Without gettig too unrealistic, and with a POD after 1800, what is the best that can be realistically done for the black population in the United States?
Best Case Plausible Scenario for US Blacks by 1900
- Thread starter DominusNovus
- Start date
Probably something that gets them out of the United States altogether and allows them to construct their own society. The US was almost intrinsically designed to keep Blacks down, and while some work has been done to unwind this by 2017 I see no plausible way to get the US in 1900 to allow for the basic dignity that is barely within sight even today. A country of their own would allow the Black population, or at least the wealthy and educated part of it (gotta love intersectionality...), a chance at that dignity.
The human resources in that community was more than adequate in the 19th century to construct a society as prosperous per capita as the other Western societies, the challenge is suitable real estate. OTL's Liberia experiment is a great example of how such a project could massively backfire, but there were large territories in the world that are not disease ridden and already highly populated. Still, it is hard to see how they could get access to a good territory... perhaps a British win over the US at some point in the early 19th century that nets some large territories in the North American interior/Pacific Coast could be followed up with a British invitation to African Americans to come and settle so as to prevent the US from re-acquring it? Followed later by strong US encouragement to freed slaves to also migrate there? Pretty marginal in terms of initial plausibility, but probably quite self-sustaining when/if it gets going.
The human resources in that community was more than adequate in the 19th century to construct a society as prosperous per capita as the other Western societies, the challenge is suitable real estate. OTL's Liberia experiment is a great example of how such a project could massively backfire, but there were large territories in the world that are not disease ridden and already highly populated. Still, it is hard to see how they could get access to a good territory... perhaps a British win over the US at some point in the early 19th century that nets some large territories in the North American interior/Pacific Coast could be followed up with a British invitation to African Americans to come and settle so as to prevent the US from re-acquring it? Followed later by strong US encouragement to freed slaves to also migrate there? Pretty marginal in terms of initial plausibility, but probably quite self-sustaining when/if it gets going.
I’ll have to disagree strogly with the idea that the US itself was designed to keep blacks down, but lets just focus on ideas other than “get rid of them.”
Sure, if you'd like the parameters to include "must remain in the US" the best possible case would probably be something along the lines of some early minor PoD that sees some more success for the Black community in the early 19th century combined with a properly successful reconstruction, something akin to what happened in Male Rising. If it can be managed, though this is hard, a major war in the late 19th century in which the United States is forced to use large numbers of 'Coloured' troops similar to OTL's WW2 could be very helpful. Whether or not you disagree with "designed to keep Blacks down" the core issue for Black people in the US was institutional racism, and as such it would require an institutional fix. OTL's successes have mostly come from Blacks gaining some access to political power, so speeding this up is probably the most straightforward way to improve their lot.
Can't give much detail on that I'm afraid, my knowledge of American history has a pretty big hole in the 1815-1860 period beyond broad strokes. So someone more knowledgable might be able to provide a more concrete answer, but my general impression of the period is that while it lacked much chance for radical change there was still a lot of incremental progress in the North at least. So my general view on that would be for more individual African-American politicians, or leaders of any type for that matter, to have more success in their careers. This in turn has a similar effect in any period, that is to encourage others to be more successful or to give them the opportunities to do so. The overall effect of this would be to create a Black community that post-ACW (assuming it happens on schedule) is more organised and capable of taking advantage of the new political environment. Beyond this fairly vague outline though I can't give anything else, I would struggle to even name individuals who could have had more success, so somebody else would need to provide more detail on this matter.
History Learner
Banned
I can think of only two opportunities:
A) No Civil War - Have the war be avoided, such can be easily achieved, and ultimately I could foresee slavery dying out by the 1890s or so. At that point, without the Civil War having thoroughly wrecked the South and with the now-ex planters having capital to pay wages instead of developing the share-cropper system, the new freedmen can transition into wage laborers. Such grants them more economic power than they held historically, and also avoids the racial violence that was exhibited IOTL in order to keep them tied to the land. Avoiding the racial animosities the Civil War and Reconstruction stoked would also definitely be a major plus.
