HIST 2112 Emancipation and the African American Freedmen s Experience Slavery is as old as civilization Athens Rome grew because they had slaves to do their dirty work o Had time to study philosophy mathematics etc Slavery is economic in nature o Designed to generate capital money for the slave owner Servants do minor tasks but slaves are intended to generate money Slaves are property by law legally no different from cattle cats and dogs o Owners have the right to do as they please with slaves especially sell them Slavery is permanent and inherited Slavery is racially based o To be black in the south is to be a slave Slavery in the American south began in 1600 s 75 of Africans who were enslaved ended up in Brazil or the Caribbean o Most likely growing sugar A lot slaves end up in Barbados a floating sugar factory o Had to import everything else but sugar Native Americans were enslaved before the Africans but they all died because they weren t immune to European diseases 1619 introduction of slavery By the end of the Civil War slavery and cotton were the core of the Southern economy o Quite possibly the core of the North as well because of all the cotton need for textile factories Only 25 of Americans owned slaves o Why would they support the practice then Even if you didn t own any you still wanted to Andrew Johnson hated slavery because he couldn t have one Your job may rely on it indirectly Lawyers would represent plantation owners But what if you are the poorest white man around You are still white and it lifts you above the blacks Its something you can hold onto it Once they found freedom slaves would 1 Go looking for their family that they were separated from a The buying and selling of slaves was huge because it was a threat to the slaves 2 Try to get an education a Most weren t literate 3 Try to establish churches a Most were Christians b Slave owners would often let slaves attend church but only to a slave friendly pastor who would give a tailored servant to enforce slavery c Churches were a place where blacks could hold political meetings without white interruption The American dream in 1865 is to own a farm land o Slaves were no different o There were rumors for a while the government would give them some but it never happened o White people wouldn t sell it to them because they were pissed they weren t slaves anymore Black codes forced blacks to have employment o Basically returned to slavery with a little bit of pay o Same cabins same conditions Sharecropping became huge former slaves would sign up to become sharecroppers o Signed sharecropping contracts o Sounded like an excellent deal before the owners would manipulate them into eternal debt Slaves fell into debt peonage o Permanent debt Sharecroppers weren t all black many white people joined and fell to the same level as the blacks for the first time