From Whom Did Freedom Come From?

The essential question: Who 'gave ' freedom to enslaved Americans? Did freedom come from above or below? To what extent were Abraham Lincoln's actions influenced by the actions of enslaved American's

     In class, we focused on the essential question and deciding whether freedom given to the enslaved Americans came from above or below.   We also focused on Abraham Lincoln's actions and how they were influenced by the enslaved American's.  To better our understanding on the subject, we began by looking at an image of Abraham Lincoln freeing an enslaved man.

'Freedom to the Slaves'
http://www.edline.net/files/_DMF3y_/abfc09536fdb31443745a49013852ec4/Freedom_to_the_Slaves.jpg


  We then discussed what a social pyramid is and what it means for freedom to come from above or below.  Next, everyone looked at either Document X(letter from General Ambrose E. Burnside to Secretary of War Edwin M Stanton) or Document Y(the engraving).  These documents provided different examples of the actions the slaves were taking and how people reacted to them.  Lastly, we watched the Ken Burns Civil War Clips which described how the fugitive slaves began following the Union Army and Lincoln's actions that made differences and those that didn't.

   For example, in Document X, General Ambrose E. Burnside describes how all of the slaves from nearby plantations are looting the town that Burnside and his men took over.  He and his men were very anxious because there was such a large amount of  "fugitive"slaves whose behavior was wildly inappropriate since they were taking things from the residences and hiding from their overseers.  In this case the freedom comes from below since the slaves took action by escaping their plantations and looting the towns.

  Next, in the engraving, the slaves from Jefferson Davis' slaves just up and left his plantation and went to the bayou because they knew that the Union soldiers would be there and that they would provide protection. This is yet another instance of freedom from below since the slaves made the clever decision to not only escape their plantation but to run somewhere that they would be surely safe.


Engraving, “Slaves from the plantation of Confederate President Jefferson Davis arrive at Chickasaw Bayou, Mississippi,” 1863
 http://www.edline.net/files/_DMF2g_/25617cd6768f5fcd3745a49013852ec4/Docs_XY_Above__Below.pdf

  In life today, the freedom coming from either above or below is still an issue.  There are so many examples that could be said to describe how unjust society is today in certain aspects.  For example, there have been numerous instances in this past year such as the one in South Carolina where a colored man was killed on the spot /violently dealt with for no valid reason by a white officer.  Also, a recent popular topic is the Bruce Jenner gender change.  There was just an interview on Bruce Jenner where he told millions of people about the struggles he faced before he came out about being a woman and the horrible ways he is being treated by the public now.  He stated how it was impossible to get out of his home without the paparazzi snapping photos of his every move and harassing him about his gender identity.  These are just a few instances that show there really isn't any total freedom in the world today especially because of racism and gender identity acceptance.