Miscegenation - Marriage or cohabitation between a man and a woman of different races, esp., in the U.S. between a black and a white person (WEBSTER 865) There were very strict laws and punishment for the mixture of blacks and white in the late 1700's and through the 1800's. Generally the laws and punishments were very slanted against the black person especially if it happened to be a black male (Spickard 287). The reasons given back then for the harsh laws ranged from the Negro being savages, to the fact that they weren't Christians (DR. Schmidt lecture), but what was the real purpose? Were the whites afraid of the possibility that the blacks, if given the chance to assimilate into the white culture, would gain the power and the will to retaliate for the way in which they were treated?
There are some key beliefs in the racist ideologies of the time. There was the belief that
"some races are physically superior to others and that they can be ranked from strongest to weakest based on differences in longevity and rates of selected disease." There was also the belief that "some races are mentally
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superior to others and that races can be ranked from most intelligent to least intelligent." Also that " race determines temperamental disposition of individuals (Davis 23-25)." These beliefs are of course slanted in the favor of the white man, the fact they mention longevity and rates of selected disease ought to show to us that it favors whites. What were the reasons that the white person often outlived the black person? If you look at the conditions back then, you will find that the average slave diet consisted of fatty pork and corn meal (Dr. Schmidt lecture). This diet lacks some of the basic nutrients for the body to function effectively. The lack of proper nutrition leads to a weakened immune system, therefore causing more disease. The clothing was also very minimal. For a slave to have shoes in the winter was very rare. The housing was a shack, consisting of dirt floors, drafty walls, and usually no furniture (Dr. Schmidt lecture). This poor treatment and sub-standard living conditions would serve as a reason to explain why Negroes seemed to be the weaker race. We find that the whites have once again created another belief to fit their situation when they say Negroes appeared to be the least intelligent, but wouldn't the whites have been the same way if they had not been given any education and forbidden to learn how to read? Then the last belief also fit the "situation". A bad
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disposition or temperament should have been expected by the whites of the blacks. After all, what would the white's have done if a person of an opposite race took indecent liberties against them or their family or enslaved them?
The fact that whites in the south held views such as " All mixed races are inherently violent, incoherent, incapable of National Government, revolutionary, and are on the down grade of civilization... Miscegenation is a sin against God and a violation of the Laws of Nature ( Spickard 284)," led to some laws and punishment that were severe. Several of the Southern States passed a great deal of segregation statutes aimed at restoring the Negro to a very low status ( Davis 52). These statutes prohibited racial intermarriage, required separate seating on trains, busses, theaters, libraries, and stores. They also required separate schools, restrooms, drinking fountains, parks, swimming pools, and other public facilities. These statutes were taken to the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1896 they upheld the statutes and established " Separate but Equal." This Separate but Equal proclamation stated that " separation was ok as long as accommodations were equal (Davis 52)." Equal would be the key word here, compare fatty pork to lean steak, compare dirt floors to carpet.
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Laws against interracial marriages were aimed at punishing everyone that was involved, from the clerk who issued the license, to the couple getting married. The punishment ranged from a one- thousand dollar fine, to a ten year prison sentence (Spickard 286-287). The Black person often suffered from the harshest punishment. One example would be in 1640 when Robert Sweet was sentenced to do penance in church for getting a Negro woman pregnant. The Negro woman was sentenced to be whipped (Johnston 166).
There were also laws that were aimed at suppressing the movement of mulattos, with the hope of keeping them in a subordinate position in society. There was to be no secret slave meetings as this might lead to a slave insurrection (Johnston 185).
The legal side was not all that the Negro had to worry about because there were outside forces, as well as threats of force to keep the Negro in line. Lynching was the most common type of force used, along with being fired, loss of credit, loss of share cropping contracts, destruction of property, beatings, whipping, torture by cigarette burns, etc (Davis 53). These punishments were often times given out to Negroes for alleged acts, that were at times exaggerated, such as rape or attempted
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rape, killing a white, robbery, versus actions such as, insults on whites, trying to vote, or the fact that a Negro "didn't know their place (Davis 53)."
Ironically, while these men were trying to teach the Negro their place and protect the white womanhood, they were at the same time having coercive acts of sex with Negro women. Thus, these white men were causing miscegenation while trying to keep their race pure (Davis 55). The laws against these type of acts were non-existent. The acts of concubinage or cohabitation were the most common, these were the act of sex between a white male and a Negro woman, and the only act of miscegenation not against the law in most states (Spickard 287).
