SLAVERY IN THE U.S.

• Slaves are people who are owned, or bought, by other people.

• People in America owned slaves, who were brought to the U.S. from Africa, until 1865.

• Some think that only white people owned slaves, but this is untrue. Surprisingly, free blacks also owned African slaves.

• Around the 1850s, tension about slavery began to rise because some believed it was okay, but others believed it was wrong.

•Plans for the building of an actual slave-carrying ship

•Slaves were brought to America on ships and were often forced to stay in chains below deck without fresh air for the entire journey across the ocean. They were not allowed above deck, even to go to the bathroom.

•Slaves were bought, sold, and traded in slave markets.

•Many slave masters abused their power and beat or tortured their workers mercilessly.

•This slave from Louisiana took 2 months to recover from his whipping.

A slave market in Atlanta, Georgia in 1864

Slaves were not allowed to live in the main house with their owners. They lived in separate “shack” homes called the “slave quarters”.

• Although not true for all people living in these regions, the North was predominantly against slavery, while the South was predominantly for slavery.

•Dark Green = free states

•Light Green = free territories

•Dark Pink = slave importing states

•Light Pink = slave exporting states

•South depended on slavery because of agricultural society/lifestyle

• America fought the Civil War, which lasted 4 years, from 1861-1865. A civil war is when people who are all citizens of the same country fight amongst themselves.

• The North fought the South, and the North won.•With the North’s winning the war and help from president Abraham Lincoln, slavery was abolished (outlawed) in 1865.

SEGREGATION IN THE U.S.

•Even though slavery had been over for years, separation of blacks and whites was still legal.

•Legal segregation of the races forced blacks to have separate facilities in public places.

•These separate facilities were labeled “white” and “colored”.

•Notice the difference between the white and colored water fountains. From which one would you rather drink?

• Many began to see that segregation was unfair, so blacks and many whites began to protest against it.

• Some situations were so dangerous that armed forces even had to be brought in to help the races mix.

• Some white people were so upset that blacks were climbing the social ladder that they hung black people simply because of their skin color. These were called lynchings.

• They even formed dangerous groups that were purposefully harmful to black people. One well-known group is the Ku Klux Klan (KKK).

• Lynchings and segregation happened most frequently in the South.

• Along with RACIAL TENSION, another problem was plaguing America……

•The economy was so bad and there was so little money in the 1930s that people all across the United States could not find jobs.

•No job = no money to buy a house, pay for gas, buy a car, or pay for food.

•People could not take care of their families.

• A problem that made this even worse was the dust bowl, which occurred in the farms of the Southern plains.

• There was so little rain that the ground, along with the crops, literally turned to dust.

• No crops could be grown without water. This means no food and no money for many people, which led to extreme poverty, making the depression even worse.

• People were so poor, both black and white, that they were forced to live in communities of shack houses called “Hoovervilles”, named after president Hoover.

America’s history of slavery, segregation, prejudice, and depression set the stage for the social conditions of ………

Written by Harper Lee in 1960

A novel about young children who have to grow up fast

HARPER LEE•Grew up in Monroeville, Alabama.

•Lived during the period of segregation and depression

•Studied law at University of Alabama

•Never published another novel

•TKAM is loosely based on her life as a child in a conservative, southern town.

To Kill a Mockingbird

•Takes place in Maycomb, Alabama

•1930s

•Middle class family

•High tension between blacks and whites

Scout Finch, a 6 year old girl, and her older brother, Jem Finch

Atticus Finch, Scout and Jem’s father, who raises the children because their mother is dead and is a lawyer

Dill Boo Radley

•Jem and Scout’s neighborhood friend

•Spends every summer with his aunt who lives next door to the Finch family

•Quiet neighbor of Scout and Jem

•The chidren have never met him and try many different ways to get him to come outside

Tom Robinson

•Accused by Bob Ewell of raping and beating Mayella

•Defended by Atticus Finch

Mayelle Ewell

•Bob Ewell’s daughter