Slavery and the Making of America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Slavery and the Making of America - Essay Example Americans hoped to join the Union in order to restore America’s lost pride and to reduce the danger of competing free slave labor in the development of the West. Following the Emancipation Declaration, the need to rebuild the South and the absorption of African Americans required the American nation to soften its stance on racial bias (PBS, 2014). Additionally, the need for cheap labor required the American nation to be more tolerant towards the African Americans. The shifting attitude of the American nation, namely the white population between 1863 and 1877, helped the African Americans win their fight for freedom on a recognized scale. However, the fight for individual freedom for African Americans for hampered for around a century to come. Although the black man had been freed through legislation, namely the Emancipation Proclamation, but he was still in chains everywhere due to social and economic pressures. The average African American, especially in the newly liberated South, was still at the mercy of an overwhelmingly dominant white population. The standard of living for the average slave on the plantation had still yet to register a significant increase. Since the African Americans were socially isolated and unable to assimilate into mainstream society, their individual character could not fully emerge. In order to resist the bulwark of an unforgiving society, the African Americans had to move within society as a group rather than as