EOTO & Mock Trial Reax II

It was nice to be on the side of the journalist for the first time during one of our class presentations. I got to hear some great points of view and learn a lot about the traumatizing and important case of Plessy v Ferguson. The side defending Ferguson obviously would have lost if this trial took place in today's world but if you put your mind to 1896 it would be a very even match. Although Plessy's side brought up very good points I think that they lost the trial. 

Plessy's side brought up some great points and they seemed to use the constitution a lot in their arguments. Although it makes sense to bring up a document that clearly states we are equal but that was not the case. I learned that there was actually a train car law in the state of Louisiana called The separate car act of 1890. Since Homer Plessy was even the slightest black (1/8th) he could not sit in the "whites only" train car.  

I was fascinated to hear one of my classmates say that if it is okay for a mammy to raise and nurture a master's child then how can both races not sit next to each other on a train. I did not know that a mammy was a real thing and that it was very common for a black female slave to basically raise a slaveowner's child.

Since I was on the EOTO side this time I had the chance to dive deep into the anti-black riots of the south after The Civil War. I mostly touched on the Memphis Massacre and I was in awe because of some of the gruesome stuff I learned about it. 

To sum it up I think both sides made some very challenging and thoughtful arguments to the case and I am always impressed to hear a fact that I did not know about. the history of the U.S never fails to shock me in good and bad ways but mostly bad.

Memphis Massacre of 1866

Most believe that the Civil War was the end of slavery in the U.S and that black and whites were finally equal and that ended up being nothing but the truth. With Abraham Lincoln being assassinated and Andrew Johnson stepping into office the recently freed slaves were everything but safe. The Union's victory over the Southern Confederates was indeed a monumental moment in U.S history but it did not solve every problem between whites and blacks. 

In 1866 Andrew Johnson vetoed a bill called the Civil Rights Act but it was actually the first ever bill that was overruled by the U.S congress. This bill granted all U.S citizens that were born in the U.S the same rights that the white males of America possessed. This Bill still did not include Native Americans or women of any color including white women. This caused an uproar in the racist communities of the south, especially in the large cities.

Since these African-American men and women were now free they were looking for a new home and many of them moved to the cities of the south like Memphis, New Orleans, and others. Memphis's black population grew by 17,000 in just the 5 years following the Civil War. As I said, white communities were not happy about this, and this caused even more hatred between the two races. 

Race-driven riots began to happen throughout the cities of the south where white people attacked black people. During this time one of the largest anti-black riots took place in the city of Memphis, TN. It is known today as the Memphis Massacre.

The night before the riots a street party organized by mostly black union soldiers took place and 4 officers were sent to stop it. A brawl broke out and 2 officers were killed. The next day an angry crowd of white citizens and officers was formed, and they walked through the streets waiting for the black Union Soldiers. Not finding anything or anyone they decided to just start wreaking havoc on all freedmen-owned establishments. They looted and burned black homes, schools, churches, and more while killing or assaulting every person who was there. These riots continued throughout the night of May 1st, 1866, and even into the next morning. As a result of this 46 black people were killed over 100 black citizens were robbed and 5 black women claimed to be raped. They also burnt down 4 black churches 91 homes and 12 black schools.

This angry mob basically either killed or destroyed everything owned by a black person in that town and it was a massive setback for the black community in Memphis and all around the U.S. The revenge taken for two dead white officers in Memphis (one by self-inflicted gunshot wound) was to basically rid the town of black people. These riots are some of the many stories that make you think about the gruesome and hate-filled history attached to the United States. 

In the end, I'd like to think that there is nothing like this going on in our world today and more importantly our country. Though I stand to be corrected as racist hate crimes and crowds of anti-black white people still exist to this day. It makes me wonder how important it is to know the history of where you live so that you do not repeat it. Some people may not know the past stories of the grounds they walk every day on.

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Band of Angels Reflection

Band of Angels starring Clarke Gable as Hamish Bond and Yvon De Carlo as Amantha Starr was truly an extraordinary film. I tend to enjoy older movies because of the things I learn about the era it was made in and how that affects the movie. This is a movie about a caucasian looking girl whose life changes when she finds out her father passed away and that she is not fully white. 

Following this Amantha Starr gets stripped of her lavish southern life and shipped off onto a slave trading ship to be sold to the highest bidder. Once arriving in Louisiana she is put up on the auction board and sold to Hamish Bond for five thousand dollars! With Amantha and the whole auction room in shock, Hamish takes her back to his estate in the city. 

Now Hamish was not like a regular southern slave owner he actually treated his slaves with the utmost respect as if they were his own family. What we then learn to realize is that one of the slaves named Rau-Ru believes that Hamish is putting this act on all for show. During this Amantha is wondering the same thing but she eventually finds her place in Hamish's estate and eventually enjoys it.

Yvon De Carlo and Clark Gable as Amantha Star and Hamish Bond

The ending of the movie shows us that Hamish actually used to be very cruel to his slaves previously and that now he just treats them well because of his own self-guilt. Rau-Ru decides to gather a crew and destroy Hamish. There Hamish reveals to Rau-Ru that he is in fact his son. The movie eventually ends with Amantha deciding to stay with Hamish instead of going back home to her roots and they live happily ever after.

