Assignment 8 - Discussion Board: Reconstruction and the Face of Freedom in

the South:

The attitude of plantation owners towards former slaves was different depending the
place. The northern views of the slavery were that most white northerners viewed
blacks as inferior; northern states severly limited the rights of free African Americans
and discouraged or prevented the migration of more, there was a minority of
northerners called abolitionists who were vocal about ending slavery; Abolitionists
believed slavery was morally wrong, some favored a gradual end to slavery, while
others wanted to outlaw it all at once but not all northerners wanted to end slavery,
people who made a lot of money on southern crops were sympathetic to plantation
owners; also workers in low-paying jobs worried that freed slaves would come north
and compete with them for work.

On the other hand, slavery was an integral part of southern life. They believed that
God intended that black people should provide the labor for the white “civilized”
society. Many southern politicians, journalists, and economists began to argue that
the northern free labor system harmed society more than slavery did. Many southern
politicians, journalists, and economists began to argue that the northern free labor
system harmed society more than slavery did.

The 13th (1865), 14th (1868), and 15th Amendments (1870) were the first
amendments made to the U.S. constitution in 60 years. Known collectively as the
Civil War Amendments, they were designed to ensure the equality for recently
emancipated slaves. The Jim Crow laws were a collection of state and local statutes
that legalized racial segregation. Named after a black minstrel show character, the
laws, which existed for roughly 100 years, from the post-Civil War era to 1968, were
intended to marginalize African Americans by denying them the right to vote, hold
jobs. , get an education or others. . opportunities. Those who tried to defy Jim Crow
laws often faced arrests, fines, jail sentences, violence, and death.

Plessy v. Ferguson was a landmark 1896 decision of the United States Supreme
Court that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the “separate but
equal” doctrine. The case originated from an 1892 incident in which
African-American train passenger Homer Plessy refused to sit in a black carriage.
Rejecting Plessy's argument that his constitutional rights were violated, the Supreme
Court ruled that a law that "simply implies a legal distinction" between whites and
blacks was not unconstitutional. As a result, restrictive Jim Crow legislation and
separate public facilities based on race became commonplace.

Sources: History.com