“Go make me some chowder!” yelled a master to her black slave in the North. “Right away” the salve responded cautiously. Minutes later the slave came back with the soup. “Thank you and I have something to tell you. I am setting you free on your own. Our region is sending our slaves free but you will have restrictions. You must never eat, drink, marry, or nurse a white person. Also going to church with whites and being in the Jury is against all rules.” This is something that would happen in the North. If you really think about it the “free” African Americans in the North might have been free but not free enough! I believe that African Americans weren’t free enough politically, economically, or socially.
The people in the North started letting people go in the early 1800’s. Nobody really knew the reason for it except they began to believe slavery was wrong. After the slaves were let go some of them could pay taxes, some were allowed to vote, and some could perform duties. The only down side is all of these amenities could not be done with whites. The color of your skin shouldn’t impact the level of freedom you have. The blacks couldn’t change the laws because of course they didn’t have the right to do so easily. The African Americans had specific laws that they couldn’t break and if they did who knows what would happen. Some of the states did have less specific laws, in some states blacks were allowed to sit in juries, file lawsuits, and vote just like the many white people but this was very rare and not many states allowed it. I have seen a picture in Document A and it shows that only one state (Massachusetts) had black men jury and voting rights. Only one state has two crucial laws. I believe this is very wrong all states should have equal rights for all blacks and whites.
Even though some states gave blacks the right to help with the government, they hardly had any rights when it came to getting a job or owning property. For example, in Document B it states those blacks were not allowed to dine or drink with whites. This means that blacks couldn’t be a waitress or waiter. Also it states that blacks can’t nurse a white, which means that blacks could only nurse blacks and no one else. African Americans wanted to be mechanics and a sales person but no one would ever hire them because of their skin color. There is a quote in document B, it is “Shall I be a mechanic? No one will employ me and no white boys will work with me. Shall I be a Merchant? No one have me in there office.” This quote is from a black boy’s perspective and telling us that people won’t give him a job because of his race. Also blacks were allowed to own property in the North as well. They could own as much as they could afford and they could live on their property or they could use it for farm land. There only restriction with land is they couldn’t be neighbors with whites.
The blacks obviously had political and economic problems but they also had social problems as well. The first and largest factor is that blacks weren’t allowed to socialize with whites at all; they were barely able to be in the same room as them. In the 1800’s whites were very strict about blacks socially. There is one quote in document B that stood out to me. The quote is “We shall not make the black man a slave; we shall not buy him or sell him; but we shall not associate with him.” This tells us clearly that even though slavery is ending but whites still don’t trust the blacks. I don’t think this is right because if you are taking away slavery, yes you are giving them more rights but you still don’t socialize with them or even give them the right to eat or drink with you. I find this all offensive and denote to all people to even believe that people did this!
In conclusion, the blacks were in the middle of slavery when the North decided that it wasn’t right. So they gave them all rights, no they gave them very few rights and called them free. Even though they were free they could barely look at a white person without getting in trouble. Some people might think this helped but I don’t. But of course it leads us to where we are today so it couldn’t have been that bad of a decision. Also, did you see me mention black women? No I have not mentioned black women because women didn’t have rights beck then. Woman couldn’t vote either, they had to stay home a cook and clean the house. Blacks had politically, economically, or socially problems in the mid to late 1800’s and earlier but now blacks are completely free and all this lead us to where our country is today.
Works Cited
1810, and 4 percent of blacks in the South. "Free negro - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2012.
"African American Odyssey." American Memory from the Library of Congress - Home Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2012.
Casey, Dave. "Slavery in America." Slavery in America. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2012.
"Northern Exclusion of Blacks." Slavery in the North. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2012.
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