Consequences of Abolition on Ex-Slaves Term Paper

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His disappointment with Emancipation was the same felt by many black slaves. He realized just how severe the conditions were that faced many ex-slaves, and the lack of opportunities that actually existed for most slaves that were uneducated and unsupported by strong leaders in the U.S. judicial system. For this reason Douglass was among many that eventually stepped up to the plate to argue in favor of equality for all black citizens.

Race prejudice was a widespread problem in the United States at the time that the 13th amendment was passed. Just because the government had enacted legislation making slavery illegal, didn't mean that the majority of the people living in the United States accepted that ex-slaves should have the right to the same freedoms as whites did. Many whites including plantation owners and ex-slave owners still believed that ex-slaves were less informed and ignorant of the ways of the world.

Ex-slaves were discriminated against in many ways. There were separate schools established for ex-slaves such as the one that Booker T. Washington attended (Moller, 2004). Even with some form of education most freed slaves were left with jobs that were below average. Some worked in mines and other harsh and dangerous conditions. Many were poor and could not find useful work to cover their basic expenses. Others worked in maintenance but still faced a life that entailed being considered a second class citizen.

Many ex-slaves set about pursuing land and homes, which they found incredibly difficult in the world that existed after abolition. Many freed slaves lived in sub-standard conditions.

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They did not have the same opportunities that whites had to earn a living and get paid fair wages for good jobs. Thus many struggled in poverty like conditions.

Conclusions

The state of affairs in the United States after the passage of the 13th amendment was largely unsettled. Abolition, though it did free slaves from the bondage of slavery, did not result in a life of freedom and justice for all for the many people it affected, at least not in the earliest stages of Emancipation. For many ex-slaves, life outside the plantation or outside of slavery in general was not as promising as one might assume. Many ex-slaves upon being freed realized that they would face even more hardships before opportunities came their way.

The country at the time of abolition still held very deeply ingrained negative views of African-Americans, and many ex-slaves faced a nation that was largely prejudiced and discriminatory in nature. Few ex-slaves had good opportunities to find decent jobs, and most had no land or poorly constructed houses to live in after being 'freed.'

It would take several years before some strong leaders emerged that recognized the problems that Emancipation had brought onto the population of ex-slaves living in the United States. It wasn't enough to simply free slaves from slavery. The next step would be establishing equality and a judicial body that represented and understood the needs of ex-slaves not as second class citizens, but as equal members of society......

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