One of our past class discussions was about the reconstruction of black servitude after the Civil War. We focused a lot about the sharecropping system being one of the results. However, the documentary, SlaveryBy Another Name, was mentioned by Professor Morgan to further explain the reconstruction.
The documentary went in such detail about what the blacks went through after the Civil War and it really surprised me. I had no idea that the Southerns went through so much just to get the blacks back to slavery as close as they could. For example, there was convict leasing, peonage (like debt servitude), and sharecropping. A lot of blacks were arrested for things they did not do, just so the Southerns could use them as labor. I felt so horrible while watching this documentary because I have been blind to what really happened to blacks after the Civil War. They most definitely were not free. I would have to say that some of the blacks were treated worse when they were considered “free” rather than when they were actually slaves. I highly recommend those who have not seen this documentary to watch it.
You can can watch the documentary online at the following website: http://www.pbs.org/tpt/slavery-by-another-name/watch/
I didn't realize how much black people went through after the civil war to truly become free, not just in legal cases, but in the eyes of the nation.
ReplyDeleteCamille Cole
I also watched the documentary and didn't realize the brutality after. I was involved in the public and charter school system growing up where they never expressed just how awful things were for blacks after the war. I also took it pretty hard while watching the documentary. I cannot imagine how human beings can do that to others. Like it says at the end of the documentary, I hope someday those who suffered and died will get justice.
ReplyDeleteHeather Bennion
It's very interesting to me to hear about the struggle blacks went through after the Civil War in a fairly neutral setting. I grew up in the South, and while our textbooks did take the view of painting the South as the bad guys, we students felt resentment because there is still an accusatory element. Whites in the South often feel like we will never be forgiven for what happened in the past. However, this class I felt has done an excellent job of showing the North's role in it all as well, so I feel better represented as a Southerner in the matter. Being here in Utah where there is less accusation or defense on either side has given me a new perspective. I do feel horrible for what has happened to blacks in our nation's history, but I feel like I shouldn't have to defend myself as a Southern white. I feel like we as a nation should focus on what we can do now to fix the problems of the world and stop focusing on the horrors of our past. While what happened to blacks was terrible, it can't be undone. But we have the ability to fix things that are happening now, and I believe we should focus our energy on that.
ReplyDeleteKaitlin Cooper
For White Southerners, slavery was a way of life, they depended on it, their economy depended on it, everything in the South depended on the institution of slavery. The conclusion of the Civil War and the legal end to slavery, the White Southern way of life was put in jeopardy. Since they could not function without slavery and slavery was illegal, they simply changed the terms they attached to this harsh institution of servitude. Sharecropping, convict leasing, and peonage were all forms of slavery just by different names. Whites were able to maintain their lifestyle but setting up these systems which suppressed Blacks and prevented them from leaving the South or becoming financially independent of White plantation owners. This kind of history offers evidence to argue in favor of equal opportunity programs for Blacks. Whites forced Blacks into debt and broke apart families establishing a precedent for Black behavior. Through social reinforcement this pattern has repeated itself, entrenching many modern-day Blacks in a cultural heritage of poverty, as a result of racist practices, that they cannot get out of.
DeleteElise Mercer
I also had the opportunity to watch this documentary and was absolutely shocked by the cruelty towards blacks at the time. I think we all grew up with the mentality that when slaves were freed, they lived peachy lives and were given work and greater opportunities. This documentary demonstrates the true brutality of such former slaves. Sharecropping was in a sense more worse than slavery itself. I think the idea that ex-slaves were given their freedom and then to basically have it taken back through sharecropping and easy felony-charge was very difficult for them to grasp. What a hard life! I was shocked by the desperateness of whites at the time; they did everything they could to get around the laws.
ReplyDeleteSamantha Clyde