Chapter eight, View From the Bottom Rail, by Davidson Lytle and Mark Lytle in the book After the Fact, shows the hardships of the lives of slaves towards the end of the Civil War. This chapter includes the hardships of slave life, discrimination, first-hand accounts, and details about the journey to the North. The article jumps straight into the moments when the slaves get their freedom. “The thunder of freedom roared” as slaves were shocked that they were finally free. In fact, some were so shocked they didn’t know what to do with themselves. Most of the slaves “had no hesitation about choosing freedom , others staying with their masters because of intense loyalty and because some feared the Union Army. Even though they were the ones who freed the slaves some of the Union soldiers looked at slaves with hatred. The real reason for the war was to reunite the …show more content…
The elite, educated men accounted for most of the writing in this time period, making it difficult to find good first person slave views on the Civil War. There were only a few exceptions with blacks that could read and write. For example, Mary Chesnut who wrote a detailed diary of a common day during the Civil War that is very important to Historians today. A slave named Squires Jackson was reading the newspaper when his Master walked in and saw him reading it. Quickly thinking, Jackson turned the newspaper upside down held it up and said, “Confederates done won the war”. If Jackson had not written this down, we would never know this story. Most slaves wouldn't be able to record those events. Instead, his master would have recorded what he thought actually happened. This is what happened commonly during the Civil War. For the most part, slaves were illiterate and were generally were not able to record the events of the Civil War during the time
deserved to be free, and their desire to set slaves free was the cause of the Civil
The Civil War had many things that contributed to the start of it such as slavery. Events like The Underground Railroad, Missouri Compromise, Nat Turner Rebellion, compromise of 1850, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the Dred Scott trial, Bleeding Kansa, John Brown Raid, Abe’s Election and the Battle of Fort Sumter. All of these events had key factors, even the smallest things add up. Whether it be an uprising or even a book might change the views or opinions that you have on slavery. What if it supported your views would you want to share with others in hope to change others thoughts or feelings? What if you were a Southerner and Abe had become President… would you fear of what might happen to your slaves? What if you were part of the Dred Scott Trial what side would you be on?
The Civil War caused a shift in the ways that many Americans thought about slavery and race. Chandra Manning’s What this Cruel War Was Over helps readers understand how soldiers viewed slavery during the Civil War. The book is a narrative, which follows the life of Union soldier who is from Massachusetts. Chandra Manning used letters, diaries and regimental newspapers to gain an understanding of soldiers’ views of slavery. The main character, Charles Brewster has never encountered slaves. However, he believes that Negroes are inferior. He does not meet slaves until he enters the war in the southern states of Maryland and Virginia. Charles Brewster views the slaves first as contraband. He believes the slaves are a burden and should be sent back to their owners because of the fugitive slave laws. Union soldiers focus shifted before the end of the war. They believed slavery was cruel and inhumane, expressing strong desire to liberate the slaves. As the war progresses, soldiers view slaves and slavery in a different light. This paper, by referring to the themes and characters presented in Chandra Manning’s What this Cruel War Was Over, analyzes how the issue of slavery and race shifted in the eyes of white Union soldiers’ during Civil War times.
Though this statement only freed slaves in regions still participating in rebellion, it demonstrated a shift in purpose and gave the North moral justification to fight in the war. By thrusting themselves into the war effort, African Americans changed a war based on political disagreements and state power into a war to terminate and “forever prohibit” slavery. (Doc. D) This document may be considered bias, especially by Confederate sympathizers, because it was written by members of the Republican Party platform -- most of which heavily advocated emancipation. Lincoln, who initially remained neutral on the topic of slavery, became inspired by the willingness with which African Americans “stake their lives for us, they must be prompted by the strongest motive—even the promise of freedom. And the promise being made, must be kept.” (Doc. C) Therefore, the willing participation of blacks in the Civil War with the hopes of achieving freedom caused an entirely new goal of the war to form in the
The newly freed men became scapegoats for the defeat of the South. The former slaves were a reminder of how much everything had changed after the war. Instead of working in the fields under white masters, they now competed for jobs with poor white farmers. The way that white southerners distinguished themselves from the freedmen was by the terrorism of the Klu Klux Klan (KKK). By joining the KKK a white southerner could take action backed by a large organization without fear of repercussions. At anytime the KKK could come to your door and hassle, berate, or even hang you simply because you were now free and had committed some tiny infraction. The testimony of Harriet Postle is a prime example that no freed person was safe. Her family committed no crime yet the KKK still burst down their door, and severely beat Mrs. Postle. The fact that she was around eight months pregnant didn’t deter the KKK from abusing her. Harriet Postle stated in her testimony that the KKK, “beat my head against the side of the house till I had no sense hardly left.” Now the freedmen lived in their own homes without a master, but any Klansman could come in and do what they pleased. Before the Civil War black men and women had no fear of the Klan because they didn’t exist. Now the newly freed person had the Klan breathing down their back along with the inability to assemble or go where they pleased.
