Jennifer Alverson

SlaveryUS slavery, Abraham Lincoln, Reconstruction, and slavery today.

5th Grade Standards

SS5H1: Explain the major events of the Civil Ward: Describe the role of Abraham Lincoln

SS5H2: Analyzing the effects of Reconstructiona: Describe the purpose of the 13th, 14th,

and 15th

amendmentsc: Explain how slavery was replaced bysharecropping

SS5CG1: Explain how a citizen’s rights and freedom are protected under the Constitution

What Do You Know?

Mark these statements as true or false. 1. Abraham Lincoln believed all people to be equal.2. Abraham Lincoln believe in slavery.3. Being the President of the United States was Abraham

Lincoln’s only job.4. The Emancipation Proclamation was written at the beginning

of the Civil War.5. The Emancipation Proclamation freed all slaves.6. The Emancipation Proclamation was used as a threat towards

the Confederacy.7. The Emancipation Proclamation called for the immediate

freedom of slaves.8. Sharecropping was a way for newly freed slaves to survive

and make an income on their own.9. Sharecroppers were able to move and leave as they wanted.10. Some believe sharecropping is another form of slavery.11. Slavery no longer exists in the Untied States.

Abraham Lincoln Born in Kentucky into a “common” family, but he

moved to Indiana with his father after his mother died. He is known for being the President during the Civil

War and freeing the slaves. He was a farmer, store keeper, Captain in the Black

Hawk War, inventor, and legislature. Lost in a Senate race and won the Republican

nomination for Presidency in 1860. He created the National Banking system with

standardized currency. He loved animals and didn’t like to kill them even for

food. He was the first president to have a beard. He supposedly had a dream about dying.

Abraham Lincoln "Whenever I hear any one arguing for slavery I feel a

strong impulse to see it tried on him personally." The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume VIII, "Speech to One Hundred Fortieth Indiana Regiment" (March 17, 1865), p. 361.

"I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong. I can not remember when I did not so think, and feel." The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume VII, "Letter to Albert G. Hodges" (April 4, 1864), p. 281.

"I do but quote from one of those speeches when I declare that "I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so." Lincoln's First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1861.

Con’t…

"My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I shall believe doing more will help the cause." The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume V, "Letter to Horace Greeley" (August 22, 1862), p. 388.

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/gettysburgaddress.htm

Con’t…

"I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in anyway the social and political equality of the white and black races - that I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race. I say upon this occasion I do not perceive that because the white man is to have the superior position the negro should be denied everything." The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume III, "Fourth Debate with Stephen A. Douglas at Charleston, Illinois" (September 18, 1858), pp. 145-146.

The Emancipation Proclamation

Read with your partner the transcript of the Emancipation Proclamation and underline anything you find interesting or any new information.

The Emancipation Proclamation

Written the third year of the Civil War He waited until there was a Union Victory to issue

the threat to the Confederacy if a Union of States was not resolved.

“all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; “

Not all areas within the southern states were included.

“I recommend to them that, in all cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages.”

“will be received into the armed service of the United States “

Sharecropping During reconstruction former slaves could

“lease” land and supplies from former masters to have their “own” land.

They were suppose to be able to move and leave when they wanted.

Little of no payment of good and services, in constant debt to land owner, and could only buy from the land owner for supplies.

Some believe this to be another form of slavery.

Sharecropping A sharecropper’s contract “All cotton-seed raised on said land shall be held for the exclusive use of

said plantation, and no goods of any kind shall be kept for sale on any said land unless by consent of said lessor.”

“All cotton raised on said land is to be ginned on the gin of said lessor, on said plantation, and said lessee is to pay $4 per bale for ginning same.”

From a journal of a sharecroppers: “We got that and part of the corn we made. We made five bales of cotton but we did not get a pound of that. We made two or three hundred gallons of molasses and only got what we could eat. We made about eight-hundred bushel of potatoes; we got a few to eat. We split rails three or four weeks and got not a cent for that.”

“You all are not free yet and will not be until Congress sits, and you shall call every white lady 'missus' and every white man 'master.'“

“On the 18th of September I and eleven men and boys left that place and started for Shreveport. I had my horse along. My brother was riding him, and all of our things was packed on him. Out come about forty armed men (white) and shot at us and takin' my horse. “

http://www.knowla.org/entry.php?rec=738

Current Slavery in the US

Can be called forced labor, sweatshops, human trafficking, and the sex trade.

Legal slavery ended in the United States in 1865, yet the practice of forcing individuals to work against their will, oftentimes in inhumane conditions, continues today. Currently there are around 50,000 people working in forced labor situations in the United States (Bales 47). Forced Labor in the United States: A Contemporary Problem in Need of a Contemporary Solution By Chrissey Buckley

The Department of Justice has conducted more than 700 investigations into cases of alleged human trafficking since 2001, an increase of 600 percent over the previous six years. Last year, the Justice Department initiated 168 investigations, charged 111 defendants in 32 cases, and obtained 98 convictions involving human trafficking cases. News article from ABC News By RUSSELL GOLDMAN March 26, 2007

The Anti-Slavery Campaign has resulted in freedom for more than a thousand tomato and orange pickers held in debt bondage. They force labor on homeless and legal immigrant guest workers. CIW

Current Slavery in the US

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLzFJPAcqW0 Migrant workers in Florida

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfEtO00DSvI&feature=related child migrant workers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1aF4o8qsLo modern day slavery