Zinn’s chapter, Slavery Without Submission, Emancipation Without Freedom, intorduced me to the harsh truths about Americas history with slavery, the treatment of black people, and the false narrative of the civil war. This chapter yet again provided us with a true depiction of what happened with the emancipation, as well as the civil war, and debunked the narratives stories that we as American learners were taught throughout our time in the education system.
To begin, Lincoln is revered as an American hero as he “ended slavery” with the emancipation. While this is technically true, Lincoln, as portrayed by Zinn, was indifferent towards the idea of racial equality, and wanted to abolsih slavery to preserve the Union, and capitalist ties between the North and the South. The idea that Lincoln isn’t what histroy books portrayed him to be makes me wonder whether or not he too, will have his name tarnished and statue deminished for the untrue depiction of his morals that most Americans view him with.
Secondly, I found it fascinating that the Southern and Northern Elites werent entirely different as their views pertianed to slavery. Zinn alluded to the fact that neither party cared about slaves, they cared about finances. This leads me to beleive that many people at the time didn’t see the true problem with slavery, yet saw it as a beneficail aspect of life that would make White Americans more well off. These types of truth’s, the ones that depict real reactions towards slavery, are the ones that need to be taught in school. The commonly agreed upon purpose of instructing histroy is to prevent bad thigns from repeating themselves… that will not happen unless the truth be told.
To conclude, this chapter introduced me to the truth’s behind slavery, its abolition, and the true American perceptions of the maltreatment of Black’s, and it was heart breaking. The fact that Black people were of such miniscule importance and social standing is cruel and wrong, and luckily that has begun to change today. While there are many modern day problems with the treatment of Black Americans, we as a people and as a coutnry are moving in the right direction towards a society of equality and equal opportunity.
That is a good point you make about Lincoln and the statues of him. If he isn’t all that they say he is, then will the statutes and other items of honor be replaced. It makes me question which statues are people of good and honorable.
I agree with your point about Lincoln and it has made me reconsider him as a leader and as an abolitionist. One one hand, we learned that Lincoln was a hero because he freed the slaves, regardless of if he was actually an abolitionist or only freed the slaves to preserve the union, does it matter? What matters is that he freed slaves. However, on the other hand, if all he cared about was the preservation of the Union, is it just that he is revered as a hero for the abolition of slaves if that was not his primary motive? This makes me question many other great American heroes, it makes me question the true intentions of these people we have come to idolize.
I too found it very interesting how both parties didn’t really care about slavery, but only cared about economics. I’m not sure though if the Northern Elites were to actually see what happens during slavery whether or not they would still be supporting it. I believe they really just turned a blind eye, and didn’t care because they were lining there own pockets off the hard work of slaves.