African-American Experience in American West: Civil War and Reconstruction

Despite the unique social, economic and political progress that America has achieved over the years, it is yet to mitigate racism. Institutionalized racism is quite prevalent in modern society as blacks face discrimination in employment, social status, and healthcare services. The current events, however, reflect experiences of African-Americans since they entered America as slaves. In essence, the Civil War occurred as a result of conflict over the expansion of slavery to western states. Even though life was somehow better for freed slaves who moved to several western states, they did not live equally as the majority population. In Texas, for example, black people made some political engagement in politics, but they also lived under political tensions with their white neighbors. Jim Crow laws, Ku Klux Klan and segregation, are some other examples of the dark side of America as they led to the dehumanizing, the institutionalization of racism and disenfranchisement of blacks. Besides, Buffalo soldiers were black fighters, who after the end of the Civil War kept order in several western states. Black women mainly encountered sexual exploitation due to the existence of patriarchy the society had traditionally held and the property-based view that slaveholders in the west and elsewhere in America exhibited regarding blacks. Ostensibly, this article outlines experiences of African-Americans before and after the American Civil War.

Abolitionism and Creation of the West

The abolitionist movement gained momentum after the American Revolution War, which resulted in the independence of America and the new constitution. Experiences of the War and dictates provided in the constitution predisposed people to start recognizing human rights and the bad image that slavery projected. As a result, some northern states freed slaves and others established a gradual process for eliminating slavery. The freed slaves, as well as those who managed to escape from their masters, traveled westward. The continued influx of immigrants in the west influenced the government to establish new states and boundaries such as Illinois, Maine, and Indiana, which were Free states. Notably, to meet the interests of the southern states, the government established Missouri, Mississippi, and Alabama as slave states. Nonetheless, blacks’ westward immigration and the consequent creation of states resulted in a rift between northern and southern states. Before the establishment of these states, northern and southern states had even representation in the government, which meant each exercised equal influence on slavery. However, in 1819, Missouri applied to be admitted in the union as a slave state, which would create an imbalance between slave and free states. The Missouri compromise formulated by the Congress in 1820 allowed Missouri to become a slave state, but it also established Maine as a free state. These tensions together with slavery and discrimination experiences highlighted in the subsection below culminated to the Civil War. African-American abolitionists in California sought to establish institutions that could give them freedom of expression. Black churches appeared in the late 1840s and served primarily as an institutional base for protesting against racial injustice. In 1849, for instance, St. Andrew’s African Methodist Episcopal church was operational and lobbying against slavery.

Gender, Experiences and Some Success

Compared with the south, western blacks enjoyed more favorable conditions. Since the purchase of Louisiana, blacks had occupied unpopulated regions in the west. Here, free blacks grew crops and facilitated trade between Native Americans and fur traders. In retrospect, conditions in the west were only favorable if compared to the south, but not by standards of humanity. Despite African-Americans being useful in trade, the government only considered Native Americans in the formulation of policies. Conditions in the west were mostly unfavorable for black women. Firstly, black families had traveled miles before reaching destinations in the west, and this drained them physically. Upon arrival also, black women suffered from a lack of sufficient food. One resident in Kansas remembered that they survived on dugouts during their initial years of arrival. They also slept under tents, which were humiliating to women. Consequently, black women had to find some ways of supplementing their husband’s farm earnings. Domestic working was the option that black women depended on to make ends meet.

Additionally, black women in the west complained about being isolated from other black communities and their traditional roles, which they valued significantly. Besides, black women, as well as their men, had to struggle with institutionalized slavery. In Utah, for instance, slavery remained legal until 1862. In Texas, slavery was almost the norm. Thus, even though most of the black women had escaped south in fear of slavery, the institution continued sabotaging their progress in the west. Therefore, black women remained in servitude until late after the Civil War. For being in subjection, the enslaved African-American women served their masters, particularly in domestic chores. Unfortunately, slavery left women vulnerable to sexual exploitation.

