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   engtchr5 Teacher
   High School - 10th Grade

   eNotes Editor

   During America's colonial era (1776-1800s), slavery was a common and accepted practice. All of our "founding fathers" owned slaves, as we were a primarily Agrarian society at that point in time. Washington, Jefferson, Jackson and others all came from farming families, and slaves were a staple of that farm life. When the 1850s-1860s came, the Civil War supposedly ended slavery, even though many slaves stayed on with their masters rather than emancipating and taking on increased responsibilities and discrimination. Blacks were still discriminated against, they were still viewed as separate (and unequal), and intolerance and bigotry reached an all-time high by the 1890s. Groups like the KKK and others practiced lynchings (hangings), cross burnings, and tried other tactics to persecute and intimidate the black community. Blacks could not earn as much as white man, they could not vote, and they were still seen as inferior. The only significant change that occurred for blacks of this era was the official end of slavery.

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   Posted by engtchr5 on Tuesday October 21, 2008 at 10:49 AM