Marten, Phillip, Alice English 05.04.

2022

Historical Overview – African American Experience: 1619-1870

1619-1850s: chattel slavery

 The slave trade started early 17th century

 Triangular trade: Europe bought slaves from Africa
and shipped them under appalling conditions
to the British colonies
 Slaves had to work on plantations for cotton, sugar,
tobacco etc.
 Chattel slavery = slaves got treated like personal
property, so they were forced to work for their owners
 Although the Declaration of Independence 1776 stated that “all men are created
equal” slaves were still looked at as objects especially in the southern states
 Punishments for slaves were barbaric (whipping, lynching, imprisoning, execution,
mutilating, rape)
 Between 1774-1804 all of the northern states abolished slavery
 Thomas Jefferson signed a legislative to end the transatlantic slave trade 1807
 Abolitionism was the anti-slavery movement that started growing in mid-19 th century
 The Underground Railroad (early to mid-19th century) was established to help runaway
slaves to escape to the north
 After the conflict about slavery between north and south escalated a compromise was
formed
 Part of that was the fugitive slave act 1850 that made it legal for bounty hunters from the
south to catch escaped slaves in the north

 Eve of the American Civil War:

 Speculating market
o Varying prices for slaves
o Creation of a speculation bubble

 Ownership of slaves got more difficult

o Slaveowners had to endure costly and long trials to prove their claims
o Slaves were bought out of ownership
o Higher prices for slaves

 The Civil War 1861 - 1865

 Thousands fled during the chaos of the war

o Many were picked up by the Union Forces
o The slaves tried to manifest their free status
Marten, Phillip, Alice English 05.04.2022

 Union Troops dealt with the slaves in different ways

o Benjamin F. Butler granted fled or freed slaves freedom,
o Many other generals, especially at the beginning of the war, brought the slaves back
to the southern owners
 The slaves were later allowed to join the armed forces and were, on paper,
granted an equal state to the other Americans

 Emancipation Proclamation

 Executive order issued by Lincoln in 1863

o All slaves in the American territory were granted the “free” status
o By enforcing this order, he realised earlier blueprints for a similar move
o It was seen as a necessary step to save the Union as it allowed for ex-slaves to join
the army – they played a significant role with their additional strength of 200,000
men
 Southern states did not allow slaves to join the armed forces for the majority
of the war as they were “inferior people”. This decision was changed in the
last months of the war and slaves were conscripted, however none of them
saw any fighting

 13th Amendment in 1865

o Slavery was abolished
o Exemption: As a punishment for crime

 Fun fact: It would have been cheaper to buy all the slaves instead of fighting the war

 1865-1960s: Segregation (southern states)

 Most states passed the “Black Codes” laws
o restricted the activities of freed Blacks & maintained control of the whites
 Not allowed to own weapons, purchase land, conduct business, testify in
court (some towns)
 “Jim Crow Laws” replaced slavery with racial segregation
o Officially: for protection of African Americans
o Reality: limited the rights of the Black section; disadvantages for non-White
population
 E.g.: Black and White people seated separately in railroad passenger cars
 Suffrage
 1868 14th Amendment
o US citizenship for all former slaves
 1870 15th Amendment
o The right to vote for African Americans
 Southern states: undermined that right through repressive practices of voter
registration
 poor and less educated African Americans can´t pay poll taxes /pass literacy
tests
 didn’t get registered
 1875 Civil Rights Act
Marten, Phillip, Alice English 05.04.2022

o Meant to guarantee African Americans equal treatment in different aspects of life

 “Separate but equal”: Supreme court Louisianna
o It meant facilities for Black people was not discriminatory
 allowed white authority in all aspects of life (schools, bars, hotels, prisons …)
 “Whites only”, “Coloured” signs for segregation