The first Blacks in North America

Slavery in America began in 1619, when a Dutch ship with 20 Africans were brought to the North American colony of Jamestown in what now is Virginia. They served the purpose to work in the plantations, so that the harvest would go faster. The slavery was fast to spread and in 1641 Massachusetts were the first to make slavery legal. Soon it was officially legal. The slaves helped build the economic foundations of the new nation.

When the cotton gin was invented in 1793, the importance of slavery was central to the South’s economy.

The Civil War

In the mid 19th century, America expanded and six new states were admitted to the Union. Along with a growing abolition movement, a great debate over slavery began …show more content…
The victory was supposed to free all of the nation’s slaves, yet the legacy of slaves still continued in the South. The so-called Black Codes were passed all around in the South, limiting the freedom of the freed slaves, which meant they weren’t allowed to vote or have other political rights. They were also forced to work at the plantations against their will.
The Civil Rights Act was passed in 1866 that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. It ended the Jim Crow laws, the racial segregation in schools and the Black Codes.

The Reconstruction Era

A new era, called the Reconstruction Era (1865-77), began after the Civil War. Towns, buildings, transportation infrastructure, farms, etc. where reconstructed and they were trying to make the economy better.
Because the Republican Rutherford Hayes won the presidential election in 1876 and he tried to satisfy the Southern white Democrats by taking the Federal army out of the Southern states, the Reconstruction Era is considered not successful. When the army withdrew from the Southern states, it meant that there wasn’t anyone to secure, that the Blacks’ right was enforced.

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