Zinn includes various examples of slave rebellions to demonstrate the strong desire of blacks to fight oppression. He speaks about the abolition movement before and after the Civil War, and it is interesting to see how even after slaves gained freedom, African Americans still were not considered equal. Ex-slave Thomas Hall told the Federal Writers’ Project, “He gave us freedom without giving us any chance to live to ourselves and we still had to depend on the Southern white man for work, food, and clothing” (Zinn 197-198). Hall further proves the lack of liberty amongst blacks, even post-emancipation.
One of the main reasons why emancipation took so long to take place is because it was considered to be a huge economic risk for white Americans. James Hammond, a supporter of slavery, questioned, “do you imagine you could prevail on us to give up a thousand millions of dollars in the value of slaves?” (Zinn 174). In other words, if any societal change was going to take place, it needed to benefit whites in every aspect – especially financially. This is also proven by the fact that Lincoln only began to demonstrate opposition to slavery once abolition became part of his political interest. Not only did he believe that blacks and whites were unequal, but he also refused to condemn the Fugitive Slave Law.
In chapter 17, we are exposed to the black revolts of the 1950s and ’60s, specifically through a lense of arts; poetry and music were ways in which blacks expressed their masked emotions regarding their sufferings from inequality. I thought it was interesting that Truman’s Committee suggested new laws to end racial discrimination in jobs not only because of moral reasons but because -economically- it was a waste to America’s talent, along with degrading America’s international reputation (Zinn 449). This connects back to the times of slavery when whites only agreed to emancipate once it was in their favor.
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