Texas Slavery - Article Example

Texas Slavery Towards mid-1700, Spanish and African-American settlement n increased greatly in what became thepresent state of Texas. Among these people, there were freed people as well as slaves. After 1903, US acquired Louisiana hence allowing some slaves to flee to Spanish Texas looking for freedom and opportunities. Despite the racial differences between them and the early settlers, these former slaves established themselves in Texas. However, by 1830, slavery had been outlawed in Mexico and the importation of slaves by Anglo-settlers had been banned. However, this did not take effect in Texas because they needed economic development through cheap and forced labor. The slaves who were held by the Texans, showed resistance to their captivity through passive methods like practicing some of their r African cultural practices. In addition, some of them escaped to freedom. Free individuals of African descent helped the Texans fight for their freedom from the Spanish. These individuals did this to protect their status among the Anglo settlers who could otherwise take them in as slaves. Even after the Mexican president banned slavery, the Anglo settlers retained their already acquired slaves for life times. The status of African Americans in Texas was defined by slavery and even the constitution did not provide rights to protect them, this continued even after Texas joined the union in 1845. Texas joined the confederacy in 1861 and slavery was the force behind the state war economy since they Africans were responsible for building forts. Freedom from slavery however arrived with the Lincoln’s Emancipation proclamation in 1863. The slaves were made aware of their freedom in June 1865, which is now referred to and celebrated as Juneteenth. The slaves established settlement and started new lives with their families with immediate effect. The Reconstruction Era which is the period after the civil of war of 1865-1874, was unjust for the African Americans since even the literate ones were denied suffrage in the all-white constitutional convention and the state legislature was reluctant to execute the fourteenth amendment to the constitution. The new law demanded for equality among all the US citizens. The whites adopted restriction codes known as the black codes to deny the newly freed slaves some social and economic privileges. These black codes prohibited them from holding offices, racial inter-marriages, as well as jury privileges. As much as other social and religious organizations tried to assist the newly freed African-Americans by providing formal education as well as agricultural training, they faced a lot of resistance form the White Texans. Federal interventions as well as the military rule of 1867 got rid of the black codes and the blacks were allowed to contribute to development programmers of Texas, the state was then re-admitted into the US in 1870 and was among the last confederate states to be re-admitted. Over the fifty-year period, which Texas was a Spanish colony, a Mexican state as well as part of the US and a confederate state, there were laws that governed the institution of slavery. These rules made Texas stand out from other states that that were also holding slaves. This rules provided a unique opportunity to determine how they handled slavery as the political, economic, social as well as legal structures changed. These laws however had limitations to those who wrote them and to the interpreters and enactors as well. These laws expressed the slaves as moveable property instead of sentimental human beings. The slaves were held responsible for their crimes and the statutes dealing with slavery recognized the human nature of the enslaved. Any move that attempted to protect the property rights of slave owners was encountered with restrictive laws including those touching on free blacks. These laws demanded that a census of all slaves’ property be taken in Texas. This law demanded a list of slaves their respective municipalities as well as their age, names and sex. This information was collected in all cities of the state of Texas. In addition, the rules required that all slaves belonging to decised masters with no heirs be let free whereas those belonging to masters that had heirs, a tenth of the saves were to be set free and not passed to any form of succession. This case was only limited to situations where the master died of natural causes. Exceptions were if the master died through poisoning or assassination by any of the slaves. The laws required that slave owners take the children to school and provide the best education they can give or otherwise face huge fines of up to five hundred dollars which the authorities could appropriate to the benefit of public schools. This was to ensure that the children grew up to be useful to the society and contribute to the development of Texas. Another act demanded that a register of children born by slave parents since the publication of the constitution be provided to the government every three months. Moreover, all deaths of slaves were to be recorded in the same register and the notice be submitted to the government. The laws also proved that children and parents of slaves by adoption could not inherit slave proper. These laws were re-published every year on the 16th of September until the year 1840. The slave owners frequently advertised rewards for any person who could find runway slaves and return them to the owners. Such people were always rewarded once the subscribers proved they were theirs. African-Americans are present in Texas, they arrived with the first Europeans and their numbers increased gradually. Currently, African-Americans constitute 12% of the Texas population. As the Spanish colonists came to Texas, they brought with them Moorish slaves and some of the stayed up to date. After the slavery period was put to an end, the slaves were no longer considered as African but they became citizens and Afro-American by race. The Spanish refereed to the slaves as Negros, which as term that originate in the 1960s, but eventually they were called blacks and then African-American to denote race. The African Americans in Texas today represent a group of people who despite all obstacles managed to achieve greatly and contribute to the heritage of Americans. According to the social organization of the Spanish in Texas, the non-save blacks were accepted by the society and they were allowed to work in places where they had the needed skills and knowledge. They were however restricted from participating in some political activities such as holding government positions. The slaves were instruments used to boost the plantation-based economy since they offered free or cheap labour. These slaves contributed greatly to the development of the agricultural sectors as well as the cattle industry. They did this despite their unwillingness attitude. The early churches gave the slaves places of worship and socializing. In addition, the churches motivated he establishment of Black schools. The songs and spiritual practices in the church gave the slaves hope and faith for deliverance from slavery. Through the songs, they express their urge for acceptance as sentimental human beings by virtue of their birth- right. In addition, they wanted the whites to recognize them for their contributions to the freedom of Texas since they participated in the war. Moreover, they demanded remembrance for the blood they shed to get their freedom. After the reconstruction era, the black church led the slaves into believing that their freedom had been granted. True to their prayers, Freedmen’s Aid societies established the first schools. After the civil war aimed at gaining independence for taxes, an alliance between the black and Native Americans was created. The owners did not free the slaves but instead the laws made slavery legal because the plantation owners wanted the slaves to help in the planting and harvesting of crops. Because of the forced labour, some of them opted to run away to Florida and lived among the Seminole Indians there. These runaway slaves interfered with the American Indians and even held great influence of the race since they were free. The fact that they had knowledge on the white’s way of life helped hem since they were able to help the American-Indians with the translations as well as acting as advisers in cases of treaty negotiations. It is evident that the early attitude of American Indians toward the Africans had been catalysed and influenced by the opinions of the whites that lived around them. This had made them absorbed many elements of the white people civilizations and they even resented the blacks and addressed them as inferiors despite taking them in as slaves. On the other hand, where whites placed both African-American and American-Indians on the level of slaves, much intermarriage resulted. Some opinions claimed that Texas did not need civil rights movements to ensure that racial discrimination was brought to an end. This is not true because the African Americans had to use both courts and direct action in the mid-1900s to gain access through public and government services throughout the state. Out of the fights for equally, black citizens gained the rights to sit on juries in addition to gaining equal pay for the black teachers as those of the whites. Racism was eliminated in the major cities of Texas and jobs on the police forces of Dallas and Fort Worth. Sitting in Houston and Marshal were conducted to bring an end to racial discrimination in public accommodations. In 1958, Hattie White from Houston became the first African American to win an elective seat the state as she was elected into the school board. However, this was because the whites mistook her for a white hence earning more votes in error. During the ten years on the school board, she relentlessly forced other board members to implement court ordered dis of the school system. After her, no other African got an elective seat until 1966 when many black candidates throughout the state won political races. In 1772, Barbara Jordan was elected to the United States House of Representatives hence becoming the horst African American in Texas history to represent the sate in congress. This election showed the progress the blacks were making in the state after over 500 years of racial segregation and slavery. Over time, the continued to achieve more developments both in the private and public spheres in the state. Read More