American Slavery and Freed Slaves After the Civil War

Introduction: Emancipation Without Equality

The slave experience in the United States was one of economic necessity to the Southern elite, and that necessity did not change after the Civil War. Although there were no slaves after emancipation, former slaves still had little opportunity to improve their lives. This is reflected in a letter from former South Carolina slaves to Union General O.O. Howard, in which a freed slave committee from South Carolina petitions the General that they must retain their own land, or their lives will not change — they will remain tied to the land and subordinate to the same ruling elite as before the Civil War.

If this particular piece of historical evidence is considered within the larger framework of the slave experience in America, it becomes clear that slaves lived difficult lives with little opportunity for social or economic improvement. Slaves kept this reality in mind, and thus even after emancipation they did not expect complete equality. Ultimately, the slave experience in the United States did not change significantly after the Civil War; the expectations and anticipated experiences of former slaves remained similar to those they had held during slavery.

Economic Roots of American Slavery

The slave experience in the United States has historically been defined by the economic necessity slaves represented to landowners. Before slaves were imported, these same landowners seized land from Native Americans and even attempted to enslave them (Parent 24). The "emerging elite [would] treat land as a commodity," and such an attitude would shape the future of slavery, since land was the source of the agriculture that generated wealth (Parent 25). Ultimately, this use of land led the elite to adopt the "headright system," through which land was seized and concentrated among the powerful, laying the framework for slavery. As white indentured servants were being used as farming labor, it eventually became clear that Black workers could produce tobacco more cheaply than whites, and so began the introduction of enslaved Africans in the British colonies (Parent 66).

As slaves began to be used in agriculture, their role in the economic system became of utmost importance. Tobacco, for example, was a crop sold at very low prices, and thus it required ever-cheaper labor until that labor became free. The costs of supporting and raising enslaved families, originally considered too high, eventually gave way to the profitability of using free labor entirely. After slaves became the primary source of labor, they also became the primary source of income for elite white landowners.

The Slave's Role in the Southern Economy

This arrangement produced both a coercive economy and a coercive state (Parent 105). Slaves were integral to the economy, and the white landowners who controlled the land exercised matching control over the slaves and their lives. The way of life for the white elite was wholly dependent on slave labor, making slaves an economic necessity. That necessity would not simply disappear with emancipation after the Civil War, which means that although the war freed all men in law, it did not necessarily result in a positive change in the daily lives of African Americans in the South.

Because of the slave's value to the American economy — and particularly to the elite who ruled the South — the entire slave experience was rooted in the critical importance of their labor to that elite. Thus both the slave experience during bondage and the experience of freedpeople after the Civil War resulted in little tangible change to African American life. Even though the Civil War freed slaves, it did not improve their social standing. In the letter from the South Carolina freed slave committee to General Howard, the former slaves express their desire for their own homesteads, understanding that without land they will be forced to work for the same landowners under poor conditions, because no other opportunities exist. This shows that the former slaves understood their position in the war and how little political weight they carried. They do not ask for much — only small homesteads to become independent farmers — yet even this modest request is denied, a reflection of their standing in American society.

Conclusion: Landless, Homeless, Voteless

After the Civil War, former slaves did not hold great expectations for an improvement in their lives. Immediate gains were being retracted and there was a looming threat that the white elite would maintain their hold over Black Americans. This is represented in the letter from the freed slave committee to General Howard: they maintain that they need only their own land, that they have done nothing wrong, and that without land their lives will become worse than before the war. The slaves feel wronged — not because they have done anything to deserve it, but because they are continually treated as if they had.

Thus the former slaves find themselves on the outside of the political arena. Although the war was fought largely over the question of slavery, the slaves themselves appear to be of little political consequence. "With consideration of esteem Your Obt Servts," they sign the letter — a closing that reflects their perceived position in society as still subordinate, even to Northerners. Freed people remained integral to the economy for white landowners, and they were acutely aware of the risks of existing without financial independence. Nevertheless, as a voteless class, former slaves risked falling back into servitude, and they knew it.

It is in this context — fully aware of the dangers — that the freed slave committee made their plea to General Howard. They wanted something positive to result from the Civil War; they did not want to fall through the cracks of the political system. As "Landless, Homeless, Voteless," there was little they could do within the American system, and they asked for very little in return. They wanted freedom from their former masters, freedom to farm their own land, and freedom to build their own lives. They knew they were of little consequence to the Union and to politicians in Washington, D.C., and thus had to accept the very little they had been given — which had now been taken away.

Works Cited

Ball, Charles. Fifty Years in Chains. New York, NY: H. Dayton, Publisher, 1859.

Bayliss, John F. Black Slave Narratives. New York, NY: The Macmillan Company, 1970.

Bland, Sterling Lecater, Ed. African American Slave Narratives. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2001.

Bontemps, Arna, Ed. Great Slave Narratives. Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 1969.

Parent, Anthony S. The Formation of a Slave Society in Virginia, 1660–1740. Chapel Hill and London: University of North Carolina Press, 2003.