Reconstruction Primary Documents: How do the 'Dream Deferred' documents indicate the understanding of freedom that newly-freed peoples possessed and their efforts to secure that freedom?
"Harriet Hernandez, Political Terrorism by the Ku Klux Klan" is the title of an excerpt of an interview given by a black women (Hernandez) to a congressional committee investigating the KKK. Hernandez goes on to say that her and her child were taken and beaten because her husband was a black republican voter. This shows understanding of freedom because this family knew what it took to be free and would not stop their efforts, even when they were scared and beaten. The KKK did this around the region trying to scare blacks out of voting for Republicans. Voting was a noble thing to do and this family wouldn't back down, presumably like many other black families in the south. Securing that freedom would be quicker voting for radical republicans, which is what Harriet Hernandez's husband did.
Once slavery ended, the newly free people began to move to protect their freedoms. “The Freedmen’s Agenda for Reconstruction” was a list of resolves that a group of blacks, from Norfolk, Virginia, made in June 1865. These eight men, most of whom were free before the war, knew that the whites would try and limited their newly acquired freedom, so they gathered to give definition to what a successful Reconstruction would be, in their minds. Since these men were free before the war, they had some experience with freedom and knew what they needed to protect. These Norfolk blacks gathered to give resolves to protect their freedoms from the discriminatory whites. These newly freedmen knew that they could not leave their rights in the hands of the whites because of the deep rooted white “supremacy”. As we now know, these resolves were not granted right away so blacks had to wait almost a century to have their goals realized.
Richard Harvey Cain was a black Representative from South Carolina. Being a black representative from South Carolina already shows that blacks were doing great things in securing their freedoms, because South Carolina was the first state to secede and greatly supported slavery. During his speech on the Civil Rights Act of 1875, Cain stated that his people should have the same rights as everyone else. He wanted this Act to be passed, and eventually turned into an amendment so it could not be taken away. Since every other citizen of the United States had these rights, and blacks were now citizens, Cain felt that they should be given the same rights. Blacks were not begging for this act, like one Congressman said, they just wanted these rights, guaranteed protection of their rights, and freedom from discrimination.
The document of Henry Blake, Working on Shares indicates that the newly-freed people understood their new freedoms because the sharecropping system allowed greater social autonomy. They were paid for their work and were not watched as closely. After they were freed, they worked on shares and rented. They made little money, but in order to secure that freedom they needed to know how to count to make sure they were getting the right amount. The plantation owners would try to keep them in debt so that they could be kept a slave. To secure the freedoms that they had received, they had to be cautious about going into debt at all.
Bayley Wyatt, a Virginia freedman who is residing on his old plantation, expresses his opinion to the Union army that the land should be his and his freedmen. Wyatt says at a public meeting all the reasons the land should be his own. Wyatt says that wives, children, and husbands were torn apart and sold over and over again to purchase the land where he is now located. They cleared the land, raised crops of corn, cotton, tobacco, rice, and sugar. Wyatt even says that the North used the products they made. The North and South grew rich from the things he made, and he grew poor. Wyatt believes with his newly found freedom that the land should be his and the former slaves. Wyatt demanded at his town meeting in front of the Union soldiers that the land is his, and without his efforts the North would not be as rich as they are.
In a Senate committee interview with Henry Adams concerning the "Exodusters", Adams discussed how freed blacks in Louisiana understood their new freedom because they organized their own committee in order to examine the way they were living in the South. They recognized that white people dominated the local, state, and federal government, and were beginning to feel like slaves again. The blacks decided they could not continue working for the people who enslaved them, and established the Colonization Council to "better [their] condition" and secure their freedom. The Council appealed to Congress and the President to help them and protect their rights and privileges. If this plan failed, they would request to have territory set aside in the US for them to live with their families. If this failed, the Council would request that the government send the blacks to Liberia so they could live peacefully in their own communities. When this proposal failed, they would appeal to other foreign governments and ask if they could leave the US and take refuge in their country. Adams stated at the end of the interview that the blacks would have preferred to stay in the South if they had their rights, but they will not stay in a region where they continue to be treated as slaves.
Please provide a paragraph response.
