- Moderator
- #261
It most certainly was.....what other form of slavery kidnapped people in the MILLIONS and shipped them across vast expanses of ocean with the high percentage who died thrown overboard? What other form of slavery took away their native NAMES, RELIGION, CULTURE, LANGUAGE? What other form of slavery based it on race right down to one-drop thru the mother? What other form of slavery had breeding plantations for centuries, sold families apart for centuries?
CENTURIES, really CENTURIES?
The United States was formed in 1775. The end of the Civil War, officially freeing the slaves was 1865. Slavery in the United States existed for less than 100 years. 90 years to be precise.
And what year could they finally vote, eat where they wanted to, buy a home where they wanted to, ride in the front of a bus and not give up seats to whites?
I love how slavery is looked at as ancient history. The lasting effects happened in my life time.
Why is this so hard to understand?
In the context of world history, slavery in America is not "ancient". Some of the same so called "patriots" who proudly state that America is a "young country" should realize that. As far as the right to vote, yes, the 15th amendment was passed in 1869, however it was ratified several times which made it practically impossible for potential black voters to vote in almost 3/4 of the states at that time and practically all of the southern states. Furthermore, acts of intimidation such as threats of lynching and other forms of violence
affected turnout of black voters.
So no, 1869 was not a "magical year" when black citizens although "free" just casually walked into the polls and were greeted with open arms and encouraged to vote. Add that to the fact that Jim Crow was looming on the horizon, and took full legal effect in 1876, which in some ways was worse than slavery, because people who actually thought they were "free" found out that it was not really true.
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