To Be A Slave

1. To Be A Slave p. 144-152 After Emancipation By, Brian, Kevin, Shaun, Mark and Teddy

2. Road To Freedom One day in April of the year 1861, the civil war began. Very soon after the war had commenced, slaves had started to leave their owners and travel all the way north to join the northern army. President Lincoln had given strict instructions to all commanders of the army to return the slaves back to their owners. Once they did so, at least twice more had come to join from another direction. It didn't take long for many other slaves to come, so instead of returning the determined slaves, they were put to work. Either they were cooks or laborers which got paid their earnings, unlike the work they did for free on their owners farms. "Daddy was down to the creek. He jumped right in the water up to his neck. He was So happy he just kept on scoopin' up handfulls of water and dumpin' it on his head and yellin', "I'se free! I'se free! I'se free!" Louisa Bowes Rose The Negro in Virginia, p.208

3. When Freedom Came When the civil war ended in April of 1865, the battle grounds of the war were full of dead and wounded soldiers from the north and the south. Slavery was abolished and slaves, now free African Americans, sang out in joy. Many celebrated with each other, but others started to travel on a journey to find family members that were sold away from them during the slave period. Also, many African Americans were worried about how to stay alive. This was a big issue because they were not paid for the work they did on the plantations and didn't have money to to working as a farmer or something else. This was one of the most challenging parts of freedom. "It seem like it took a long time for freedom to come. Everything just kept on like it was. We heard that lots of slaves was getting land and mules to set up for their selves. I never knowed any what got land or mules nor nothin'. " Mittie Freeman Library of Congress

4. The Ku Klux Klan Once the slaves were freed they were targeted by the ku klux klan.The Ku Klux Klan was organized right after the civil war in 1866. The former slave trader and confederate general, Nathan Bedford Forrest became the head of the Ku Klux Klan. He became one of the main instruments in keeping blacks from having their rights. "After us colored folks were considered free the KKK broke out." -Pierce Harper "First time they came into my momma's house at midnight and claim they was soldiers done came back from dead. They all dress up in sheets and make up like spirit." -Anonymous

5. Return to Segregation After the civil war slavery continued but instead of calling it slavery it was called segregation. The north refused to ensure slavery again in the south but it was inevitable although they won it through the four years of brutal war. They started to restrict the movement of blacks and certain activities of the blacks. "Two snakes full of poison. one lying with his head pointing north, the other with his head pointing south. their names was slavery and freedom. The snake called slavery lay with his head pointed south and the snake called freedom lat with his head pointed north. Both bit the nigger and they was both bad." PASTY MICHENER Library of Congress

6. Emancipation Proclamation The legacy of slavery has been bitter and in the 103 years since the end of the civil war little has been done to alleviate the bitterness. Much of that bitterness was reflected in some of the interviews conducted by the Federal Writers' Project in the 1930's. Seventy years after the end of the end civil war, some ex-slaves expressed attitudes and feelings, which, if anyone had bothered to listen, once more gave the lie to the stereotype of the happy slave, of the slave freed by the Emancipation Proclamation and accepted as a man equal to any other.