The Reality of a Past

By Arthur Hathaway

There had been dramatic changes from the time Africans were brought to the Americas to the time they had free choice to leave if desired. There have been different sets of laws that have controlled the enslaved Africans and freed Africans. Slave codes before the emancipation, black codes during emancipation, and then Jim Crow laws after emancipation have contributed to the restricted movement and growth of the African American ancestors.
African American history over the years has been diluted, revised, or even deleted from American history. Some events have been stored deep in the archives of American history. All history (good and bad) needs to be shared among people you associate with at different levels to avoid past misfortunes. It’s not to pursue anyone to redirect their life but to understand a history and not step on a past in a disrespectful way.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arthur Hathaway
• Release date: Jan 16, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005679682

Arthur Hathaway

Arthur L Hathaway is a writer, author, educator and entrepreneur with a passion for history. He is the author of several small writings, and was the editor/writer of a San Diego, CA based Church newsletter. Arthur has written numerous articles during his professional career along with a monthly financial newsletter entitled “Your Finances.”As the historian of his family’s linkage, Arthur researched and accumulated historical data he felt should be shared with the family. However, after reviewing all the data, he realized that the information collected should not be for one family or group of people. It should be distributed to all in need of knowing who he as a people really is. Arthur felt that if someone could see what was developed through his research, they may have a better understanding of who he is as a person and a people. He understands that yesterday’s problems are also today's’ problems. If we can review yesterday to see what has changed and what has not, we might help solve some of the problems of today.He started researching family history as a young man, when realizing that he did not know who he was. An open conversation with a group of people of different ethnic backgrounds sparked his interest. They started talking about their heritage, along with homeland, culture, and customs. Arthur only knew that he was born in Kentucky and there were family in Tennessee and Florida”. At the time, that’s all he knew. This created a great void in him, which started his journey for questions and answers of who he really was. Arthur needed to fill that emptiness from within.

Book preview

The Reality of a Past

Through My Eyes Enterprise

Presents

________________________________________

The Realities of a Past

Looking Back to Stay Ahead

by

Arthur L Hathaway

Copyright 2019 Arthur L Hathaway

All rights reserved. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise without prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by United States of America copyright law.

Published by Through My Eyes Enterprise

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Table of Contents

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

THE PROMISE

The U.S. Constitution

The Bill of Rights

LAWS OF CONFINEMENT

Slave Codes

Black Codes

Peonage - Prison System

Jim Crow Laws

AFRICAN AMERICANS TOWNSHIPS

Unofficial List of Freedom's Towns

Eatonville, Florida - 1887

Boley, Oklahoma - 1903

Allensworth, California - 1908

Urban Cities - The Great Migration

COLORS OF DESTRUCTION

Natchez, Mississippi, 1865

Colfax, Louisiana - 1873

Wilmington, North Carolina - 1898

Red Summer - 1919

Ocoee. Florida - 1920

Greenwood, Tulsa, OK - 1921

Rosewood, Florida - 1923

THE BLACK CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

The African American Church

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

National Urban League (NUL)

Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA)

The Nation of Islam (NOI)

Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU)

Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

The Black Panther Party

The Rainbow Coalition

People Unity to Save Humanity (PUSH)

Black Lives Matter (BLM)

ACHIEVEMENTS DURING THE MOVEMENT

Standing and Marching for Justice

U.S. Civil Rights Acts

Individuals Taking a Stand

Political Gains

Affirmative Actions

The African American History Museum

My Thoughts

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Introduction

Watch Night / Freedom Eve (1862)

Emancipation Day / Juneteenth (1865)

Kwanzaa (1966)

Black History Month (1976)

Black Music Appreciation Month (1979)

Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday (1983)

Black Love Day (1993)

My Thoughts

EXPRESSIONS THROUGH SONGS AND WORDS

A Change is Gonna Come

People Get Ready

Respect

Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud

Young, Gifted and Black

What's Going On

When the Revolution Come

The Revolution will not be Televised

Living in the City

Get Up, Stand Up

Earlier Voices of Encouragement

My Thoughts

BLOOD RELATIONSHIPS

Blood Lines

The One-Drop Rule

Miscegenation and Interracial

Separation of Relations

The African Origin

The European Connection

The Native Americans Connection

The Mexican Connection

The Canadian Connection

My Thoughts

IDENTITIES

Race and Color

Ethnicity

Identity Transition

The Real 'N' Word

My Thoughts

SUMMARY

Acknowledgements

Message from the Author

Endnotes

Preface

African American history over the years have been diluted, revised or even deleted from American history. Some events have been stored deep in the archives of American history.

