Freedoms and Emancipation
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Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclomation
The clash between abolitionists in the North and slaveholders in the South was a contributing factor in the outbreak of the Civil War.
The Second Confiscation Act, passed shortly after the first, gave the president the authority to recruit black men for the Union army.
Although freedom was given to those who fought, it was considered a reward, not an intrinsic right.
Objections to slavery existed in the early colonial period. But opposition to slavery did not develop into an organized effort until the age of the Revolutionary War.
The Second Confiscation Act, passed shortly after the first, gave the president the authority to recruit black men for the Union army. Although freedom was given to those who fought, it was considered a reward, not an intrinsic right.
In 1863, the nature of the Civil War shifted. On January 1st of that year, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing slaves in the Confederate states.
African Americans by aiding former slaves who desired to build schools and churches, to purchase land, to formalize marriages, and to reunite with lost loved ones.
Many slaves relocated to the north. However, most freed men and women remained in the South, where they were pressed into sharecropping.
Whites could win custody of black children and put them to work, were little more than an alternative form of enslavement.
African-American men not only voted, but also ran for and were elected to offices, actually gaining the majority in the South Carolina legislature in 1868.
As late as 1850, the federal census recorded that there were still hundreds of young blacks in Pennsylvania, who would remain enslaved until their 28th birthdays.
The Codes explicitly denied blacks the right to vote, limited their freedom of movement, and criminalized behavior.
There were skilled jobs which Africans did such as carpenters, coopers,blacksmiths, potters, sugar boilers.
The Declaration of Independence not only declared the colonies free of Britain, but it also helped to inspire Vermont to abolish slavery in its 1777 state constitution.
The Underground Railroad helped thousands to escape to freedom and their vociferousness helped to define Northern attitudes toward slavery.
Three years later, whites in the Tennessee legislature enacted a set of laws that replaced slavery with segregation.
Questions
Was there a minimum amount of years that a slave could serve?
Slaves would serve until they were 28, then they
were freed, but they could be kidnapped and sold back to slavery.
How would they be freed?
Many slaves became free through manumission, the voluntary emancipation of a slave by a slave owner. Or when a slave owner was close to death he/she would grant a young slave freedom and maybe even some land.
Were people allowed to buy slaves just to free them
Of course slave owners were allowed free their slaves since they had payed for them but it was the equivalent of throwing away money since that freed slave would most likely be kidnapped and returned to slavery shortly after.
Could they be freed?
Slaves were allowed to be freed by their rightful owner if they so chose. Once a slave was under the ownership of a slave owner they were permitted to do what they wished with the slave.
Could freed slaves free other slaves free other slaves?
Some free black people in this country bought and sold other black people, and did so at least since 1654, continuing to do so right through the Civil War.
Was there a punishment for capturing a freed slave?
The passage of the 1793 Fugitive Slave Act, fueled a huge and vastly profitable underground industry that took full advantage of the inferior legal status of free and enslaved blacks. The law made it possible for a white person to claim any black person as a fugitive, and placed the burden of proof on the captive. Free blacks living in Philadelphia, Cincinnati, and other cities near the borders of slave states were especially vulnerable
Was there punishment for ripping a freedmans slave documents?
Yes, but often there is no evidence of the
sort happening, meaning the punishment
couldn't come into the playing field.
Were slave owners allowed to hurt and kill their slaves?
Of course a slave owner was allowed to kill a slave - but since slaves cost money, they would be throwing their money away. The slave owner determined how healthy his slave would be. Of course, a healthy slave did more labor than an unhealthy slave. It would be highly unusual for a slave to be off the owner's property but if a neighbor happened to kill a slave, then YES - he would need to pay the owner for the cost of the slave.
What were the freedom requirements?
Slaves would be freed when they hit the age of
28, then the owner would have to allow it. From
there, the owner would have to organize many
documents to address the freedom of the
former slave