Now this movie was very important in the eyes of slavery. Before in movies, you did not see this point of view of a white woman actor being shipped into slavery and being treated as if she was black. That in fact was the truth, because since Amantha's mother was a slave, she was considered half slave, therefore, she was not considered to be fully human. What I also learned is that there were nasty slave owners that actually went out of their way to find the histories of some people that had slave descent and they would capture and expose their true identity. In the end this movie just like Gone With The Wind gave me a fascinating new view of what it was like portraying slavery in cinema in the early-mid 1900s

America After The Civil War Documentary

The United States government was going through a change post-Civil War in every community. Previous slaves were officially free men and women during the Reconstruction Era, and many Americans were unhappy about it. Many amazing opportunities were finally opening up for black people because of the victory of the Northern Union and the completion of the 14th Amendment. This documentary did a good job touching on those opportunities, but it mainly focuses on the effect that it took on white people. Most importantly it touches on African Americans finally becoming involved in the government.

Joseph Rainey: The first African-American Government Official in the U.S

I learned that just about 10 years after The Civil War almost 1,500 African Americans held positions of power in the U.S Government. Fourteen of them were members of the U.S Congress and two of them were U.S Senators. Although this was great for America, not everyone thought this was. Even after the 14th amendment white people would still become shocked to hear they can't curse out or abuse black people and just get away with it like they used to. Also, following The Civil War was the creation of a horrible white supremacist group called the KKK (Ku Klux Clan). They were much stronger in the late 1800s and early 1900s than today but are still around. The group's main goal is to spite, attack, and to even kill any person of color they see because they believe they should have never been given rights. 

The Ku Klux Kiddies'

The Reconstruction Era should have been a glorious time of rejoicing for freed black slaves but instead, it came with danger. A good example of this is when a white man once said "any gain by a black man deprives a white man." Basically saying that every opportunity or accomplishment a black man took at the time was supposed to be for a white man. Black people at the time stayed together despite all of this happening and they had their places of worship to help them. The documentary stated that "churches became a cornerstone of the black community" and I believe that this was very important to them. In the end, this idea of discrimination has never stopped since the end of The Civil War because of the history we keep on creating.

RECONSTRUCTION: AMERICA AFTER THE CIVIL WAR 

Mock Trial I Reflection

 I think I would make a great lawyer when I am older because I enjoyed building and presenting my case in this activity. Not only did I learn a lot in the mock trial but I also think that it improved my public speaking skills. The mock trial was a little bit different than the town hall because of the research, but I thought that presenting both was very similar. We got to see each of the persecuting sides present one at a time, with my group defending John Mann going second.  

Hearing the side going against John Mann was very intriguing because they said a lot of stuff that I would say if I was actually persecuting John Mann. Some of the fascinating things I heard were how many other countries in the world abolished slavery decades before the United States did. For example, I never knew that Great Britain and Spain abolished slavery almost 30 years before America. Another thing I learned was that most white people in the states were not as wealthy as people thought. Many of them were just as poor as African Americans and they were just a step above them in society because they actually had rights. Not only that but a lot of whites worked on plantations as indentured servants and never made enough money for them to ever actually make their own living. This struck me because I believed that the majority of white people were much more wealthy than African American slaves. 

Some of the EOTO groups also gave an excellent description of the many important documents, moments, and laws in the building for or fight against slavery. Things like the Missouri Compromise, Emancipation Proclamation, Amistad Mutiny, Fugitive Slave Act, and many more. To sum it up I believed that the De Facto Slavery Era was a key time in the building of America and I learned a lot about the horrid history of slavery.

Defending John Mann vs The State of North Carolina

John Mann had been wrongfully accused of his actions against a rented slave, Lydia. I was assigned to achieve justice for Mann on his wrongful punishment of $10.  In the year 1829 Mann was punishing Lydia (a rented slave) by whipping her after she was being disobedient to her master. She then decided that she was going to attempt to run away during this. Mann fired a shot at her hitting Lydia in the back. Lydia was badly injured after this, but she eventually recovered and did not die. My argument was solely based on the principle of criminal law and property law as it was in the early 1800s. Therefore, I used the harsh slave laws and black codes in North Carolina at the time in my favor. 

This was the part of my argument that I used a lot of my research on. “Lydia was rented by him which means that Lydia is his property during the time he paid for. This means that he can do so what he pleases with his property. Also, slave owners have a right to punish their slaves if they are not listening because it makes them pay attention more and become more obedient. If they were not allowed to punish them slaves would have too much freedom and would not be able to listen as well. The property law of North Carolina as stated by the Black Codes says that slaves are on the same level of property as livestock. So, are you guys going to sit here and tell me that a man can't shoot one of his chickens or cows? Obviously, it doesn’t sound right but what would you do if one of your cows didn’t want to be in his barn anymore, so he just starts running away? I would try to catch them and if I don’t think I’ll get them then I would injure them so that it doesn't escape. I don’t see how this is illegal, it may be wrong, but it is not illegal or worth punishing.” 

Black Codes served a major part in eliminating basic rights for African American Slaves at the time

This trial was fascinating because of the many different counterparts that were involved in making the final decision. For example, the judge in this trial was a man named Thomas Ruffin and he played a very interesting role besides the fact that he was the judge. As the chief of Justice for the North Carolina Supreme Court at the time, this case and his decision were a very big deal. Ruffin’s opinion said, “The power of the master must be absolute, to render the submission of the slave perfect.” Now, this was of huge importance at the time because it stated that slaves had no right over their enslavers, and that slave owners could shoot slaves in the back and get away with it. Another fascinating thing was that Ruffin felt for Lydia and the slaves while being a slaveholder. Though he knew he could not go against the state and feel for a slave because he would lose everything he worked for.

Judge Thomas Ruffin

Not only was this a major court case that defined the rights between slave and slaveowner, but it also made known that in the state of North Carolina, slave abuse was allowed. Not only that but it was also made known that even if you believed in basic human rights, it is what mattered what the people think and not the judge of a court case. It is still looked at today as one of the many horrible ideologies that existed in the history of the United States. A country that was built on slavery and the abuse of African Americans.