In American society, slavery became an entrenched institution. It took brutal force to impose this sort of mass exploitation upon once-free people. Whites harshly enforced racial enslavement. But they feared black uprising. They responded in this by further tightening the screws of oppression. Generally, slavery became an integral part of the economy, thus spreading in all directions.
From the initial concept of emancipation in 1865, the abolition of slavery did not really improve the economic and political situations of black slaves because even though they were freed many restrictions were imposed on them as described by Leon Litwack. In addition to these, white reactions regarding emancipation of slaves is an ethical considering that they only follow rules in liberty if there are soldiers in the area. But when these troops moved out, the masters frequently punishes and forced their slaves back to work which makes these slaves confused and disheartened. Actually, these restrictions are the keys to appreciate and understand the challenge and the world filled of free blacks. Clearly, it was a world between slavery and freedom.
Actually, the author of the article, Leon Litwack described what is the real meaning and essence of freedom among slaves. Basically, freedom is not merely about saying to a slave, “you are free”. But it should be about the practice of being free. As described in article, after the fall of Richmond, freedmen can now search for their loved ones but the restrictions are still there. Thus, the abolition of slavery did not really improve the economic and political equality of the freed slaves. In addition to this, the rising number of free slaves alarmed many white and this led to further restrictions on their activities. Political, economic and social restrictions were imposed on them.
In my opinion, freed slave by that time should own land and practice any trade or skills they wanted to. If the society really aimed for real freedom, then freed slaves should also have same opportunity similar to white people. So the chance of freed slaves to become people with dignity as weavers, buglers, freighters, innkeepers, land speculators, blacksmiths, ranchers, and farmers is possible. As I stated, they should also owned houses and town lots, raised sugar, cotton, and vegetables as a way of living. Thus, from here we may say that being free is actually related to equality. One of the examples was the action did by the Republic of Texas against these freed slaves (Barr, 1973). It set laws that did not allow free person of one-eight slave blood to vote, own property, testify in court against whites, or intermarry with whites. After Texas separated from the republic, more laws were developed that restricted free slaves. (Barr, 1973).
Freedmen were also whipped for insulting, abusive, or threatening language to whites. They could not have firearms, gamble, hire slaves, dispense medicine, or preach without two slave holders present. The number of free Africans in Texas began to decrease because of the limitations they had to encounter to reside in Texas. Free blacks faced extensive limitations and restraints. The required certificate of registration, rather than ensuring for physical mobility of free persons of color, hampered their movement instead. They were frequently treated as vagrants and arrested when traveling outside their country of residency, especially if proof of “honest employment” was not provided. If engaged in commerce, they could sell their goods and wares only in an incorporated town. They were not allowed to sell grocery items or liquor to the public. With all the laws to restrict free blacks to acquire status as free people, free black was not that much different from when they were still slaves. (Barr, 1973).
From the article, Leon Litwack carefully evaluated and showed the needs for changes in terms of treating freed slaves. His ideas show his resistance towards people who makes the life of slaves suffered. The article also discusses the strategies and procedures implemented by white people to gain and keep the power over blacks. In this article, the author portrays the slavery’s ability to degrade human through his insights into the mentality and outlook of the slave owners. Actually, his idea suggested that if the slaves are created rather than born, these notions may be true for slave owners. From the start of the article, the authors has discusses in details the physical cruelties inflicted on slaves. He has been able to provide details on the reasons why he was enlightened to make the slaves go against slavery and fight for their freedom. The article gives an idea how to pursue social reforms to achieve goal of abolition of slavery. The tradition of black social reform paralleled and dovetailed that of white social reform. The conflict between black social progress and white racism perpetuated and sometimes widened the gulf between the two traditions. Leon Litwack's philosophy and pursuit of social reform drew upon both traditions attempting, in the process, to overcome the differences between them and to unite them.
References:
Barr, A. (1973). Black Texans: A History of Negroes in Texas. Austin Jenkin.
No comments:
Post a Comment