Evolving Definitions of Freedom Thematic Essay #2DATA COLLECTION SHEET #2

Dimensionof Freedom

Notes: (What freedoms? Who has these freedoms? Why do they have these freedoms?)

Evidence (Quote, Title of Document, Date, Author, Author’s Title):

Evidence Explanation:

EconomicFreedom

Slavery stood at the foundation of the southern economy – no slavery = altered conception or understanding of freedom – previously conveyed mastership – the power to do as they (slave masters) please w/ other men, and the product of other men’s labor. Many lost not only their slaves, but also their life savings.

The War opened new doors of opportunity for women – moved into jobs in factories and into certain largely male professions (nursing)

Many former slaves insisted that through their unpaid labor, they had acquired a right to the land.

Freedmen’s Bureau est. to build schools, provide aid to former slaves and settle disputes between whites and blacks.

The vast majority of rural freedpeople remained poor and without property – they had no alternative but to work on white owned plantations, often for their former masters.

Sharecropping – allowed each black family to rent a part of a plantation, with the crop divided between worker and owner at the end of the year.

Southern white women – absence of slaves = having to work – unable to rely on family support – over lost their husbands to the war – many became teachers.

“Education was the next best thing to liberty.”(Mississippi freedmen)

“left many families struggling to make ends meet.”(Mothers of Invention, Faust)

Former slaves exhibited a deep desire for education.

Dimensionof Freedom

Notes: (What freedoms? Who has these freedoms? Why do they have these freedoms?)

Evidence (Quote, Title of Document, Date, Author, Author’s Title):

Evidence Explanation:

PoliticalFreedom

Emancipation Proclamation – allowed black soldiers to enlist in the Union army.

Women’s continuing lack of the vote seem all the more humiliating as their involvement in war work increased.

The destruction of slavery (13th Amendment) made the definition of freedom the central question on the nation’s agenda.

14th Amendment – guarantee freedpeople full rights as citizens (reversed the Dred Scott decision)

Black codes – laws passed by the new southern states to regulate or control the lives of former slaves – denied blacks the right to testify against whites, to serve on juries, or in state militias, or to vote.

15th Amendment – declared the right of U.S. citizens to vote could “not be abridged or denied” by any state “on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”

“henceforth shall be free” (Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863)

“propelling women into public life”(Mothers of Invention, Faust)

“Slavery was not abolished until the black man has the ballot.” (Frederick Douglass)

The EP liberated slaves in Confederate territory – approximately 3 million men, women, and children now free – set the stage for the end of slavery throughout the nation.

Political participation was essential to being free – hope in securing additional rights.

After the war, southern white women increasingly participate in women’s organizations.

Dimensionof Freedom

Notes: (What freedoms? Who has these freedoms? Why do they have these freedoms?)

Evidence (Quote, Title of Document, Date, Author, Author’s Title):

Evidence Explanation:

PersonalFreedom

Former slaves no longer required a pass from their owner to travel, left the plantations in search of better jobs, family members or simply a taste of personal liberty.

Former slaves changed their names and wore brightly colored outerwear, fancy hats, ornate parasols, and elegant veils – rid themselves of the various symbols attached to their enslavement.

Dimensionof Freedom

Notes: (What freedoms? Who has these freedoms? Why do they have these freedoms?)

Evidence (Quote, Title of Document, Date, Author, Author’s Title):

Evidence Explanation:

ReligiousFreedom

Former slaves now freely able to hold mass meetings and religious services.

Free black churches strengthened, expanded, freed from white supervision.

Black abandoned white controlled religious institutions to create churches of their own.

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