Restrictions Imposed on Free Blacks in 1800′s
Introduction
The African American culture has been of great interest to a large number of studies. This is due to the unique and fascinating character and personality of its people. African Americans have a history and life experience that they alone fully understand. The civilization they experienced and the current social and economic pressures they endure are largely different from the more popular and highly researched lives of the Caucasians and Asians.
As a race, these people have suffered greatly in the long story of their existence, and until these days, it is still evident in the low treatment of the racist and narrow-minded groups of people that, for some people, is inevitable in the global community that is now shared all over the world. This is evident in the calls that concerned individuals and private institutions, foundations and sectors that address anti-racism and anti-discrimination in the national and international setting.
Racism was once blatant in the US. Slavery, lynching and the slaughter of Native Americans were all highly visible manifestations of racism committed with the sanction or even active participation of the authorities. Although overt manifestations of racism today would be unacceptable to the majority of US citizens, the country is still struggling with ongoing racial and ethnic divisions. Major steps taken over the past 50 years to end institutionalized racism have not eliminated the inequalities which many members of racial minorities continue to face in daily life. The black-white divide on racial matters is one of the most profound and enduring in American society. For decades, public opinion polls have shown that blacks and whites differ fundamentally as to what constitutes the race problem, how severe it is, and what to do about it.
Historical Review
The segregation and discrimination of the black urban community is the result of politics and economy in the mainstream history of the United States. It is also a given fact that the black community is in the side stream of America’s history. From 1450 – 1750, the North American continent experienced enormous changes. The European explorers ventured to what they called then as the “New World” in search of vast amounts of natural wealth. Corollary to these exploratory activities, these European explorers also traveled to Africa and began a trans-Atlantic slave trade. Millions of Africans were brought to the Americas and traded there as slaves. This mass movement of people led to a new social and economic system; with the color of the skin as a determining factor whether one would live as a slave or as a free citizen (, 1998).
The reasons for a slave-based agricultural economy in the South during the 18th and 19th centuries are two-fold. First, English entry into the African slave trade gave the Southern planters an opportunity to purchase slaves more readily and more cheaply than before. Cheap labor was what every tobacco or rice planter sought, and when the price of slave labor dipped below that of indentured labor, the demand for black slaves increased. Secondly, the supply of white servants from England began to dry up in the late seventeenth century, and those who did cross the Atlantic were spread among the growing colonies (, 2000). Furthermore, there were differences between how slavery was viewed and how slaves were utilized. For example, in the South during the 1700′s, slaves represented about one-fifth of the total population and were the backbone of the agricultural work force. In the South, slaves were considered to be property no different than their owners’ horses or cattle while in the North slaves oftentimes worked side by side with, or in the homes of, their owners (, 2000).
According to (1996), the story of international action against racial discrimination as of international action against many other evils, is that of the great effort to extend the rule of law. It is a highly political struggle, because it is about cajoling states to give up a little of their sovereignty. They are uncertain to do this unless they can get something in exchange. By complying with a convention they may be able to contribute to a cause they think important, to improve their image in the diplomatic world, or to put pressure on some other state of whose policies they disapprove.
Moreover, the geographic isolation of blacks undermines the power of pluralist politics and means that whites have less to gain when public funds and resources are channeled to all black areas and away from multiethnic communities. The isolation contributes to the disinvestment and decline in many urban black areas by making them vulnerable to cutbacks in public funds and services. White politicians are more apt to target black neighborhoods for spending cuts because of the minimal political fallout.
Political, Economic and Social Restrictions
Social inequality and racial collectivism in America did not only misplace and isolated the black community geographically but also crippled them in different aspects of their society. Such aspects are: economy, politics and culture. In 1793, the first Fugitive Slave Law was enacted by the US Congress along with an enforcement policy for Article IV, Section 2 of the United States Constitution highlighting the legislature that “people owing labor to others, such as slaves, are not discharged from that labor upon escape”. These laws along with other issues and problems on discrimination faced by Black Americans both slave and free resulted to their escape from America to the territories of Canada in particular (, 1999).
Through legal means black residents of the northern and northwestern states were deprived of their legal and civil rights by discouraging free and fugitives from settlement and encouraging residents to leave. These were constituted in the so-called “Black Codes” that presented restrictive regulations regarding immigration, residency, suffrage, militia service, education, jury duty, and testimony in court before the Civil War (, 1856). In the states of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, immigration and residency policies were more restrictive compared to other states of the Old Northwest that were designed to keep such states alone for the whites and made legal residency for the blacks difficult. They were asked to present requirements that include their proof of legal freedom as well as bonds that will guarantee their good behavior (, 1993).
Aside from explicit laws in the said states, the free states likewise maneuvered legal sanctions in an attempt to restrict immigration as most of the free black population live in the states that do not authorize their residence. In effect, many of the Old Northwestern states completely denied the blacks to actively participate in political matters such as election while other states mandated expensive residence and property requirements in order to vote eliminating the rights of the blacks to vote due to economic restrictions. Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire were the only states that provided black with equal voting rights along with whites. However, when Maine joined the Union in 1819, other states that applied for membership before the Civil War were mandated to give suffrage exclusively to whites as a national trend to restrict black participation in democratizing politics (, 1947).
