African Americans In The Giver

Blacks in the North were about as free as the characters in The Giver. From 1800-1860, before the Civil War, there was slavery, segregation, treatment, and freedoms separating blacks from whites. The South was for slavery and actively participated in their way of life. The North was a place where blacks were free from slavery, but restricted in almost every other way. African-Americans in the North were considered free. What does freedom mean? What does freedom include? Freedom means, “exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc.” Blacks in the North were not truly free due to social, economic, and political restrictions. It is already known that African-Americans were given social restrictions, but what social freedoms …show more content…
In America today, all races can vote, serve jury duty, and apply for a role in government. In Document A, it is shown that in 1961 only Massachusetts allows black males to vote and serve on jury duty and Document B claims that blacks weren’t able to do anything political unless the person met certain restriction rules. Four other states allowed black men to vote, but no serve on jury duty, six states didn’t allow black males to vote or serve on jury duty, and five states restricted the black men that could vote. New England states were the most willing to evolve and change for the better. Jury duty is an important right because it follows the sixth amendment and shows citizenship. The right to vote is the most crucial right granted to a U.S. citizen, as it is preservative of all other rights. Yet our nation’s history has involved one discriminated group of Americans after another, having had to fight for their rightful place in our democracy. This quote sums up why exactly political freedoms, that we may or may not appreciate, are so important to making our country what it is today, “Political freedoms are intrinsically valuable because the opportunity to participate in the life of one’s community is fundamental to human existence, and valuable by itself. They also have a constructive value because through …show more content…
Blacks in the North were not forced into slavery like black in the South, however they were sometimes taken to the South and made to be slaves, which is even worse in my opinion since these people have already had a taste of something better, a life to compare the dreadful slave life to. People may think that African-Americans in the North were free because as shown in Document D, African-Americans had religious freedom, they were able to run a club and a Sunday school, publish a newspaper, host a meeting, become involved in community politics, fight for social causes, get married, and provide a safe place for fugitive slaves. People may also think that African-Americans in the North were free because as said in Document B, African-Americans were able to thrive, pay taxes, and perform duties. These things may have made blacks in the North more free than blacks in the South, but their conditions still did not meet the requirements of freedom: exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc. African-Americans in the North still had to deal with not being allowed to eat with whites, share with them the deliberation of the jury box, attend whites in their courts, represent in the legislature, mingle with them, or marry a white person, regulations that make them below whites. African-Americans in the North were not truly