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The abolition of slavery in the United States did eliminate the power structures that contributed to the oppression of African-Americans. The primary source which is going to be discussed illustrates both legal and illegal ways of exploiting black workers. This paper is aimed at examining the strategies which were used to control these people. Moreover, one should focus on black resistance to these policies.
Overall, it is possible to say at the beginning of the twentieth century, African-American people living in the South had to struggle with the legacies of slavery because they did not have any legal representation and there were no resources that could help them gain economic independence from their former owners. This is the main argument that should be closely examined.
First of all, one should speak about contract labor laws according to which black people were obliged to work at a plantation for a certain period. Moreover, the government used force in order to prevent a sharecropper from leaving.
For example, one can mention that the runaway laborers could be hunted down by bloodhounds. Apart from that, these people could be beaten by their employers. Thus, there were both legal and illegal ways of controlling these people. One should take into account that these events take place after the abolition of slavery. This is one of the main issues that should be considered.
Furthermore, it is important to remember that sharecropping system implied that black labors could eventually become indebted to the employees.
Therefore, they were tied to the workplace. The author of this text notes that virtually every year laborers could “come out in debt to their employer” (“A Georgia Sharecropper’s Story of Forced Labor” unpaged). To a great extent, this system resulted in the creation of a vicious circle which drove many people back to slavery.
Apart from that, black people did not have many opportunities for resisting this oppression. First of all, one should mention that they had practically no legal representation, and it was virtually impossible for them to protect their rights in the court. One should keep in mind some policy-makers were interested in the preservation of sharecropping system.
Moreover, many African-American laborers had practically no resources or skills. Therefore, they had no alternative but to work at the plantations. This is how the author describes the experience of black people, “we had only our ignorance, our poverty and our empty hands” (“A Georgia Sharecropper’s Story of Forced Labor” unpaged).
This is why they decided to go back to their work. Certainly, they did try to escape from their employers, but their living conditions did not improve significantly.
On the whole, these examples suggest that the abolition of slavery did not bring significant improvements into the lives of black people, because there were legal and economic mechanisms which prevented from integrating into the society. Much attention should be paid to the contracts which forced black people to work for their employers. Moreover, local legislators were not interested in helping African-Americans.
Apart from that, these people did not have resources or education that could give him economic self-sufficiency. By looking at the experiences of black people during this period, one can better understand the legacies of slavery. This is one of the points that can be made.
Works Cited
A Georgia Sharecropper’s Story of Forced Labor ca. 1900. Web.
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