Paying Freedom's Price by Paul David Escott

Author:Paul David Escott [Escott, Paul D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Published: 2016-04-11T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Four

Fighting for Equality

By 1864 African Americans had good reason to be encouraged. The Emancipation Proclamation and the courageous service of black men in the army and navy constituted revolutionary changes—developments unimaginable only a short time before. But there was still much to overcome, much ground to win. Black Americans knew that racism, so long embedded in the nation’s culture, had not disappeared. Their legal status remained inferior and uncertain. Even in regard to emancipation, serious questions cast a shadow over the future. Since President Lincoln’s proclamation was a war measure, all informed observers agreed that only a constitutional amendment could definitively end slavery. Moreover, if all blacks became free, what would be their status as citizens? The events of war finally were including African Americans in a society that had long excluded them, but what would be their rights, their place in society, the scope of their opportunities? How could they win equality, respect, and human dignity?

Black leaders in the North were determined to gain positive answers to these questions. They took the lead and devoted their energies to this crucial task. Using the advantages they had gained, the skills they had developed, and the relatively privileged position they enjoyed, they used every method to advance the fight for racial equality. Their efforts at the federal level were important, but they also organized and struggled in scores of states, cities, and local communities. The effort to dismantle discrimination had to be local, as well as national, for it was in people’s cities, towns, and neighborhoods where racism was active daily, denying hopes and crippling opportunities. Throughout the North, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, black leaders organized and pressed vigorously for progressive change.

A vital theme of all their efforts was a dedication to uplifting and advancing the whole race. Black leaders in the North did not distance themselves from the needs of those in bondage. They identified with all African Americans. They fought for the rights and future of those who had been enslaved as well as those who were free. An emotional and moral identification with blacks living in the Confederacy or laboring within Union lines guided their actions and impelled them to energetic efforts. They sacrificed to support the freedmen, and Southern blacks responded. Joyously they seized opportunities to improve themselves and added their own energies to the effort to seek and demand equality.

1864 proved to be a crucial year, both for the future of black Americans and for the direction of the nation’s politics. African Americans made significant progress. Yet before the year was out Northern leaders had to recognize and respond to a political crisis that threatened to turn progress backward. Suddenly a real possibility arose that the Republican Party would retreat from its support for freedom and greater rights. Confronting that danger, black leaders protested, organized, and demanded full equality. More than any other group, they worked with determination to make the United States embrace its founding values and realize its creed.

The black community in the North took seriously its responsibility to lead.

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