How free were Africans in the North?

How free were Africans in the North?

By: Elias Dorsey

Authors Note: This piece is about how Africans were free in the north but many of the luxuries and privileges that Caucasian people had.

            In 1865 the Civil War ended freeing most African Americans in the north and south. The treaty ending it officially was signed in Appomattox in April of the year. Slavery was abolished, but was racism? The answer was no. Racism was still very much alive, in the south and in the north. One question remains though. How free were Africans in the north really? The North fought to extinguish slavery, and won, but were Africans really “free” even after the war? The answer is yes, but it is also no at the same time. Sure they couldn’t be slaves anymore, but they were extremely restricted.

For example, they were free, but not enough to go to the same restaurants as Caucasian people. They were free, but not so much as to be able to marry a person outside of their own race. They were free, but not so far as to be able to vote. They had no say in what was going to become a law or who would be the next president.  No participation at all in government whatsoever. Why did they fight to end slavery only to restrict African people’s say in what’s best for the country?

Furthermore, they had little to no economic freedom. They barely offered jobs to African Americans, if not never. They couldn’t buy land or even own land in the northern states that fought for their freedom. One of the few ways they could own land was if they were slaves then they had worked for their master long enough. Then they were released and given a small amount of land. Other than that it was really hard for them to get a job and support any other family members that they might’ve had.

Lastly, they were separated from everybody and treated as outcasts. Just because their skin was a different color. There were different places that they could and couldn’t go and everything was totally separated. This was because we were different and they didn’t want to accept change in their society. Eventually though they did/had to. So I guess I’m thankful for that

In conclusion I think that they weren’t ever really free enough to even be classified that way. So the answer to the how free were Africans in the north question is, no. No they were not, because they didn’t have the rights that Caucasians had neither did they have the luxuries that they did.