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Overview Summary
The end of slavery and emancipation of slaves occurred both in the United States and in the Caribbean, with several differences but also some connections and similarities. Following the emancipation in both countries, there was some uncertainty about what role the emancipated slaves would play in society. There was a need for a controlled labor force in both countries, which resulted in the importation of cheap labor, the passing of laws and codes restricting the rights of freedmen, and the reorganization of the tax system. Despite these similarities, there were stark differences between emancipation in the republic of the United States and the Caribbean. In the United States, there was controversy over whether or not the freed blacks would have equal rights, and for a small period of time they were granted some political power and rights. This is very different from the Caribbean where the idea of granting blacks rights was not even in question, and laws restricting their rights were more severe than in the United States. Unlike the United States, the Caribbean government completely prevented freedmen from amassing political power. Some American Democrats wanted to model post-emancipation society after the Caribbean, whereas Radical Republicans wanted to steer away from the grave mistakes of the British following emancipation. Whether you compare or contrast emancipation in these separate areas, it is clear that a connection can be drawn between them. The United States ratified the Thirteenth Amendment that outlawed slavery in the territories in 1865, it followed the trend of emancipation that began in Haiti, continued in the West Indies, and ended in Brazil. There was an international trend of setting slaves free during the 1800s, and the United States followed suit, using the Caribbean as a model.

Connection
This is a picture of slaves in the West Indies celebrating their emancipation from the British in The United States was influenced greatly by the emancipation of slaves in the Caribbean, starting with the Haitian Revolution on 1801 and the British emancipation in the West Indies in 1833. Both antiabolitionists and abolitionists in the United States looked to the Caribbean as an example for how they should handle slavery, freedmen, and rights in their own country. For example, the United States learned that Southern plantations could not be supported on free labor after they saw the collapse of West Indian economies. Abolitionists referenced the grave mistakes made by the British when they attempted to legislate blacks back into slavery with the use of restrictive laws, or by creating a halfway house between slavery and complete civil and political equality. The Caribbean emancipation acted as a model for the United States before and during emancipation and Reconstruction.

S I m I l a r I t y
This picture shows a black man at a house that he owned. After emancipation, it became the goal of many black men to obtain property. This owning of property would give them a certain degree of power. If they owned their own property, they would no longer have to rely on their former masters for wages and for land to farm. This opened up the opportunity for black men to become independent from the whites in their communities. This eagerness to own land was found in both American and Caribbean freedmen because they wanted to take control of their lives by controlling their own property, working hours, and types of labor.

similarity

With the freeing of the blacks there arose a question of where the source for cheap labor would come from. Plantations were failing from a lack of labor, forcing white plantation owners to look for new sources of labor. Shown in this picture are cheap laborers imported from China, known as coolies. However, only a handful of coolies were imported, and some of them took this as an opportunity to run away and have a fresh start in a new country. The use of coolie labor is common to both the United States and the Caribbean. The Caribbean started using coolie labor to meet the need for an organized labor force, and their success was published in American Southern newspapers. Influenced by the West Indies, coolies, under five to seven year contracts were used in mines, railroad construction, and large-scale agriculture in America by 1865.

Difference

One big difference between the U.S. and Caribbean was that governments in the countries dictated the objectives of the freedmen. The Caribbean was not a republic, so not all whites were considered equal. Because of this, the freed blacks did not find it wrong that they were treated as lessers, and did not advocate for equal rights as white citizens. But in the United States, a republic where all white men were equal, the blacks thought that they deserved the same rights. They desired equal rights as their white countrymen because they considered themselves equal human beings. However, the Democrats of the South had very different opinions, which led to discord and conflict within the South. This picture shows the opinions of the South and how they clearly did not consider the whites and blacks equals, and exemplifying the clear disconnect between the Democrats and the Republicans.

D I f f e r e n c e
Unlike in the Caribbean, in the South of the United States, freed blacks were eventually given similar rights to the whites for a short time called Radical Reconstruction. The black men were granted the right to vote and full equal political power and rights. This pictures shows a black man voting during Reconstruction. For a unique moment, the Freedmens Bureau and many Radical Republicans actually sought to advance the interests of the black laborer. However, during the last period of Reconstruction called Redemption, the southern whites once again rose to power and enforced laws that restricted the freedoms of the black citizens. Redemption actually reversed many of the gains made by freedmen during Radical Reconstruction. But the unique attempt made by the United States to give equal rights to whites and blacks laid the foundation for the Civil Rights movement a century later.

Similarity

Many plantations that were once prosperous with slaves now found it difficult to stay open as the South struggled to find a source of cheap labor. While the North still wanted inexpensive supplies for their factories, they werent willing to sacrifice black rights. Plantations that had invested thousands of dollars on slaves now had to start over, paying the slaves for their labor for the first time. Some plantations couldnt withstand the financial blow, and fell apart. Occurring in both the U.S. South and the Caribbean, the collapse of plantations had a great effect on the economy. The collapse of the West Indian economies demonstrated to the United States the need for an organized labor force that would save the U.S. from a fate similar to the Caribbean.

