Slavery

An examination of African-American culture from 1850-1990 begins with blacks still in slavery. Although the slave trade was outlawed in 1807, slavery itself existed until the 1860s, leaving a legacy of poverty and racial injustice. Slavery was not limited to the South, although it was most widespread there. However, conditions in the South, where the vast majority of colonial African-Americans lived, were more severe than in other regions. Laws known as slave codes made it illegal to teach a slave to read or write, helping a slave better himself. In addition, these slave codes also made it illegal for slaves to gather in large groups, carry weapons, marry whites, protect their spouses, or defend themselves against whites. Harsh punishment was common. A former slave recalls a beating by an overseer, ôWith a steady hand and practiced eye he would ra

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gainst segregation in public places, unconstitutional. Individual Southern states quickly followed suit by passing laws that separated blacks from whites in different situations, called ôJim Crowö laws. In Plessy v Ferguson, blacks tested the Fourteenth Amendment, which was suppose to prevent the states from denying them their rights. In his decision on the case, Justice Henry Billings Brown destroyed the last hope of African-Americans for protection under the Fourteenth Amendment by insisting that blacks had not lost equal protection under the law if they were provided with separate but equal facilities. Color-conscious policies such as Jim Crow laws and the Supreme CourtÆs decision in Plessy had a profound impact on generations of African-Americans: ôa racially conscious society has made color seem an important part of the individualÆs very essence . . . as a result, the black individual may come, in the end, to hate even himselfö (Boxill 12). As the exodus of blacks from the South continued because of repressive Jim Crow laws, Northern whites began to react with hostility. Violence against blacks increased to the point where a significant number were lynched. In many cases the victims were innocent but were hanged by mo
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Approximate Word count = 2374
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)