The American Civil War claimed the lives of over 700,000 people. The war was fought from 1861-1865. The results of the war were described as; a union victory, abolishment of slavery, territorial integrity preserved and the destruction and dissolution of the Confederate States. The twelve years that followed were called the Reconstruction Era, 1865-1877. The purpose of the Reconstruction Era was to restore National Unity, strengthen the government, and guarantee rights to freed slaves. The reality of reconstruction though was; violence (260,000 dead), newly freed slaves suffered the most, and Lincoln's hopes of trust and rededication to peace were lost when he was assassinated on April 15th, 1865. It is these realities of the Reconstruction Era and beyond that this paper will address and how those realities affected the newly freed slaves. Life in post-bellum America for African - Americans was violent and filled with fear because of white supremacy, lynching, and the brutal mutilations of blacks.
(document 7). In addition to continuous labor, the fear of being separated from family was constant source of despair. (document 4). Because slaves were thought of as property, there was little concern about any deep familial bonds that were created through marriage and children and the threat of families being torn apart was a perpetual fear. An advertisement for the sale of an estate read, “Slaves will be sold separate, or in lots, as best suits the purchaser.” (Foner p 430). Every aspect of a slave’s life was controlled by the master, from the choice of a spouse, how they spent their time, and how they could gather. Southern representatives and slaveholders justified the institution by claiming that a black person was inferior to a white person and that the “defects of his character alone justify enslaving him.” (document 12) There were claims that slavery in America actually freed people by sparing them from the chaos of free competition and the dangers of cannibalism and savagery of other slave owning nations. (document 12) There were claims that American slaves were the happiest and the freest because the women and elderly don’t do hard work and
During the 1840s, America saw increasingly attractive settlements forming between the North and the South. The government tried to keep the industrial north and the agricultural south happy, but eventually the issue of slavery became too big to handle, no matter how many treaties or compromises were formed. Slavery was a huge issue that unraveled throughout many years of American history and was one of the biggest contributors leading up to the Civil War (notes, Fall 2015). Many books have been written over the years about slavery and the brutality of the life that many people endured. In “A Slave No More”, David Blight tells the story about two men, John M. Washington (1838-1918) and Wallace Turnage (1846-1916), struggling during American slavery. Their escape to freedom happened during America’s bloodiest war among many political conflicts, which had been splitting the country apart for many decades. As Blight (2007) describes, “Throughout the Civil War, in thousands of different circumstances, under changing policies and redefinitions of their status, and in the face of social chaos…four million slaves helped to decide what time it would be in American History” (p. 5). Whether it was freedom from a master or overseer, freedom from living as both property and the object of another person’s will, or even freedom to make their own decisions and control their own life, slaves wanted a sense of independence. According to Blight (2007), “The war and the presence of Union armies
Following the Civil War, America was in shambles. There were many groups with strong, conflicting ideas of how things should be. However, most groups had one idea in common: reducing the rights of African Americans as much as possible. Freed slaves had very little freedom under the law, were treated like a lesser species by those around them, and faced dangerous environments everywhere they went. Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation may have legally freed slaves, but African Americans were barely more than paid slaves.
A law was made that allowed all slaves who fought in the war to be free after one year of fighting. The slave’s owner, of course, had to consent. Over the course of the revolution, the concept of a slave went from a lowly character to a person of worth – anybody fighting for the colonies was respected for standing up for the rights of the colonies.
Lincoln thought freeing slaves would help him reach his goals to save the Union. Therefor, this led to the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Although, the Emancipation Proclamation only freed slaves in the Confederate States in America, it was the first step in the final Emancipation of all slaves. It helped the cause of the Civil War, and was close to end slavery permanently. It was the third year into the Civil War, once the form was signed, the number of group soldiers for the Civil War and navy increased. This was because what Lincoln hoped would happen did happen. Although, the liberation of slaves allowed many slaves to volunteer and to fight in the Civil War. At that point the Civil War became a war for freedom. The result of the War was positive. The Union was saved but also the War helped free slaves.
The effects of the Civil War brought about changes in the United States. The country had to answer the question: To what level of moral and ethical conduct do we want Americans to be held? Loyalties were seriously evaluated. People had to decide if they held their loyalty to the country as a whole, their state, their families, or even to humanity as a whole. They had to decide if it was right to own another person, or if the slavery system was justified as a way to keep the Southern economy going. Through all this contemplation, people wrote about their thoughts and fears, and as a result, people abandoned romanticism and became realists. Many writings of the Civil War, whether informational or literary, reflect
In the beginning, many refugee slaves found by Union Military were returned to their lives in the south, but through policy changes and leadership decisions they were put to work in many ways including serving in the Union Army. Lincoln quickly recognized the power the newly recruited slaves provided to the Army. At the same time, this also pressured the President to hold true to his promise of emancipation. “If they stake their lives for us they must be prompted by the strongest motive…the promise of freedom. And the promise being made must be kept” (McPherson pg.8)
During reconstruction, the meaning of freedom suited many different types of interpretation; the perception of freedom between former slaves and their slaves masters were very contradictory. To begin with, African-Americans had suffered severe abuse over those years of slavery, so to them, the meaning of freedom was basically a hope that in the future, they won’t experience all kind of punishment and exploration that they have been experienced so far. Besides that, formers slaves were demanding equal civil and political rights. In the same way, they valued their freedom by establishing their own schools and churches, reuniting families that were separated under
The goal of the civil war was never originally to free slaves but slaves became a large part of the war. African American slaves overcame many challenges to finally receive their freedom. Many African Americans endured the chance to fight for the union and that immensely increased the man power of the union.