D I f f e r e n c e
Sharecropping was a common farming technique used in the South following emancipation. Since the Black Codes restricted the ability of freedmen to own land, they were forced to farm the land already owned by white plantation owners. The plantation owners allowed tenants to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on the land. However, this forced freed blacks to be dependent on their former masters for land, hindering their ability to become independent. Sharecropping became the Souths replacement system of labor after the end of slavery in America, but it was not a common practice in the Caribbean, where many time the plantation system was reinstated or freedmen created their own subsistence farms. This picture depicts sharecroppers in the United States South.

Similarity/ connection

The plantations of the South and Caribbean were built around having extremely cheap slave labor. So when they no longer had this slave labor, they worked on trying to get foreigners from countries with failing economies to come in and work for cheap wages. While this labor was not as cheap as slaves, this new overseas source of labor still proved helpful to keeping the plantations running. The introduction of overseas labor was first used in the Caribbean, which influenced the United States to use foreign labor as well.

SIMILARITY
During the latest period of Reconstruction known as Redemption, laws restricting the rights and activities of freed black men were passed. These laws were known as Black Codes, which were designed to restrict black activity and ensure their availability as a labor force. Some laws gave blacks rights, such as legalized marriage and access to courts, but denied them the right to testify against whites, to serve in state militias, or to vote.

Other codes barred Americans from certain occupations, and some banned blacks from fishing or hunting on private or public property. Many times these laws were set up in the favor of the plantation owners in order to secure them a cheap labor force. For instance, many states required blacks to sign yearly labor contracts; if they refused, they risked being arrested as vagrants and fined or forced into unpaid convict labor. This picture depicts a freedman that violated a Black Code being auctioned off for free labor again.This forced freedmen to work for plantations again, and seriously hindered the ability for a freed slave to create an independent lifestyle. Similar laws were passed in the Caribbean, including the Haitian Code Rural, which were even stricter than the American Black Codes.

similarity

Following emancipation in both the Caribbean and the U.S. South, a recently reorganized tax system was enforced that gave the poor the heaviest burden of taxation. Since the South could no longer tax the slave trade, the local governments scrambled for a source of revenue. They turned to a decrease in land taxes for white owners only. They also increased material item taxes, but yet again exempted white plantation owners from paying taxes on much of their machinery. In an attempt to prevent blacks from owning property, the South taxed the poor the most, and gave them the least social services. This picture shows a typical house of a freed black man. Notice how it is poorly constructed and small, showing the grave effects of the unfair tax systems. Homes such as this one would be found in both the South in the United States and in the Caribbean.

S I m I l a r I t y
While the blacks were no longer slaves, they still lived with limited freedom. The government tried their hardest to make it almost impossible for blacks to have jobs separate from plantations. A big hit to the blacks was that the government greatly restricted their hunting ability. This made it quite difficult for them to become self sufficient. To make sure the blacks werent idle, they were required to have proof of their employment for the next year, and if they deserted the job at any point them would also be forfeiting their wages up to that time. And just to make sure they had to stay on plantations, the government made it so that freedmen could not rent land in rural areas. This pictures shows freedmen working on a plantation, demonstrating the return of freed slaves to their former owners in order to live. Restrictive laws were common in both the U.S. South and in the Caribbean, where labor laws were based on the need for a cheap labor force.

Bibliography & pictography

Foner, Eric. The Politics of Freedom. In America Compared: American History in International Perspective , 1991. Auction of Freedman. Painting. Visions of America. Accessed on June 12, 2013. http://www.picmonkey.com/p/czVXKMBpd0N Black Family At House. Painting. Visions of America. Accessed on June 11, 2013. http://www.picmonkey.com/p/9zEHbwvv7tD. Black Man at House. Photograph. Weebly.com. Accessed on June 10 2013, http://25126822.nhd.weebly.com/uploads/9/5/6/6/9566461/1487910.jpg?402. Black Men Voting. Painting. Visions of America. Accessed on June 13, 2013. http://www.picmonkey.com/p/jZEcCaU0jYB. Coolie Laborers. Photograph. Wikimedia.org. Accessed on June 10, 2013http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/84/Newly_arrived_coolies_in_Trinidad.jpg/300pxNewly_arrived_coolies_in_Trinidad.jpg. Emancipated Slaves. Painting. Wikipedia.org. Accessed on June 11, 2013. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:FriendsOfNegroEmancipation.jpg. Failing Plantation. Photograph. Prosper.edu. Accessed on June 10, 2013. http://prosper.cofc.edu/~atlantic/afterslavery/images/c1u1.jpg. Foreign Laborers. Photograph. Explore History. Accessed on June 11, 2013. http://explorepahistory.com/kora/files/1/2/1-2-1089-25-ExplorePAHistory-a0k6l2-a_349.jpg. Freedmen Working in Fields. Photograph. Sjsapush.com. Accessed on June 12, 2013. http://www.sjsapush.com/resources/slaves-in-field.jpg. Poor Plantation. Picture. Visions of America. Accessed June 10, 2013. http://www.picmonkey.com/p/aM76Di2JWAv The Two Platforms. Cartoon on Poster. Mymustardseeds.com. Accessed on June 13, 2013.http://www.mymustardseeds.com/uploads/4/3/6/6/4366955/9376206_orig.jpg?316.