Supporting Richardson’s statement
I agree entirely with Richardson’s statement. Even though slavery was abolished, there was no much difference to the former slaves regarding ownership of property. They found it tough to get food, shelter and clothing. They were supposed to work hard since no employer was willing to give official jobs to these former slaves. One reason for the harsh treatment was because of how the American mentality was set, where the blacks were viewed as inferior regarding all aspects, including knowledge levels. Physically-oriented tasks were what was considered to be a specialty of blacks. Secondly, given that most of these slaves were of African origin, American employers did not give them jobs. Discussed below is more detailed information regarding why the statement by Richardson that emancipated slaves owned nothing is accurate, and the supporting arguments for the same.
Freedom and its meaning have been among the key things that Eric Foner has been trying to educate people and make people understand. (Foner) The teachings on the meaning of freedom and the trials to make it understandable by Foner are focused on the nineteen century. In additions, these teachings look at what happened from the mid-eighteenth century to the late eighteenth century (Foner). The eighteenth-century is when America was torn by the future of those that were enslaved. Emancipation of the former slaves brought about a considerable national debate. The debate was made a big deal since the freed citizens wanted to know the rights that all the freed slaves were going to enjoy. More so, the American citizens wanted to know their rights and the rights that all the free citizens were going to enjoy.
According to the writer, there has been a lot of struggle between different groups that conflict with the real definition of the term freedom in this era (Foner). Besides, these groups struggled a lot as they were trying to attain what they defined as freedom. During this era, America believed in nothing less of democracy. To the emancipated slaves, the freedom that they expected once they were freed from their slavery was different from what they got (Foner). The only variation from when they were living in the slave quarters was the freedom of movement. When it came to work and other rights, they did not enjoy the same privileges and jobs as whites.
To cement the point that emancipated slaves did not own anything apart from freedom, it is good to look at other elements like the voting process. Until the year 1870, emancipated slaves were not given a chance to participate in the American electoral process (Foner). Before they were even allowed to vote in the year 1870, the African-Americans who were in America were not considered to be American Citizens (Foner). They were given citizenships and identity cards in the year 1868. Additionally, in the southern part of America, there was a lot of racism. The ones who owned lands kept the vslaves as impoverished sharecroppers (Foner). This term means that the landowners made life much more difficult for the freed slaves. They set the cost of housing and the cost of buying goods to be very high. The high living costs were meant to ensure that the freed slaves were indebted to them. With such high prices, they could not manage to pay them with money. The only mode of payment that they could afford was working for these landowners (Foner). This solution was like a continuation of slavery since the labor they offered amounted for much more than they owed the whites for their goods. The introduction of literacy tests for voters in the south cements the fact that freed slaves were still slaves who owned nothing.