FROM SLAVERY TO FREEDOM

The Beginnings of Slavery

Tobacco and cotton plantations were common in the South.

Southerners used slaves to work the land Africans were kidnapped or sold into slavery and

brought to the southern states to work. Trading relationships already set up with areas

of Africa. Africans less likely to die from disease or run away compared to Native Americans

Defense of slavery

The sudden end to the slave economy would have a killing economic impact in the South where reliance on slave labor was the foundation of their economy.

If all the slaves were freed, there would be widespread unemployment and chaos.

By comparison with the poor of Europe and the workers in the Northern states, that slaves were better cared for.

Response from the North

Many northerners did not support slavery but also did not believe in equality for African Americans

Abolitionists – people who wanted freedom for slaves (mostly northerners)

Frederick Douglas- educated former slave who worked to end slavery in the United States.

Abolitionism

Abolitionists used a variety of tactics to end slavery.

Slave revolts resulting in the murder of whites

Literature opposing slavery- Uncle Tom’s cabin

Harriet Tuban and the underground railroad

Causes of the Civil War

Northern states had industrialized so they did not need slaves to work the land.

As new states entered the Union, northern and southern members of Congress fought over free versus slave states.

Causes continued

Dred Scott decisiono Slave who lived in free territory took

case to Supreme Court claiming he should be free.

o Court ruled- Scott did not have legal standing to sue in court because he was not a citizen.

o Being in a free territory did not make a slave free.

Election of 1860

Abraham Lincoln won the election of 1860 with no votes from southern states.

Southern states believed he would remove slavery from the U.S.

South Carolina seceded from the Union.

Thirteenth Amendment

Passed in 1865 The Constitution, although never

mentioning slavery by name, refers to slaves as "such persons" in Article I, Section 9 and “a person held to service or labor” in Article IV, Section 2. The Thirteenth Amendment, in direct terminology, put an end to this

“Neither slavery non indentured servitude shall exist. “

Life for Freed African Americans

No land, no skills, no money Moved to towns to seek education and

jobs Opened schools and colleges Founded their own churches Began to hold government offices

Sharecropping

African Americans farmed a portion of land owned by the whites in exchange for a portion of the crops which created a cycle of poverty.

Fourteenth Amendment

Passed in 1868 Citizenship Clause- born in the U.S. you

are now a citizen Equal Protection Clause- each state must

provide equal protection under the law to all people

States can’t deny rights to US citizens such as freed slaves.

15th Amendment

No one can be kept from voting on the basis of “race or color”

A small number of African Americans voted in elections

Many were not voting because they were terrorized by the KKK

Voting Restrictions

Literacy tests Poll taxes Grandfather clause- if you grandfather

was eligible to vote before the Civil War, you are able to vote

Rise of the KKK

Goal: To prevent African Americans from exercising their political rights (running for office, voting, etc.)

Killed black men, women, and children