Moreover, western states like Colorado continued treating black men and women as properties of slaveholders and used this basis to alienate them from some critical mainstream practices. For instance, legislators enacted laws to restrict blacks from enjoying civil rights, sufferance, and public transportation. In some states also, blacks could not purchase land. Even though the emancipation proclamation eventually subdued the whites’ discriminatory efforts, most western states did not let blacks to enjoy freedom. In the 1850s to the late 1860s, a significant section of western states established legal restrictions to bar black men and women from testifying against a white person. Throughout the 1860s to the era of segregation also, black women and men struggled with social discrimination. The Los Angeles black press often included stories about how black women were struggling with the increasingly rising tide of bigotry.

However, black women received credit for having established learning institutions. Black women secured jobs as professional teachers in the post-Civil War era, in which case, they gained experience and finance to run private schools. For instance, Elizabeth Thorn established the first African-American schools in Sacramento and then in Oakland. However, apart from teaching, black women occupied the lowest occupational strata such as domestic workers mentioned earlier in this essay. Within the black community also, there were tensions as black women continued working away from home. Ideally, women had been traditionally reserved the position of performing domestic services, which men capitalized to control their wives. When women started engaging in paid jobs in domestic services or teaching, men complained of the trend as being disrespectful and an affront to the black community. Other roles performed by black women in the west between 1850 and 1920 included preaching, newspaper editing, policing, stylists, activists and acting. Moreover, black women in the west were more phenomenal in the pursuit of suffrage rights. Before the First World War, suffrage victories came mostly from the west, and black women participated significantly in advocacy campaigns. Prohibition and temperance movements were some activism campaigns that western black women mostly participated.

Resistance

African-Americans, particularly after some success of the abolitionist movement, did not give up their quest for civil rights. In California, an African-American woman filed a successful case demanding to be granted the right to testify against a white person. Also, when whites drove some black women out of San Francisco streetcars, a group of black women filed a suit that obtained the Negro’s rights to ride. In the early 20th century, western states had passed some preliminary civil rights laws that black women utilized to resist discrimination. Sadie Cole began a campaign in 1916 that intended to remove all posts that were insulting to the black community. The continued advocacy made black women penetrate to social institutions more than those in the south. In 1920, black girls in the west depicted higher school attendance than black boys or black girls in the south. Nonetheless, the black community suffered from seasonal discontinuation of their education due to segregation, which gave white children more opportunities to learn. Even when segregation ended, black girls could not learn more effectively as loneliness prevailed once they attended white-dominated schools.

Experiences During the Gold Rush Era

As indicated earlier, the prevalence of abolitionism created freedom for many blacks. In the gold rush era, most blacks went to California with the hope of progressing economically from the sale of gold. Since the medieval period, gold had been the most valued item, and it often resulted in wars. In California, however, an ordinary person could access gold and go home rich. California had no stable government at the time, and gold belonged to everyone who could mine. Due to oppression that blacks had endured in south and north, they saw gold mining in California as the perfect opportunity to regain economic worth. Black men and women trekked mostly from slave states and in most cases; they endured life-threatening experiences. Notably, some died before reaching the gold sites or after they had arrived. In 1849, for example, a fifth of the immigrants who had arrived at the gold site died. In essence, life was still no better for those blacks who withstood harsh environmental conditions. Racial oppression that had prevailed in the south became a horrible experience for blacks during the gold rush era. The social status of blacks in the state continued to be relatively lower compared with other races. For instance, Californian legislatures passed a Foreign Miners Act in 1852 to restrict non-white minors of Chinese and South American origin. Although this law did not apply to blacks, it led to some insulting sentiments against them. Chinese had opposed the law since its formulation, but they intensified protests when legislatures added restrictions that traditionally applied to African-Americans. Specifically, the Chinese argued that they were from superior culture compared to blacks, and thus, such laws were inapplicable.

Also, whites sidelined blacks using other extreme techniques. Genocidal violence, for example, was common during the gold rush era. Besides, racial intimidation was the primary technique that whites utilized to gain exclusive control of the mines. White miners had some connections with Californian legislatures whom they approached to establish racially-discriminatory laws. In 1850, California entered the union as a free state. However, local slaveholders did not free their slaves voluntarily as it was the norm in other free states. In 1852, California enacted a harsher Fugitive Slave Act, which allowed masters who were going back to southern states to repossess their slaves. Groups of bounty hunters emerged primarily hired by masters to coerce black slaves.

