Alex Martiros, Chris Devine, Luke Martiros, Olivia Eiten, Betsy Burt THREE PART ACTION PLAN Reconstruction had failed in its tasks to properly enforce rights for blacks as promised after the Civil War. If more laws were passed to control the actions of the South in order to unite the blacks and whites, then Reconstruction could have had actually been successful in reconstructing the nation. If a tax break system in mid 1865, a Sharecropping Act of 1866, and a Diversity Law in 1880 were implemented in the South, such laws and changes could have guided Reconstruction to success. 1. Creating a tax break system for white citizens who employed blacks in companies would have resulted in more economic independence for the South and blacks. …show more content…
However, a tax break would provide savings through tax deductions, tax credits, tax exemptions and other incentives. Similar to the modern day veteran and convict employment laws, which incentivize corporations to hire veterans and people out of prison, a tax break system would benefit all blacks in this way. The government could play a role in the functions of whites’ businesses by giving out rations of money to help them get on their feet again. Economically, the blacks would be receiving money, so they would be able to become more active in employment. The whites would also be given money to make their jobs more profitable. Blacks and whites would benefit economically from the tax break system because they would both be given equal amounts of money. Blacks would be given as much as money by the …show more content…
From the start, the sharecropping system was easily abused by the white landowners because they used the blacks’ lack of education and illiteracy to deduct cash advances, which because of high interest and dishonest accounting, left the cropper with very little wages. Congress should have passed the Sharecropping Act of 1866 to improve labor conditions of the sharecroppers. It would state that former slaves could only work for a maximum of 10 hours a day (about 7:00am to 5:00pm) including a one hour break. Wages (a minimum of 20 cents per hour) of blacks would be more fair and equal to the wages of whites (about 24 cents per hour). Also, any former slave who worked on a plantation as a sharecropper would be a part of a system called “The Union Benefits”, which would be like a modern day welfare system that would provide food, housing, and education. Former slaves and their families would live in a confined area of land, in what would be similar to a motel today, with up to two black families per room. Each family would receive a portion of food in the morning before work, on the one hour break (if he/she worked), and at night after work. Black children would attend classes taught by black men and women who volunteer in the facility. All of this would enable the former slaves to have a well-balanced life, something they have been denied of for years. As part of the Sharecropping Act, if whites refused to pay blacks the proper wage or if whites forced blacks to work
The sharecroppers paid "rent" with a share of the crops that they raised, with roughly one-half of all they produced belonged to the white owner (Ransom and Sutch, 1977). The landowner also advanced money to the farmer to purchase seed and other necessary farming equipment. The problem was the sharecroppers rarely, if ever, made enough money from the sale of their crops to pay back their debt. This often led to what some called "debt peonage," and it effectively bound sharecroppers to the land, and the landowner (Bowles, 2011). This was a veiled form of slavery, much like convict leasing was.
based off of how the New Deal affected Native Americans discusses how African Americans had lower pay scales and last pick for jobs. (Doc B, African Americans and the New Deal). Along with low pay grades discussed in the article, there was also a group of authorities called The Federal Housing Authorities (FHA) whose job it was to refuse giving guaranteed mortgages for blacks trying to buy a house in a white neighborhood. However, the Working Progress Administration's (WPA) created a school lunch program helping many poor families get hot lunch meals for their kids at school (Doc D, Hot Lunches for a Million School Children). This shows that many people were helped by the New Deal. Therefore, the negatives of discrimination in that time frame was not helpful, in the end it is clear that the New Deal was helpful for
The former slaves considered landowning a large part of freedom, plus they needed territory to plant and crop. White landowners replaced slavery with sharecropping, where the sharecropper borrowed a share of the landowner’s crop and cared for and harvested the crop. The landowner will provide housing for their sharecropper; in return the sharecropper would pay back the amount borrowed plus payment for borrowing, which would leave the sharecropper in more debt. This gave landowners an advantage over their sharecroppers because it made a steady workforce because they were still in poverty and had to repeat the cycle until the sharecropper had enough money to work on his own. This caused a long cycle of poverty for former slaves and poor white
The Reconstruction period was an era of unprecedented political conflict and far- reaching changes in the American government. Reconstruction generally refers to the period in time where the United States history immediately following the civil war in which the federal government set the conditions that would let the rebellious southern states back into the union. This was also a time when blacks were fighting for their freedom and trying to reunite with their families that have been sold throughout the slave trade system, this era in history lasted from (1865-1877).
So that made it possible for Freedman to have a job and make money to provide for their family. According to Document D a slave's life was changing because of sharecropping. Sharecropping gave the African American a job which in return they got more money so they could provide more for their families. And before they were forced to work on the farm with no pay at all and now they could do what they knew best and could make
In the 1870s, after the civil war, somehow, America was still at war. Americans disagreed over the topic of letting former slaves become citizens and reuniting a divided North and south. This was called reconstruction. When Andrew Johnson was in office in 1865 , congress passed an amendment declaring all the slaves in America free. The 13th amendment was disputed by many and a lot of people were extremely angry about it. The American government had a plan in include african americans in society. After the civil was, a lot of the American lands were literally in ruins. Farms and plantations and were trampled and destroyed. Also, Southerners were in despair because their currency was now useless after the Southern government was demolished.
