Exploring Life After Slavery: A Detailed History Essay

This essay delves into the multifaceted experiences of slaves following emancipation, highlighting the significant improvements in their lives while also acknowledging the persistent challenges they faced. Although freed from the brutal practices of slavery, newly liberated individuals encountered economic hardships, largely due to limited access to education and employment opportunities. Many were compelled to rely on former slave owners, engaging in sharecropping arrangements that offered minimal financial returns. The religious landscape also shifted, with black communities establishing their own churches to escape discrimination. While black men gained suffrage, women were excluded, and families grappled with economic pressures that often required women to work in the fields. Despite these difficulties, the newfound freedom allowed blacks to choose their residence and strive for social and economic integration, gradually securing their rightful place in society. Desklib offers more resources for students, including similar essays and past papers.

Running head: HISTORY ESSAY
History Essay
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1HISTORY ESSAY
Question 5
For the slaves, life after slavery was a completely different experience and world was
a much better place to live for them. The harsh and brutal practices against them were gone
and the days with brighter aspects were up for them to embark upon (Parish). The private and
public spheres were opened up for them and they could be themselves and celebrate their
dignity like everyone else. The life after slavery was not all roses for them; it had the share of
thorns too. The condition of poverty was serious after the slavery was abolished in the
society. Earlier, they were denied education and this left them with no work that they could
do to earn their living (Smith). They were forced to take help of the ex-slave owners and rent
land from them so that they could earn money by practicing agriculture on those lands. In this
practice, they received only half of the profit that would incur from the crops in the land. One
of the most eminent developments on the religious front was that the blacks moved away
from churches that practiced the discrimination before the emancipation and this lead them to
creat their own community churches. They avoided the churches that were headed by whites
and practiced segregation previously. They had the urge to be able to read so that they could
read the text of the bible themselves. The gender sphere was empowered but women did not
receive much of the empowerment as the popular suffrage process did not include the women
but the black men were able to vote and it was a new development for them (Paxton and
Hughes). The family structure became stronger for the blacks, traditionally they wished to
have a wife who would stay at home to look after children. It was seen that due to the
economic crisis the wives had to work in the fields to get the wage and support the family.
The blacks had the freedom to chose where they wanted to stay and no step could be taken to
move them from one place to other without their consent. Freedom was a concept that was
new to them and they were restricted for a long time and hence they could not initially take

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all the advantages but with time and struggle they gained their deserving position in all the
societies and became an established section (Mandela).

3HISTORY ESSAY
Reference
Mandela, Nelson. Long walk to freedom. Hachette UK, 2013.
Parish, Peter J. Slavery: history and historians. Routledge, 2018.
Paxton, Pamela, and Melanie M. Hughes. Women, politics, and power: A global perspective.
CQ Press, 2015.
Smith, Matthew J. Liberty, fraternity, exile: Haiti and Jamaica after emancipation. UNC
Press Books, 2014.