I have been teaching myself more about the US Civil War, the battle's between the Confederate States and the Union, and of the broken people that were left defend themselves from the white supremacy of the south after the war. Following the learning about the "40 acres and a mule" that the freed slaves were supposed to be given (but never did), I wondered what would have happened if the Union forced the previous slave owners to follow the rule, and the aftermath of the "African-American Exodus" west that in my opinion would have followed.
What I am extropulating is that the freedmen (term to describe the African-American slaves who were freed) sell their 40 acres only to use the money to move west and establish for themselves a figurative Zion for themselves in the West, similarly like the Mormon Exodus and hopefully not as sad and evil as the forced migration of the 5 Native-American nations on the Trail of Tears.
Keep in mind not all freedmen would move west, others would most likely move north to Canada/previous abolitionist states to avoid racial bigotry, or simply some would stay in the south and farm their share of the land.
So in this TL, "Carpetbaggers"- the term to describe the northern, and often times rich land grabbers that took advantage of the Reconstruction, moved south and bought the freedmans 40 acres, giving them the resources to buy the necessary supplies to move west.
But before I get to deep into this I want to establish a reason why the southern slave owners gave up their land to the freedman.
The Union Army, after winning the war, occupied the South and in our timeline protected the freedmens rights (i.e their right to vote or suffrage) from the angered slave owners. But when the UA moved out of the south after the compromise of 1877 (which ended Reconstruction) the slave owners smothered the freedman's right to vote. This was done by having a high poll tax and the corrupt forcible taking of the Competence Test by slaves.
But if Congress had force the slave owners to follow 40 acres and a mule, then the high poll tax wouldn't have been a problem like it was in our TL (the freedman were not given land so they rented it, Tenant Farming or they gave up most of their crop to the land owners, Share Cropping. Both examples leaving them with little money to spend on voting) and if Congress would have left (maybe) officials to watch over all elections of the south then it would iradicate the the Competence Test problem, although it would not have stopped the necessity of the Test, but would have given fair chances to everyone, both whites and blacks of the south.
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(To Be Continued? Tell me how I did for my first TL/POD and give me advice please and thank you
)
What I am extropulating is that the freedmen (term to describe the African-American slaves who were freed) sell their 40 acres only to use the money to move west and establish for themselves a figurative Zion for themselves in the West, similarly like the Mormon Exodus and hopefully not as sad and evil as the forced migration of the 5 Native-American nations on the Trail of Tears.
Keep in mind not all freedmen would move west, others would most likely move north to Canada/previous abolitionist states to avoid racial bigotry, or simply some would stay in the south and farm their share of the land.
So in this TL, "Carpetbaggers"- the term to describe the northern, and often times rich land grabbers that took advantage of the Reconstruction, moved south and bought the freedmans 40 acres, giving them the resources to buy the necessary supplies to move west.
But before I get to deep into this I want to establish a reason why the southern slave owners gave up their land to the freedman.
The Union Army, after winning the war, occupied the South and in our timeline protected the freedmens rights (i.e their right to vote or suffrage) from the angered slave owners. But when the UA moved out of the south after the compromise of 1877 (which ended Reconstruction) the slave owners smothered the freedman's right to vote. This was done by having a high poll tax and the corrupt forcible taking of the Competence Test by slaves.
But if Congress had force the slave owners to follow 40 acres and a mule, then the high poll tax wouldn't have been a problem like it was in our TL (the freedman were not given land so they rented it, Tenant Farming or they gave up most of their crop to the land owners, Share Cropping. Both examples leaving them with little money to spend on voting) and if Congress would have left (maybe) officials to watch over all elections of the south then it would iradicate the the Competence Test problem, although it would not have stopped the necessity of the Test, but would have given fair chances to everyone, both whites and blacks of the south.
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(To Be Continued? Tell me how I did for my first TL/POD and give me advice please and thank you