Exam (elaborations)
HSY2601 Assignment 4 Semester 2 2024 - DUE 30 September 2024
- Course
- HSY2601 (HSY2601)
- Institution
- University Of South Africa
HSY2601 Assignment 4 Semester 2 2024 - DUE 30 September 2024 QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS
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HSY2601 Assignment 4Semester 2 2024 - DUE 30
September 2024
QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS
[School]
[Course title]
,HSY2601 Assignment 4 Semester 2 2024 - DUE 30 September 2024
Discuss the reasons for the unequal relations between black and white people in the 19th-century
US context after the abolition of slavery and beyond.
Recommended Readings:
• The birth of the modern world, : global connections and comparisons / C.A. Bayly.
• Study Guide: HSY2601 HSY2601: THEMES IN 19TH CENTURY HISTORY: POWER AND
THE WESTERN WORLD. 4 OR
The unequal relations between Black and White people in the 19th-century United States after
the abolition of slavery were rooted in deep structural, legal, economic, and social dynamics that
maintained white supremacy despite the formal end of slavery. Here are several key reasons that
explain this inequality in the US context, drawing upon themes of global power, race, and labor
from the recommended readings:
1. Structural Racism and Legal Discrimination
After the Civil War, the abolition of slavery in 1865 through the 13th Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution formally ended chattel slavery, but it did not dismantle the racial hierarchies that
had been built over centuries. Black people continued to face institutionalized racism through
Black Codes (1865–1866) and later Jim Crow laws (from the late 19th century). These laws
legally enforced racial segregation and denied African Americans basic civil rights, like the right
to vote, access to quality education, and equal economic opportunities. The Plessy v. Ferguson
, Supreme Court decision in 1896 institutionalized the doctrine of "separate but equal,"
legitimizing state-sponsored segregation, especially in the Southern United States.
2. Economic Exploitation and Sharecropping
After emancipation, the economic system transitioned into sharecropping, a system that
maintained racial and economic disparities. Many freed Black people found themselves working
for their former enslavers or white landowners under highly exploitative conditions.
Sharecropping, which tied workers to the land they cultivated in exchange for a portion of the
crops, perpetuated economic dependency. Since many sharecroppers lacked capital and access to
fair contracts, they were often trapped in debt, a form of economic bondage that limited their
freedom and kept wealth and land ownership in the hands of White people.
3. Social and Cultural Constructs of White Supremacy
Cultural narratives and ideologies of white supremacy were pervasive throughout the 19th
century and beyond. C.A. Bayly’s "The Birth of the Modern World" explores how global
shifts in power and race relations during the 19th century contributed to the racial hierarchies in
places like the United States. The dehumanization of Black people had been deeply entrenched
during slavery, and after its abolition, White supremacist ideologies, pseudoscientific racism, and
the notion of Black inferiority persisted in American culture. These cultural beliefs were
reinforced through literature, media, and political discourse, fostering racial prejudice and
maintaining social inequalities.
4. Violence and Intimidation
The post-emancipation period saw rampant violence and racial terror, especially in the South.
White supremacist organizations like the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), founded in 1865, used
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