Civil War
Being a southern slave was a traumatic experience for a man who had once held hope of becoming a family man, with children who could carry forward his name and that of his forefathers. To make a bad situation worse, the civil war in the area made it life difficult and hard to predict for slaves. More laws werecreated that derived the black man’s freedom (Faust 65). In time, one is able to experience how people slowly became the property of others. For example, when one black man wasbrought to court with the offense of running away, the black man wassentenced to live in slavery. The white servants werejustgiven a few additional years. In time, slavery and racism crushed the hope of black people regaining their freedom.
Slavery was very challenging for the people who were unfortunate to experience it. People may become very disappointed with American history at the time because of how they treated slaves. However, the civil war was the turning point of the poor treatment of slave. The experience took them through the dark period up to the brighter days when blacks were and treated as equal citizens (Faust 68). Social justice for the slaves was hard to come by, but with time, people will forget the past and move one.
Black slaves source, Humphreys (2008).
In the early years of colonization and slavery, the main problem that the Americans faced was to try and make the natives of whichever country they visited to adjust to the new and, in their eyes, more civilized ways of handling issues and general way of life that was much better (Humphreys 436). The problem arose when the natives refused and could not leave their traditions and cultures, some of which were too backward and without any foundation, to focus towards the new ways.
These populations agreed to leave their ways and adopt the prescribed ways and religion by the Americans werenowsaid to be civilized. Thus, before they invaded the African, South American and the Middle Eastern regions for their resources, they viewed themselves as the only civilized areas and countries in the world, and to a huge extent they were right (Slavery and the making of America n.d.).
It is a common believe that the Americans werejustified to enslave Africans. However, this is a misconception. The easiest way to have a clear distinction of people falling in these groups would be to look at how they interacted in the onset with the colonizers and within themselves. The colonizers themselves behaved more savagely than the Africans who werethought to be uncivilized (Humphreys 450). Even when the African slaves practiced Christianity, their masters treated them in the same way although it is wrong according to Christian practices. The American also utilized their slaves as a defence mechanism during the War. Lack of participation would result to death and severe punishment. For instance, food shortage wasused to make the slaves participate. If they did not, they weredenied food (Food Shortagesnn.d.).
The difference between the civilized and the enlightened is primarily the fact that the civilized had information and were very active as far as the industrialization wasconcerned. The enlightened ones went a step further to realize that the environment played a part in the industrialization and thus took extra measures in its protection, alongside the industrialization process (Humphreys 440). This Civil War is important in African contemporary history because it is useful in history. The Scramble for Africa was the name given to the huge race and the actual scramble by the big and more industrialized countries of the world for the still relatively young nations and the countries that are less developed, mostly in Africa. The scramble for the African continent involved the invasion, occupation, colonization and slavery of the target countries.
The civil war was a stepping stone for the American Political superiority. After the war, the federal government and the presidential powers and influence increased significantly. The slavery dynamics also changed to a great extent. During the civil war, prejudice, discrimination and other vices developed. In this period, the Black slaves weretreated poorly and segregated from the white society (Faust 80). The participation of slave in the civil war led to acceptance of racial equality after the war wasended. People became loyal to the United States of America rather than their own states.
In conclusion, being a southern slave was a traumatic experience for a man who had once held hope of becoming a family man with children who could carry forward his name and that of his forefathers. More laws werecreated that derived the black man’s freedom. In time, one is able to experience how people slowly became the property of others. However, the civil war was the turning point of the poor treatment of slave. The experience took them through the dark period up to the brighter days when blacks were and treated as equal citizens. The participation of slave in the civil war led to acceptance of racial equality after the war wasended.
Works Cited
Faust, Drew Gilpin. This republic of suffering: death and the American Civil War. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2008. Print.
Humphreys, Macartan, and Jeremy M. Weinstein. “Who Fights? The Determinants Of Participation In Civil War.” American Journal of Political Science 52.2 (2008): 436-455. Print.
“Research Article: Food Shortages.” BookRags.BookRags, n.d. Web. 3 Dec. 2013. <http://www.bookrags.com/research/food-shortages-aaw-02/>.
Slavery and the making of America.Dir. Dante J. James.Perf. Morgan Freeman. Distributed by Ambrose Video Pub., 2004.DVD.
