African American History from 1865-1876 & 1877-1920

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African American History from 1865-1876 (Unit I) & 1877-1920 (Unit II)

Introduction

The African American populace between the periods 1865-1876 and 1877-1920 was dominantly challenges by social and political issues towards the creation of an equitable community. The social issue will be outlined within the periods 1865-1876 with regard to slavery whereas the political problem is evidenced in the periods 1877-1920 as evidenced by power divergences that led to fraudulent tendencies.

Background and Discussion

Social Issues: Slavery

The periods 1865-1876 is generally termed as the Reconstruction period that was instituted subsequent to the Civil War that had covered the periods 1861-1865 for renovation purposes within the nation. Although various factors were accorded as precursors to conflict, the most prominent was accorded to slavery. Initial African American workers within the American nation were introduced in the periods 1619 with nineteen individuals traded in Virginia (Norton, Sheriff, & Katzman, 2008). The nature of the workers trade within the seventeenth century was based on an indenture system that acted as a form of protection to the worker. As the African American workers were few in this period, the rest of the labor requirements were supplemented by individuals from Britain and Germany. These African American workers being inexpert individuals were accorded a limited level of training required as a necessity within the workplaces. Financial remuneration was exempted from the arrangement, and the workers were compensated through non-monetary elements like food provisions, clothing, residential provisions, transport and the training sessions.

The working duration for these African Americans was at least three years to seven years. Legally authorized certificates were accorded as a safeguard to the workers such that at the completion of the stated period, autonomy would be accorded. Additionally, the employer was mandated to the provision of an amount of monetary award during the freeing period to aid the servants in their own endeavors. Most of these African American workers were not more than twenty-one years of age and both female and male genders were allowed, with the bulk being the latter. Marriage was only permitted between the African American populace by the employer and female workers within their maternity period had to lengthen their work periods as a reimbursement of the leave period (Kazin, Rebecca, & Adam, 2010). Married servants were therefore permitted to merge their domestic circles. Obligatory and hard labor was accorded to the workers through judicial powers and physical retribution was also permitted.

Towards the eighteenth century, workers deficiency was noted and employers were opted for slavery practices to supplement the enhanced production noted within the nation due to technological progressions. The initial slaves were accorded a limited form of legal safeguard principally in opposition to brutal treatment that in the extreme would lead to demises. However, this benefit was only present within a short duration and subsequently outlawed. Additionally, the fixed-term arrangement was revoked thereby rendering African American workers as life slaves lacking the allowance of autonomy (Turner-Sadler, 2004). The certificate arrangement was also stripped and trading purposes were enforced. The rest of the allowances in terms of marriage, food and residential areas were accorded by the tyrants and therefore the positioning for the African Americans moved to a worse status. Infants from slave families were through the process of naturalization accorded the slave status and upon the attainment of a given age were introduced into slavery practices within the same farm as the parents or traded for monetary gain.

Note that, this designated slaves as property as opposed to the earlier indenture system that accorded a relatively human treatment as no money was involved within the system. With America’s independence attained within the latter part of the eighteenth century leading to a state of autonomy from the colonial leadership, a congruent move was accorded towards slavery. Autonomy was accorded to slaves upon independence but other benefits like voting, learning requirements, categorized working places and citizenship status were still largely withheld. The northern region of America acted as a precursor to the implementation of the accorded freedom towards the African Americans with the southern region opposing the movement (Dagbovie, 2010). This was attributed to the fact that, the southern area has specialized in farming and therefore accorded a large percentage of the output to labor. This northern region on the other hand was an industrial location and therefore requiring less labor, with the inexpert class (African Americans) being rendered as obsolete due to the technology element.

Response and Outcome to the Issue of Slavery

With the nation having attained independence and therefore amalgamation of the states, homogeneity was mandated by the constitution with regard to slavery. The southern region opposed this proposition and disaffiliated itself from the northern region to form the Confederacy aimed at preserving slavery. With the move being illegal in nature, the north retaliated leading to the Civil War that led to a succession of the southern regions. A national accord was therefore attained for slavery autonomy in 1865 (Bankston, 2006). Note that, the earlier proposals towards according individual autonomy to the African American workers had lacked the authority to accord citizen status since the constitution had not explicitly handled the issue of slavery. The move was founded on logical construal of the freedom clause within the constitution. In 1865 therefore, the Thirteenth Amendment was implemented and consequently resulted to the liberation of close to four million African Americans. The southern region still in a bid to ensure some form of subjugation implemented the Black Code that permitted for social prejudice against the African Americans in all social areas.

African Americans were only accorded few areas for working like iron and steel factories and prohibited from textile manufacturing institutions. This inequitable treatment was defensible to the Whites on the premise that the African American populace was indolent and uninformed towards production matters. Cultivation therefore remained as the highest occupation for the African Americans (Penrice, 2006). The Black Code permitted the apprehension of African Americans who lacked work places as well as infusing an element of intricacy for work seekers by mandating the provision of work certificates for expert positions. Additionally, the White employer would decide the duration on a daily basis that the African American worker had to comply with in the work place, even if it constituted to overworking. Additionally, the African Americans were restricted in terms of residential places, with the exclusivity element for defining social amenities like eateries, transport services, and recreational facilities.

In the period 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment was instituted towards according citizen classes to African Americans. African Americans were permitted to possess belongings but the learning system was still a problem though community-learning institutions were accorded. This operation was an inference towards the inclusion of identical rights as those provided for the White populace (Norton, Sheriff, & Katzman, 2008). A notable weakness towards the legal revision was noted in the ambiguity of the clause. Additionally, notable authorities within the reigning government inclusive of the president contested against the law adjustment. African Americans within the southern location were accorded the disparate treatment until the Fifteenth Amendment was attained in the period 1870 according the ability for ballot exercises. With the ineffectuality of the social systems to accord identical rights within the populace, rebel factions like the Ku Klux Klan had been established and they employed coercive approaches to steer the government towards favorable edicts towards African Americans.

