the South. Three-quarters of Southern white people did not own slaves anymore, and those who did mainly owned 20 or fewer. However, Southerners who did not own slaves still supported the institution of slavery. There was a bond between the families of slave owners and the slave families. Many enslaved children would form close bonds with the white children and caretakers, and the white children became attached to black nannies. 

The conditions of slaves remained poor. Heat and humidity in the South created numerous health problems. The presence of unsanitary conditions, inadequate nutrition, and unrelenting hard labor made disease in the slave community a problem. Child mortality within slavery was around 60% and on rice plantations, child mortality reached as high as 90%. Families were being separated through being sold and never being able to see each other again. 

In the 1830’s, slave codes were in place in the South. The slave codes considered slaves as property and treated them that way.  Slaves couldn’t testify against white people in court. They couldn’t leave the plantation without permission. They couldn’t defend themselves or own firearms. They couldn’t buy and sell goods. There were many more rights that slaves did not have that free people did. If a slave was killed, it wasn’t seen as murder. Overall, the rights of slaves were completely stripped away, and they were not being treated as people at all in the South. 

In many places in the South slaves and free African Americans completely outnumbered white people. Some slaves got themselves hired out by their masters. The contact slaves had with free black people gave them a new view and resistance against slavery. In this time slaves truly began to resist slavery. Slaves were boycotting work, purposefully making their property value lower, and running away. Slaves were sabotaging the entire slave system. 

Overall, the idea of slavery was fairly opposed, or lowered in existence. Slavery was becoming less normalized, and slaves were beginning to fight for their own freedom. The civil war would begin in around 30 years, and the fight against slavery was just beginning. Slaves, freemen, and whites were starting to see the wrongs of slavery. With the differing views across the North, and South, the future of slavery seemed uncertain. Slavery was a moral wrong. There were also many religious arguments against slavery. Slaves started turning back to their religious roots. Religion gave slaves inspiration for something better and gave solstice to them. Some slaves would hold their own religious gatherings and began to resist bondage more and more. 

With the downfall of slavery, there was less reason to keep the institution in place. It was not benefiting people as much as it originally did. The need for slavery decreased. The moral arguments against slavery were getting stronger than ever.

Town Hall Meeting

Hello, am Harriett Tubman. I was born between 1820 and 1822 in Dorchester county Maryland. I was born into a family of slaves. I had 8 brothers and sisters whom I was separated from early on in my life due to slavery.

I began my fight for justice against slavery when I was just twelve years old. I witnessed a slave owner about to throw a brick at a fugitive slave and tried to intervene. The weight ended up striking me. The weight broke my skull. They carried me to the house all bleeding and fainting. I had no bed, no place to lie down on at all, and they laid me on the seat of the loom, and I stayed there all day and the next. This incident left me emotionally and physically scarred. For the rest of my life I struggled with narcolepsy, where I would randomly fall asleep in the middle of doing things. 

In 1849 I escaped from slavery to Philadelphia Pennsylvania by the underground railroad. Shortly after I myself became a conductor on the railroad. Making around 13 trips from Maryland to the South and back, I was able to free around 70 slaves. My anti slavery efforts were rooted by my strong connection to God. I believe that slavery is an evil created by man. During my time as the underground railroad conductor, there was a $40,000 reward if I was captured or killed. 

The fugitive slave act made the underground railroad a more challenging feat. The fugitive slave act required that fugitive slaves must be returned to their owners even if they were in a free state. After the fugitive slave act was put in place, I moved further North to Canada, and operated at night. 

During the civil war, I had a role in the Union army as a scout, spy, nurse, and confidante of generals. I was the first African American woman to serve in the military. I learned about confederate troop placement and supply lines from the enslaved population in the South. I dispensed my own herbal remedies to soldiers to prevent them from dying from infection. 

After the war ended I moved to New York. I married a union soldier, and we adopted a daughter. I began raising funds for women’s suffrage. I also opened a nursing home for African Americans in New York. 

Slavery Bible Debate

  The argument for and against slavery was fought over in America for many years. Using the bible, abolitionists and supporters of slavery had formed arguments for their respective sides. Religion and slavery have many connections, and the interpretation of the bible depends on who you would have asked at the time. 

Since the creation of the first civilizations and empires within society, humans have found a way in justifying the issue of slavery. Of course the purpose of the creation of slavery was for faster work due to industrialization and these new massive fields of crops that were being planted, now needed to be mass harvested. So eventually the slave industry grew overtime, and by the time the United States of America relieved itself of the detriments and debt the Revolutionary war caused, the slave industry was booming. However, at this time as well, with the freedom of America from Great Britain, this idea of freedom started becoming a regular part of American culture and soon was involved in almost every conversation of every aspect of life, soon this idea of freedom even started to slowly be questioned and involved within the slavery industry. Even sooner this new abolitionist movement started growing in popularity throughout the country, eventually the end of slavery came into question and many slave owners became enraged and constantly put effort into trying to justify the issue of slavery especially out into the public. Slave-holders would claim that the African Americans they held as their slaves were in fact being saved from the horrors of society. During this time of course it would have been nearly impossible for any African American individual to nevermind become successful in society and own land, but to find a job to make enough money to buy food and support themselves. In fact slave-owners were convinced that they were instead saving these individuals from inevitable poverty and suffering and made the argument, “natural slaves are much better off than the poorest non-slaves,” and in that god would if anything not just want but expect his people to care for others and “take those in need under their wing,” 

(https://time.com/5171819/christianity-slavery-book-excerpt/). 

The abolition movement was fueled by many different forces. Christian abolitionists used the bible to support their movement. Harriet Tubman, a famous abolitionist linked to the underground railroad, had a strong faith and believed that slavery was an evil created by man. Many abolitionists took an overall look at the bible and believed that slavery was simply an immoral and un-christian system that denied basic human rights. There are two main points in the bible; Creation and Gospel. Viewing creation, all humans are created equal in God’s image. Slavery puts a vast strain on equality which abolitionists viewed as against God’s image. Viewing the gospel, God has overcome racial, social, and religious divisions at the cross. These divisions are against God’s gospel. Slavery is at “war with the image in which man was created” (https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/why-wrong-say-bible-pro-slavery/). Another biblical point brought up by abolitionists is that man was not created as a slave to anyone but God. Slavery creates a system where masters are a “God” to their slaves in a sense. Another point that abolitionists made was the difference between the institution of slavery in the bible versus in America. Slavery did exist in the bible and abolitionists acknowledge that, but also point out the differences between the institutions. In the bible, Leviticus 25: 46, scripture says, “Your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule, one other another rigor”, servants were seen as family. The bible also does not condone the violence involved in slavery in America. Exodus 22: 21-24 says, “Thou shalt neither vex a stranger nor oppress him.. If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, i will surely hear their cry. And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.”. Abolitionists point out these institutional differences when speaking out against slavery.