Moreover, the blacks’ eligibility for civic duties like military services were also restricted and deprived of equal rights. In 1972, the Congress passed a bill summarizing that only white male citizens can enroll as regular US army member. As such, the northwestern states followed the congressional decree restricting militia services of blacks through their state constitutions. Indiana and Illinois, in particular, turned down black and other colored applicants for military services reserving the civic duties to ”able-bodied” whites. “Negroes, mulattos, and Indians” were practically eliminated due to ineligibility as candidates for military training. Other states such as Ohio and Michigan did not restrict blacks for military services; however, state legislatures were amended to keep the “whiteness” of their army (, 1947). There were also discriminatory practices in the field of education as states devised legal segregation of public school facilities, a trend initiated by the older northern states which was adapted by the northwestern states. In 1829, Ohio officially prohibited its public schools to blacks as separate schools were built under the 1848 law. Indiana and other states followed the same educational practice which has been the norm until after the Civil War (, 1993).
Racism within the justice system has been a prominent issue in American criminology for several decades. Many scholars have used both qualitative and quantitative data to document that the American criminal justice system is biased against black people and other racial minorities (, 1993; 1984; 1981). However, other researchers maintain that the empirical evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the American criminal justice system does not systematically discriminate against the members of racial minority groups (, 1987; , 1985).
Historically, blacks were also discriminated in practicing their legal rights. Majority of the free states did not allow testimonies of blacks as witnesses in judicial courts particularly in court hearings that involved whites. It was only the state of Massachusetts that allowed blacks to participate as jurors in court before the Civil War. In this light, blacks experience and were confronted with difficulties particularly in defending themselves during criminal accusations and allegations as well as disputes with whites due to misrepresentation practices in the judicial system making blacks almost powerless in court (, 1993).
While the debate continues to rage over the empirical evidence concerning racism in the American criminal justice system, the results regarding public perceptions of injustice are quite clear. In general, a large proportion of the racial minority population believe that the police and the courts discriminate against racial minorities, while most white Americans reject this charge. Indeed, several large American surveys have documented that racial minorities, especially black people, feel that the police and the courts favor white people and are biased against them (, 1988; , 1988;).
Racial discrimination against blacks was very evident between the 1830s and 1840s as racial riots took place in the localities of Ohio, New York, and Pennsylvania. They were beaten and their homes and churches were burned down, thereby making blacks flee from the North ( 1961). However, not all blacks in the North were convinced that migration is the solution in their less satisfactory living conditions rejecting emigration and colonization as answers to their social, economic and political discrimination in their belief that the United States is their home (, 1961; , 1965; , 1916). Black resident in Columbia and Pennsylvania in particularly, had strong beliefs in their reasons to stay in the US associating their claims of birth, lives, and freedom (, 1831; , 1831).
Despite the abolition of slavery after the 1800 revolution, blacks in the Northern and Northwestern States were confronted with economic, social, and political discrimination by federal, state, and local governments (, 1961; , 1967; , 1972). According to historical studies and researches, most of the blacks who escaped from America and went to Canada did not came from the South but were mostly people from the Northern States in search for freedom as well as economic and social advancement (, 1993; 1993; 1997).
The Civil War
The Civil War is considered as the largest historical event that extensively came into view in American public consciousness. As what was noted by (2000), over a hundred years after the first shot was fired, “its genesis is still fiercely debated and its symbols heralded and protested.” The Civil War shoved a great deal of reexamination on federalism, civil rights, and democratic-republicanism. As for people’s perception, the war translated the American regime from a federalist system based on freedom to a centralized state that circumscribed liberty in the name of public order.
On September 22, 1862, a proclamation was issued by President Lincoln ending any form of slavery within the State. The Emancipation Proclamation, which was issued during the Civil War era, formally freed all slaves held in areas still in revolt. It also strengthened the position of the Union government, and decreased the likelihood of European support of the Confederacy. However, this proclamation for many is just a hollow document that freed no slaves. To be in effect and legally-based, it would have to be followed by a constitutional amendment. However, the Emancipation Proclamation’s role as the ground breaking action to end slavery cannot be certainly undermined.
The Thirteenth Amendment which was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864, and ratified on December 6, 1865, put an end to slavery as a legal institution. Subsequently, the Fourteenth Amendment was approved to protect the freedman from the abrogation of his rights by the Southern states. It restricted the States from denying every citizen his fundamental rights. This amendment also dictates the State to give all persons equal protection and due process of law. It is important because it establishes the principles of state legislation in privileges and immunities of citizenship, due process, and equal protection for all.
In 1870, the congress passed another amendment, the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, because there seems to be insufficiency on the decree that the Fourteenth Amendment dictates. This Fifteenth Amendment primarily aims to eradicate racial violence in the South by providing additional constitutional protection for the black electorate.
The Civil War has significantly and enormously influenced the centralization and nationalization of the American federal system. It settled incessantly the national concern over whether a state could constitutionally separate from the Union. The Northern states wanted a centralized government while on the other hand; Southern states wanted a decentralized form. In depth analysis depicted that slavery is was one of the primary reasons for these contradicting concerns.
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