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In retrospect, not all blacks succumbed in the gold rush. Some obtained substantial wealth from the mines and gained opportunities to establish businesses like hotels, restaurants, private schools, and laundries. They also earmarked finances for supporting abolitionist movement in California and throughout America. In particular, the successful African-Americans financed most of the underground railroads in California towards the Civil War.

How Emancipation Claims Affected Black Lives in the Western States

In 1865, General Granger reiterated President Lincoln’s emancipation by announcing the end of enslavement in Texas. As a result, emancipated blacks celebrated the freedom in a holiday usually referred to as Juneteenth. Nonetheless, several issues confronted their celebration. Ideally, most of the freed persons had been in slavery for an extended period. Immediately after the emancipation, therefore, they set to find their family members. Some other emancipated individuals remained stranded as confusion about how to lead a life as free persons set in. When the country entered reconstruction, blacks in Texas faced a difficult period. White Texans introduced black codes to restrict the freedom that blacks had gained in the emancipation proclamation. Through those codes, violent attacks became a common experience for African-Americans. By 1868, Ku Klux Klan was operational in Texas, and its members aimed primarily at intimidating and assaulting freed people to curtail their participation in political processes. However, blacks in Texas capitalized on emancipation freedom to increase their engagement in politics. They began by appointing delegates in the 1868 constitutional convention and transitioned gradually into politics. For instance, George Ruby served in the Texas legislature between 1870 and 1874, and another African-American, Matthew Gaines, was the Texas senator throughout the reconstruction.

Nevertheless, the reconstruction era in Texas ended when Democratic Governor Coke took the state’s leadership in 1874. Although violence and intimidation were the most common means that whites in Texas utilized to restrict blacks, the white primary was the most effective mechanism. The technique eliminated blacks from participating in Democratic primary elections. Therefore, political advancement that blacks had gained during reconstruction started deteriorating.

African-American Experiences in Kansas

After the onset of the Civil War, blacks in Kansas established a volunteer military unit to fight Confederate forces. The military unit that African-Americans formed at Fort Scott was the first black organization to participate in the Civil War. In the aftermath of the War, politicians announced Kansas as the best place for the black people to settle. Compared with the south and even some western states, Kansas gave blacks some freedom of life. Like most states in the western region, Kansas was a new territory that the Congress formed to maintain the balance between free and slave states. During the early years of its establishment, many black people immigrated there with the hope of voting for Kansas to become a free state. It indicates that Kansas had been the hope for black people since its establishment. Nonetheless, despite the Kansas constitution being lenient to African-Americans, white neighbors continued holding negative attitudes towards them. As a consequence, some black people found life in Kansas unbearable, and thus, emigrated to neighboring states including Oklahoma.

The Civil War and Insecurity in the West

The onset of the Civil War left western communities at increased insecurity. Before the War, regular troops patrolled western states to offer some security, which was imperative given that some of those states were relatively newer. In the War era, the regular troops left to supplement federal soldiers. Since establishment, western states had depicted political tensions over boundaries and contentious issues of slavery, which worsened during the Civil War. African-Americans experienced more violence and problems during this time due to their inferior social status.

Exodusters

Even though African-Americans had occupied the western frontier since the early 19th century, their numbers in the region increased sharply towards the end of the Civil War. The passage of the Homestead Act in 1862 gave blacks some opportunities of owning land, something that had hardly existed before. Given political oppression and socioeconomic struggles that blacks had faced in southern states, they took the act as an opportunity to occupy free lands in western states. After arriving in western states, blacks established all black-towns in Texas, Kansas, and Oklahoma. The 1909 Homestead Act expanded the first legislation and provided a vast region of arid land, which led to another movement of blacks to the region. Interestingly, the 1909 legislation resulted in the relaxation of some culturally-held gender restrictions as it also allowed women to own some pieces of land. Women who succeeded in securing pieces of land saw an improvement in their social status and became more autonomous. However, in all series of settlements, blacks who had experienced hostilities as whites in western states sought continuously congressional approval to decide who settled in those lands.

