Literature and Life

SLAVERY
Slaves were shipped into the American States from Africa in the 1600s to work mainly as miners and planters, and some worked as servants. Slaves were mostly concentrated in the Southern states, as they planted cotton. America at a point of time was producing two thirds of the worlds cotton, and all those were built on the backs of the slaves. Traditionally, slaves were owned by the Spanish who colonized the area in present day Florida. Slaves were not allowed to learn how to read and write, to leave the owners house without a pass or possess weapons to prevent them from attempting to escape from slavery. All these laws and labor intensive jobs make the whites think and have a stereotype on African Americans (as slaves are predominantly African Americans), thinking that they are of a lower class than themselves, and thus they have little to no say on court due to this stereotyping, which was displayed in the story.

THE CIVIL WAR
The Southern states are made up of South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and formed the Confederate States, and warred against the Union, led by Abraham Lincoln, who proclaimed war against the Southern States. The Civil war lasted from 1861 to 1865, and resulted in Union victory. The war started as a result of the presidential election, making Lincoln President, and he wanted to free all slaves. Slaves were the driving force of the South's economy, as they produced cotton that were planted and harvested by slaves, and they were, at a point in time producing 2/3 of the worlds cotton, and they even called cotton "White Gold".

JIM CROW"S LAWS
Jim Crow's Laws were a series of law that discriminated the African Americans. Jim Crow's Laws originated from a song and dance about African Americans, performed by Thomas D. Rice, called "Jump Jim Crow". The laws discriminated the African Americans and led to segregation of placing in the military, schools, the usage of public facilities such as water fountains, transportation and washrooms. The African Americans were displeased about these laws and started Civil Rights moments to prove that they are worthy to be Americans and treated equally as Americans. In the story, the people thinks that the black man raped a white woman, but in fact, it was the white girl's fault, and the black man was the victim, but these laws made the black man have no say, and in the end forced him to take his own life.