The Blacks Codes were restrictive laws that were enforced to limit the activity of the freed blacks. This set of laws compelled the blacks to work for small wages. For those who were forced to work on farms would sometimes end up working for their old masters. Sharecropping, a system of agriculture, was used to regulate crop work and wages. Sharecropping works as a “fair” deal between the farmers and the masters. The owners would receive a large share of the crop raised up by the farmers in exchange for providing tools, seeds, supplies, and shelter for their employees, while working for small wages. Andrew Johnson’s inclusion in reconstruction affairs appeared to worsen conditions for these freed slaves. Johnson attempted to veto the Civil Rights Bill passed in 1866. In his letter to congress (March 27, 1866), Johnson writes,”Four millions of them have just emerged from slavery into freedom. Can it be reasonably supposed that they possess the requisite qualifications to entitle them to all the privileges and immunities of citizenship of
After the period of the United States civil War, African Americans became free from slavery. Therefore, plantation owners and African Americans made an arrangement, in which the owner of the land would supply the land with mule, plow, seed, and other necessities and they will work in order to stay in the land and them offering to share the crop and pay from the profits if the worker produce it.
The thirteenth and fourteenth amendments attempted to establish the freedom and rights of former slaves, but was not entirely successful in its goals. Legally, former slaves gained their freedom in 1865 when the Thirteenth Amendment was passed, and received “equal protection of the laws” as well as other privileges in the Fourteenth Amendment, passed in 1868. (Document A) The years following the Civil War brought on many changes for both former slaves and former slave owners. While slavery was prohibited in the United States, white landowners found ways to twist the laws and create a system beneficial to themselves. The Reconstruction era was filled with a changing economy, a large predicament for white landowners, and unfair situations for
This led to a new form of manipulation where white landowners would tie black sharecroppers to labor contracts for years without getting adequate pay and grotesque hours and work treatment. This is no mistake and is similar to Pre-Reconstruction times and this would create contention between formerly enslaved people and whites, especially in the
With the Union victory in the Civil War in 1865, millions of slaves were given their freedom. Although these millions of slaves are now free, the rebuilding on the South during the Reconstruction introduced many obstacles. These obstacles include sharecropping, tenant farming, the “black codes”, and not to forget the lack of education and rights African Americans had at the time. Sharecropping is consisted of a slave renting land from a white man and having to give up a portion of their crops at the end of each year. The black codes were basically laws against what type of labor African Americans can be given. In the state of South Carolina, blacks were only able to work as farmers or servants; the same jobs these free people worked as slaves. After decades of slavery, blacks were still under the control of the white people due to lack of education and rights.
African Americans enslaved. The benefit brought forth by these policies came later as it was
Affirmative Action Thesis: Although many people believe that affirmative Action is a form of racism, it is actually used to help minorities find employment in an otherwise racist world. "In the United States, equality is a recurring theme. It has flared into a fervent moral issue at crucial stages of American history: The revolutionary and Jacksonian Period, and the New Deal. In each era, the legitimacy of American society is challenged by some set of people unhappy with the degree of equality" (Verba and Orren). Following the Civil War, Congress passed a number of laws designed to put former slaves on an equal level with white people. The Fourteenth Amendment made the freedmen citizen and prohibited states
John Locke, a social contract theorist, says that mankind is equal and independent and “no one ought to harm another of his life, health, liberty or possessions.” When humans enter into a society and form a contract, which leads to government, Locke holds that it is the job of the government to take on the responsibility of protecting the life, liberty and property of its inhabitants; however, the US government failed to protect these rights for Black Americans affected by slavery. Adam Smith, an economist and political theorist, believed that the government should defend and be proprietors of justice. The American government’s purpose, for Smith and Locke, is to promote justice through flourishing ; specifically economic flourishing for Smith. Sadly, history reveals that this was not the circumstance. During the 1700’s, America was one of several countries to embrace chattel slavery. Though slavery is no longer legal in the US, its effects have still rippled the waters of history. Today America stands on trial. It is guilty of failing to fulfill its role as a government by promoting flourishing. Slavery and segregation in the United States have impeded the economic flourishing amongst Black American communities. History and literature will serve as evidence of this crime in exploring the impact of slavery and segregation in education, familial structure and economics.
Large corporations and companies like tobacco and cotton plantations also contributed to the building of America. It’s not the companies or corporations themselves that just contributed to the building of America but the people who worked for them. This would include all white, colored, and slave workers. The ways that these companies are not free is due to the fact that some of them use slaves and discriminated against colored people during this time. If companies within America are not treating people equally, then America is not seen as a country of equality and freedom.