All history (good and bad) needs to be shared among people you associate with at different levels to avoid past misfortunes. It’s not to pursue anyone to redirect their life, but to understand a history and not step on a past in a disrespectful way.

Remember, you cannot change the past, but know of it and learn from it. You can than have an impact on the present to help change the future.

And again, I am not trying to please anyone, but pleasing man is only a bi-product of pleasing God. I only want to inform you of a part of American history, so that you may understand. And if needed, use this information to know of a history that’s not presented in plain view. As we live in the Present, we must know our Past in order to preserve our Future.

Introduction

There had been dramatic changes from the time Africans were brought to the Americas to the time they had free choice to leave if desired. There have been different sets of laws that have controlled the enslaved Africans and freed Africans. Slave codes before the emancipation, black codes during emancipation, and then Jim Crow laws after emancipation have contributed to the restricted movement and growth of the African American ancestors.

The American Revolutionary and Civil War were at different times, as well as for different causes. The American Revolution fought for separation and independence from the British, while the Civil War fought to bring a country back together. Freedom for the enslaved was only conditional on solidifying the Union and Confederate states. President Lincoln made it known that his paramount objective was to save the union. Maintaining or destroying slavery would factor in only to redeem the Union.

The early civil rights acts were to protect the rights of all citizens, but at times came up short. This was the start of a new land, new government, and new laws that initially did not include the freed Africans.

African Americans have protested America’s actions and behaviors through marches, music and even violence. There are those who moved from the background to the forefront forming organizations that advocated change.

With that said, let’s continue reviewing the Post Civil War History and I will leave it up to you to consume it, verify it and pass it on.

A Vision Through My Eyes

Let me take you on a journey into a past.

And as your guide, you will view history through my eyes

You may have seen this history many times,

But never have you seen it through my eyes

Your world and my world in reality are the same.

We share the same history, but looking through my eyes will give you a different point of view.

Having a different perspective will determine what you will see.

Your outlook will be changed when you have seen

Through My Eyes

Take this journey with me, so you will KNOW!

The Promise

The United States Government promised through legislatures to establish a government system to represent and serve all of its people.

The U.S. Constitution

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

The Constitution of the United States is considered the foremost piece of legislature regarding the implementation and authorization of legality and lawfulness within the United States. It outlined a legislative system framework with an identifiable statute reflecting the legal guidelines imposed concerning the relationship between the United States Federal Government and its collective citizens. However, the Constitution intended to clarify that slavery existed only under state law, not federal law. And unlike the U.S. Constitution, the pre-Civil War Constitution of the Confederate States mentioned slavery by name and specified African Americans as the subject

Slavery was implicitly permitted in the original Constitution through provisions such as Article I, Section 2, Clause 3, commonly known as the Three-Fifths Compromise. This provision reads: Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other Persons. The term all other Persons was used in the Constitution to define slave or slavery.

The Three-Fifths Compromise was an agreement reached among state delegates during the 1787 United States Constitutional Convention.¹ This agreement determined how slaves would be counted when defining a state's total population for legislative representation and taxing purposes was important. This population number would then be used to determine the number of seats that the state would have in the United States House of Representatives for the next ten years. It also changed the basis for assessing wealth of each state and tax obligations. The South objected to the taxes paid due to their slave count as part of the calculation. It would however, increase the political power of the slaveholding states.

In Article 4 Section 2 Clause 3 of the Constitution, known as the Fugitive Slave Clause, slavery is defined as a person held to service or labor. It states, No Person held to Service or Labor in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labor, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labor may be due. In more direct terms, it states that a slave who flees to another state will be returned to the owner in the state from which that person escaped.

The Bill of Rights

The Bill of Rights is a set of Amendments to the Constitution to protect individual rights belonging to all Americans, such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom from cruel and unusual punishment. These Amendments are called the Reconstruction Amendments because they were passed during the Reconstruction Era. They had significant impacts on the lives of African Americans. ²

Amendment XIII

This amendment was passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, and proclaimed on December 18, 1865. Section one of this amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for a crime making all its forms illegal. The second section gave Congress the right to pass legislation to ensure that the first section's provisions are adequately enforced. After its passing, the Three-Fifths Compromise and the Fugitive Slave Clause were nullified.

Amendment XIV

The Fourteenth Amendment, adopted on