emancipation proclamation

A detailed Summary of emancipation proclamation

After President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, former slaves took on a new role in American society. This role was one of more significance and self worth than in slavery, but this class of freedmen was anything but appreciated.

Without the manpower of the slaves, the south's agricultural society would fail, and without the agriculture there would be little money or food in the south.

The passing of the Louisiana Black Code in 1865, confirmed that whites felt as if blacks could not handle the responsibility or the rights of true citizens. Whites thought they did not deserve these rights because they were inferior to themselves and simply less than human. These restrictions were so harsh; it is, as slavery had never ended. The blacks were free, however many of the negroes everyday rights were abolished. Section 3, of the Louisiana Black Code states "No negro shall be permitted to rent or keep a house within said parish." Section 9 declares that "No negro shall sell, barter, or exchange any articles of merchandise or traffic within said parish." And one of the worst of these codes is in Section 4 of the Louisiana Black Code. "Every negro is required to be in the regular service of some white perso

Blacks soon develop a sense of freedom and want to create lives for themselves. They do not want to remain in a place and continue to be employed by those who previously treated them as animals. Mr. Lewis, a former slave, tells a planters wife, Mrs. Henry, I want to move away and feel ontirely free and see what I cen do by myself." Even kind masters, like the Henry's, lost many slave due to the want and need of freedom. (Doc 2) Charles Davenport stated "Freedom meant us could leave where us'd been born and bred, but it meant, too, dat us had to scratch for our ownselves." (Doc 5) Outsiders made independence nearly impossible though. The sharecropping system, in which most had worked before, was still the only employment available and certainly the only work blacks knew as familiar. Rural merchants tried to give blacks a chance for employment, but often forced them into a position where they would sharecrop. (Boyer, 520)

n, or former owner, who shall be held responsible for the conductor of said negro." (Doc 1) This was basically returning payed-slavery. Many blacks remained on these farms and plantations because they did not know what else they could do after emancipation. However, now they were being forced into staying because few knew anything other than farming. In December of 1865, Congress voted to stamp out these codes. Testimony to the southern white sentiment showed what would have happened if states were allowed to employ their own laws in regards to slavery. (Boyer, 503)

While vast improvements of the social rights of blacks were made, most political

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Approximate Word count = 1070
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History