ReplyDelete"Harriet Hernandez, Political Terrorism by the Ku Klux Klan" is the title of an excerpt of an interview given by a black women (Hernandez) to a congressional committee investigating the KKK. Hernandez goes on to say that her and her child were taken and beaten because her husband was a black republican voter. This shows understanding of freedom because this family knew what it took to be free and would not stop their efforts, even when they were scared and beaten. The KKK did this around the region trying to scare blacks out of voting for Republicans. Voting was a noble thing to do and this family wouldn't back down, presumably like many other black families in the south. Securing that freedom would be quicker voting for radical republicans, which is what Harriet Hernandez's husband did.
ReplyDeleteOnce slavery ended, the newly free people began to move to protect their freedoms. “The Freedmen’s Agenda for Reconstruction” was a list of resolves that a group of blacks, from Norfolk, Virginia, made in June 1865. These eight men, most of whom were free before the war, knew that the whites would try and limited their newly acquired freedom, so they gathered to give definition to what a successful Reconstruction would be, in their minds. Since these men were free before the war, they had some experience with freedom and knew what they needed to protect. These Norfolk blacks gathered to give resolves to protect their freedoms from the discriminatory whites. These newly freedmen knew that they could not leave their rights in the hands of the whites because of the deep rooted white “supremacy”. As we now know, these resolves were not granted right away so blacks had to wait almost a century to have their goals realized.
ReplyDeleteRichard Harvey Cain was a black Representative from South Carolina. Being a black representative from South Carolina already shows that blacks were doing great things in securing their freedoms, because South Carolina was the first state to secede and greatly supported slavery. During his speech on the Civil Rights Act of 1875, Cain stated that his people should have the same rights as everyone else. He wanted this Act to be passed, and eventually turned into an amendment so it could not be taken away. Since every other citizen of the United States had these rights, and blacks were now citizens, Cain felt that they should be given the same rights. Blacks were not begging for this act, like one Congressman said, they just wanted these rights, guaranteed protection of their rights, and freedom from discrimination.
ReplyDeleteThe document of Henry Blake, Working on Shares indicates that the newly-freed people understood their new freedoms because the sharecropping system allowed greater social autonomy. They were paid for their work and were not watched as closely. After they were freed, they worked on shares and rented. They made little money, but in order to secure that freedom they needed to know how to count to make sure they were getting the right amount. The plantation owners would try to keep them in debt so that they could be kept a slave. To secure the freedoms that they had received, they had to be cautious about going into debt at all.
ReplyDeleteBayley Wyatt, A Right to the Land Alli Hreha
ReplyDeleteBayley Wyatt, a Virginia freedman who is residing on his old plantation, expresses his opinion to the Union army that the land should be his and his freedmen. Wyatt says at a public meeting all the reasons the land should be his own. Wyatt says that wives, children, and husbands were torn apart and sold over and over again to purchase the land where he is now located. They cleared the land, raised crops of corn, cotton, tobacco, rice, and sugar. Wyatt even says that the North used the products they made. The North and South grew rich from the things he made, and he grew poor. Wyatt believes with his newly found freedom that the land should be his and the former slaves. Wyatt demanded at his town meeting in front of the Union soldiers that the land is his, and without his efforts the North would not be as rich as they are.
In a Senate committee interview with Henry Adams concerning the "Exodusters", Adams discussed how freed blacks in Louisiana understood their new freedom because they organized their own committee in order to examine the way they were living in the South. They recognized that white people dominated the local, state, and federal government, and were beginning to feel like slaves again. The blacks decided they could not continue working for the people who enslaved them, and established the Colonization Council to "better [their] condition" and secure their freedom. The Council appealed to Congress and the President to help them and protect their rights and privileges. If this plan failed, they would request to have territory set aside in the US for them to live with their families. If this failed, the Council would request that the government send the blacks to Liberia so they could live peacefully in their own communities. When this proposal failed, they would appeal to other foreign governments and ask if they could leave the US and take refuge in their country. Adams stated at the end of the interview that the blacks would have preferred to stay in the South if they had their rights, but they will not stay in a region where they continue to be treated as slaves.
ReplyDelete