Earlier I mentioned that the white southerners had blamed the fact that the Negro was a savage and a non-Christian, as a reason for their treatment of the Negro. However, the period approaching the American revolution was filled with a class of Negro that no longer looked, thought, or acted like the African savages. During the first hundred years of slavery the Negro had taken on much of the white man's customs, lifestyles, and civilization ( Johnston 3-4). Several Negroes obtained their emancipation during this period of quote "Black Savagery" (Johnston 6). Some Negroes obtained emancipation through faithful service to their masters, for heroic deeds, and
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others through buying their emancipation. These emancipated
Negroes had such qualities as; fine characters, signs of intelligence, and superior qualities ( Johnston 6). Richard Pointer was one Negro that earned his freedom through bravery, a group of Indians attacked his master's home. He was helpful in repelling the first attack. He did this by fighting off a large number of Indians, this brave action allowed for the occupants to regroup, arm themselves and squash the Indian attack (10). A blacksmith of a physician served his master for twenty years while his master laid in bed unable to use his limbs. During this time and until his master died he served him faithfully as a blacksmith and as a personal body assistant (8). These are a few examples of assimilation that took place during this time and a good argument against the savagery of the Negro.
Then there was the opinion that the Negro was not a Christian and they must be saved from themselves. At the same time the whites were blaming the Negro for not being Christians the whites were passing laws stating that " conversion of the slave to Christian beliefs would not liberate him (Johnston 185)." Negro conversion was also opposed because the white feared that equal treatment in the church would lead to a growing dissatisfaction about their status and the Negro would want equal treatment in other areas. So we
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see that the reasons given for the Negroes slavery and treatment, were not only poor reasons, but that steps were taken to ensure that the assimilation of Negroes would not be a fast or smooth one.
There had to be other reasons why the whites acted as they did, but what were these reasons? Thomas Jefferson probably said it best when he said "Maintaining slaves was like holding a wolf by the ears-you didn't like it, but you were afraid to let it go (Dr. Schmidt lecture)." What the white culture had done was create their own wolf. If they allowed miscegenation, they not only went against their puritan history, but also caused a serious threat to slavery and the availability of the servile labor force (Porterfield 9). Why would miscegenation cause a drop in the labor force? This related to the Virginia act of 1662
Whereas some doubts have arisen whether a child got by an Englishman upon a Negro should be free or slave, be it therefore enacted by this present grand assembly, that all children born in this
country shall be bound or free according to the condition on the mother (Johnston 167).
This policy was generally adopted by the other colonies. Since more relations were happening between white males and black females there would seem to
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be more slaves available for the labor force, not less, as they believed.
Actually, what we see is that miscegenation would not have hurt the availability of the slave force. So why were they so afraid to let go of their wolf? Why was the punishment more severe for the Negro? Why was there such a push to prevent the assimilation of the Negro into the white culture?
The wolf as long as you have it by the ears cannot bite. Would the Negro bite if it was receiving good treatment? Probably not. After all, you would not want to bite the hand that was "feeding" you. We know that the treatment was poor, the food bad, the conditions sub- human, so perhaps the white man had reason to fear. Some slaves did take extreme measures against their masters. Some reactions would lead to a fight and even death in the worse cases (Johnston 20).
The extremes in punishment were apprehensive, a penance vs. a beating. What did the white's expect of the Negro? If a Negro said no, then there was a beating waiting for them anyway. If a Negro said yes, there was a hope of preferential treatment, maybe even an easier job. Why not punish the white who coerced these Negroes into a sexual episode? Because we didn't care really that white's were having coercive sexual acts, we cared more that we had a good slave population.
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Assimilation- that's what we were going to try to do. Train the black man to no longer be savages, and teach them the Puritan religion. Yet when all these things had come about, we turned a blind eye to them. Was it that we forgot we were wanting to reform them, or was this no longer our purpose?
What were whites really trying to accomplish? I think that whites were engrossed in the money, the wealth, and the social standing that came with owning slaves. For without the slave we would not have attained the great wealth that we had amassed, nor been able to think ourselves the supreme race because without a lower race you cannot have a supreme race.
No matter what the reasons were, I hope that as a nation the Americans have learned from this tragedy in time. Although this happened and we can't change it now, we can make sure that it does not happen again. We as a race, whether it be black or white, must learn that we are created equal. If we keep in mind that we all are equal then we will act responsibly in the future. As humans we must treat each other with equality, respect, and responsibility. Then and only then can we assure ourselves, our kids, and those who follow a better tomorrow.
