HIST 2112Emancipation and the African-American Freedmen’s Experience- Slavery is as old as civilization- Athens, Rome, grew because they had slaves to do their dirty worko Had time to study philosophy, mathematics, etc.- Slavery is economic in natureo 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 dogso Owners have the right to do as they please with slaves; especially sell them- Slavery is permanent and inherited- Slavery is racially basedo 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 Caribbeano Most likely growing sugar- A lot slaves end up in Barbados – a floating sugar factoryo 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 economyo Quite possibly the core of the North as well because of all the cotton need for textile factories- Only 25% of Americans owned slaveso 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 froma. The buying and selling of slaves was huge because it was a threat to the slaves2. Try to get an educationa. Most weren’t literate3. Try to establish churchesa. 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 slaveryc. Churches were a place where blacks could hold political meetings without white interruption- The American dream in 1865 is to own a farm/lando Slaves were no differento There were rumors for a while the government would give them some but it never happenedo White people wouldn’t sell it to them because they were pissed they weren’t slaves anymore- Black codes forced blacks to have employmento 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 sharecropperso Signed sharecropping contractso 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