Black Cowboys

Cowboys emerged in the United States in the 1500s, but black men had not engaged in it as remarkably as they did immediately after the Civil War. Black cowboys became popular in Texas and other western states. In Texas, blacks who had historically acquired skills in cattle rearing gained increased demand as ranchers needed people to transport their livestock to some northern states where they were more valuable than in the west. Unfortunately, railroad in America during those days had not connected most regions. Only Missouri, Colorado and Kansas had some shipping points, but they could only be accessed by physically moving herds of cattle. Cowboys rounded up herds on horseback and traveled across inhumane environmental conditions before they reached destinations. Even worse is that African-Americans were also attacked and denied access to restaurants. Consequently, black cowboys mostly slept in the vast wilderness of the west, in which; they survived by sharing blankets and other essential items.

Buffalo Soldiers

Buffalo soldiers operated in western states, including Kansas, Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. After the end of the Civil War, black cavalry regiments patrolled the mentioned states from 1867. The patrols kept order among cowboys, whiskey peddlers, buffalo hunters and other groups that inhabited the western region. Despite racial prejudice, buffalo soldiers served better and earned several awards beginning in 1870. The term buffalo originated from Indians who saw black soldiers as having hair similar to that of a Buffalo. Their services also proved valuable in later wars such as Indian Wars and the Johnson County War.

Jim Crow Laws and Segregation

Jim Crow laws promoted segregation at both local and state levels. As indicated earlier, the reconstruction period dissatisfied a significant section of white legislators who soon established mechanisms to maintain the status quo. The use of poll taxes, literacy examinations and residency requirements intended to concentrate power on whites. Notably, this gave white policymakers success in establishing policies that developed institutions specifically for white and other separate ones for blacks. In western states, white restaurants in the black community could not serve blacks and theatres as well as departmental store operators refused to provide services to them. Recreational facilities also did not accommodate blacks or accommodated a selected few. White and African-Americans mostly lived under intense relationships before the 1964 civil rights recognition. There were also separate residential, asylums, hospitals, cemeteries, jails and waiting rooms for whites and blacks. However, black institutions were significantly inferior compared with those of whites. Also, schools comprised of white teachers who ensured that black students acquired low-level skills to serve under the whites. Even though blacks made some attempts to introduce the civil rights bill and reverse segregation, their efforts were unsuccessful. In 1875, Republicans passed the civil rights bill that outlawed discrimination in public transportation, churches, schools, and other institutions, but the Supreme Court overturned it in 1883. In Plessy vs. Ferguson case of 1896, the Supreme Court upheld segregation stating that it was constitutional. Before 1917 also, some states had laws that restricted blacks from moving to white-dominated places. As late as the 1940s, some organizations preferred only white candidates and segregation in schools and hospitals also prevailed. Even worse is that whenever a disaster occurred, the government was quicker to support the whites, but at times it did nothing about blacks’ lives. In the aftermath of the great depression, for instance, government agencies focused more on building houses in the white community. In the 1930s, financial institutions and the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation established red-lining that designated black neighborhoods as areas with high risks. Consequently, poverty levels in black neighborhoods escalated as they could not access or afford expensive loans.

Conclusion

Beginning with how they entered America, African-Americans in the west have encountered a horrible experience of staying in the country. Slavery is arguably the basis of their predicaments as it empowered the majority population exclusively. Many consequences of slavery were disenfranchising and economically destabilizing. For instance, the prohibition of owning properties led to the widening of the economic gap between blacks and whites. All the events that led to some level of acceptance of the black people in the country relegated them to the inferior status. Jim Crow laws and segregation alienated blacks from mainstream opportunities before the civil rights act of 1964. Nonetheless, 55 years after the legislation, blacks in western states and elsewhere in America are yet to live equally as whites. Racial profiling is an example of the modern version of the institutionalized racism in America. To tackle the issue, therefore, the government needs to enfranchise blacks by facilitating their penetration into mainstream opportunities. Laws should also be leveraged to deinstitutionalize racial oppression.

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