In the period 1875, the Civil Rights Act was introduced according equitable allocations of social requirements to all American nationals (Dagbovie, 2010). As the southern region still resisted all aspects of equity, it was apparent that significant change could only be attained in a gradual manner. In conclusion therefore, the northern region enhanced its initiatives towards complete social equality between the regions as well as the groups involved and new options founded on the persuasive approach were proposed towards a realization of the same.

Political Issues: Fraudulent Practices in Voting

The periods 1877-1920 cover both the Gilded and Progressive epoch in the African American progression. Upon the adoption of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, the African American populace was accorded the ability to exercise political involvements notably through the ballot processes. The southern region was the most impacted within the aforementioned period as it has the utmost African American populace. Politics within the region were ethnic related as the White estate owners’ dreaded that the African American populace would institute alternative political institutes and systems and thereby leading to the creation of power to support tyrannical practices as a form of retribution (Shrock, 2004). The White populace residing within the northern regions sought to accord their leadership to the southern region whose majority populace was the African Americans. This accorded a conflict as the southern inhabitants sought to elect African Americans in the to accord leadership within their region. The rationale accorded for this view was the fact that, with the leaders being African American, outlining of issues and solutions to the same could only be effectually achieved by the proposed leaders due to their interactivity and knowledge level with regard to the community.

The Whites on the other hand as evidenced by the Democrats differed with the view as according such positions to the African Americans would impart a level of vulnerability within the society (Turner-Sadler, 2004). Then Democrats sought to vicious approaches as mass assassinations toward the African Americans largely intended for electors. Within the periods 1882 and 1899, at least two thousand five hundred African Americans were assassinated with a majority of the demised being males. In some instances, the assassination exercises would encompass a complete town or community to victimize the African American populace. Consequently, to validate the conspiracies, the executors always indicted the demised with charges of assaults towards white females. With the knowledge that the validations were always forged, the cases would be accorded no further legal probes. In 1890 to 1900, sixty-two percent of African American electors were exempted from ballot exercises as African Americans were mandated to literacy assessments (Kazin, Rebecca, & Adam, 2010). Individuals who failed to meet the accorded specifications within the assessment were not permitted in election events.

Additionally, African American electors were mandated to voting payments placed between one and two dollars before permission to contribute to the exercise could be awarded. This clause inhibited the underprivileged African Americans from election practices. Additionally, the rest of the African American Populace was forced to comply with polling tariff that had to be accrued for eight-month duration before an individual was permitted to vote. Intricacy was accorded in the process because an individual was necessitated to the presentation of the poll certificate to ascertain the completion of the payments (Kazin, Rebecca, & Adam, 2010). A reading and interpreting exercise would then be conducted on the elector on excerpts of the constitution, failure to which would lead to a prohibition of the election right. This latter edict affected even academic African Americans due to the poor quality of the learning system. African Americans were mainly aligned to the Republicans. This was evidenced by the fact that, eighty percent of the aforementioned political group constituted of African Americans. However, the Whites still accorded a tyrannical perspective into the group by allowing only a trivial number of African Americans within the leadership posts as barely twenty percent of the total positions. This was noted within the whole southern regions with an exemption of North Carolina that accorded fifty-two percent of the headship positions to the African Americans (Kazin, Rebecca, & Adam, 2010).

In the 1890s onwards, this approach was reviewed with African Americans being accorded substantial presentation within the leadership in both national and local positions. Even more notable is that within the periods 1881 and 1901, the first African American representation was noted in the Congress. The Republicans were also implicated in unlawful activities with regard to voting as they colluded with the Democrats in according a senor leadership position to a member of the latter group in a bid to preserve White authority among the African Americans. Areas in which the identified practices were evidenced were Louisiana, Florida and North Carolina amongst others (Turner-Sadler, 2004). As African Americans were incessantly inhibited from political participation, the process of prejudice was enhanced and the populace was inhibited from addressing of the issues related to the African American populace.

Response and Outcome to the Issue of Fraudulent Practices in Voting

African Americans created various campaign factions that employed public perspectives into the issues of political inequity between the Whites and the African Americans. The populace also adopted learning prospects up to undergraduate levels to enhance their comprehension abilities for important activities like constitution interpretation towards attaining higher rights. Gender factions like the National Woman Suffrage Association and American Women Suffrage Association tabled the requirement for women inclusion within the election process. By the periods 1910, at least eleven states had permitted females participation in ballot practice. These elements acted as the foundation for further advancements within the acquisition of political stands within the African American populace within the subsequent periods.

References

Bankston, C. L. (2006). African American history. Pasadena, CA: Salem Press.

Dagbovie, P. G. (2010). African American history reconsidered. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

Hartzell, J. C., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill., & University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. (2000). Methodism and the Negro in the United States. Chapel Hill, N.C.: Academic Affairs Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Kazin, M., Rebecca, E., & Adam, R. (2010). The Princeton encyclopedia of American political history, Volume 2. Princeton, NJ: PrincetonUniversity Press.

Norton, M. B., Sheriff, C., & Katzman, D. M. (2008). A people and a nation: A history of the United States. Boston: Houghton Mifflin company.

Penrice, R. R. (2007). African American history for dummies. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Pub.

Shrock, J. (2004). The Gilded Age. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press.

Turner-Sadler, J. (2006). African American history: An introduction. New York: Lang.