Michael Gagliano
In what ways were some of the following
reasons more important than others in affecting
the social, political and economic position of black people
In this essay I’ am going to discuss the following topics: Slave Status, the attitude of the Southern states after the civil war, the Ku Klux Klan and European immigration up to the years of 1914. I will answer them using quotes and my own points of views.
Slave status was an important factor that affected social, political and economic position of black Americans an many ways, such as the following; Due to slavery black Americans didn’t get educated unless they were lucky which affected them if they wanted to become politicians or even get a job. If they weren’t employed they were bound not be wealthy and live in a struggle and in poverty which would lead to them having a low social status and people would still think of black Americans as being inferior, this trapped them in a way that they had no way of changing their status or gaining respect. Many ex-slaves did take up sharecropping this was a system in which they stayed on the cotton plantation and gave their former owners a share of their crops in exchange for land and equipment. This meant that they were in a similar situation as before, still dependent on white people. To vote people had to pass literacy test which very few black people could do or they were said to fail. There was also a Poll tax which was a payment that every citizen had to pay, a failure to pay meant that you were not allowed to vote.