B) Longer Civil War - In the closing months of the war, Lee and Davis both had became pretty staunch advocates of inducting hundreds of thousands of Blacks into the armed forces in exchange for emancipation for said soldiers and their families, dependent upon good service. Now, the Confederate Congress was unwilling to do such, but did ultimately pass legislation to do such and units were beginning to be raised by March of 1865; obviously the end of the war came before such could happen. Extending the war out for a few additional months to a year gives time for these formations to enter service, and their participation in the conflict could be key to changing Southern opinions with regards to the ex-slaves Post War. This obviously won't effect the North, apply to all Blacks (USCT would still be viewed with great disdain, for example), or end the concept of White racial superiority at all, but it will still improve the lot in life of several hundred thousand to possibly over a million Blacks in the South after the war as Southern Whites would view them as "Our Negroes".
A) No Civil War - Have the war be avoided, such can be easily achieved, and ultimately I could foresee slavery dying out by the 1890s or so. At that point, without the Civil War having thoroughly wrecked the South and with the now-ex planters having capital to pay wages instead of developing the share-cropper system, the new freedmen can transition into wage laborers. Such grants them more economic power than they held historically, and also avoids the racial violence that was exhibited IOTL in order to keep them tied to the land. Avoiding the racial animosities the Civil War and Reconstruction stoked would also definitely be a major plus.
B) Longer Civil War - In the closing months of the war, Lee and Davis both had became pretty staunch advocates of inducting hundreds of thousands of Blacks into the armed forces in exchange for emancipation for said soldiers and their families, dependent upon good service. Now, the Confederate Congress was unwilling to do such, but did ultimately pass legislation to do such and units were beginning to be raised by March of 1865; obviously the end of the war came before such could happen. Extending the war out for a few additional months to a year gives time for these formations to enter service, and their participation in the conflict could be key to changing Southern opinions with regards to the ex-slaves Post War. This obviously won't effect the North, apply to all Blacks (USCT would still be viewed with great disdain, for example), or end the concept of White racial superiority at all, but it will still improve the lot in life of several hundred thousand to possibly over a million Blacks in the South after the war as Southern Whites would view them as "Our Negroes".
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A bit of an overstatement. Blacks were never important enough for society to be "designed" to keep them down (except of course in the South during slavery).
What is true is that they were a low priority, and were only ever going to get what whites didn't want, or that whites wouldn't be inconvenienced by. So the chances of them getting a decent part of the Territories are minimal. Maybe New Mexico, or the Dominican Republic had it been annexed.
Perhaps if the ACW ends after Gettysburg, the South is less ruined so that they (and poor whites) can be paid wages instead of sharecropping. But the improvement over OTL is likely to be pretty modest.
History Learner
Banned
Completely unfeasible, as there was no political will to do such in the North and such measures would be sufficient to provoke ex-Confederates into insurgency.
Perhaps the Republican party creating black "homelands" would do the trick say a part of the American west is designated as a region for black settlement and the freedmen's bureau assists freed slaves in moving there for settlement. This gives the freed slaves a chance to develop their own institutions free from share cropping and racial oppression and it would also lead to black senators and representatives in congress which could lead to more acceptance not to mention having positions of power to advocate against racism. And the Republicans can sell it to the north by saying it's to promote separation of the races. If you really want to stretch things have the north turn South Carolina over to black leadership it was something like 60% black. Appoint Fredrick Douglas governor break up the foreclosed estates instead of selling them. The black population from the south will quickly pour in to escape jim crow. and the Republicans now have four senate seats on lock.
The South Carolinians started the war, and they're mostly black anyway, just let the freedmen have the state and maybe mississippi and some territory in the west, boom, 6 black senators and a decently large number of representatives and electoral votes to put pressure on national politics to improve things for black nationwide.
Perhaps having the 1920s immigration restrictions adopted a few decades earlier? I've seen it asserted that said restrictions were a boon to African Americans in Northern cities, since they had previously been in competition with European immigrant labourers. Earlier immigration restrictions means a lower supply of labour and therefore higher wages and less unemployment. Theoretically.
What if there was an insurgency first? Some terrorist group starts a campaign against northern Unionists. The vengeance mentality in the North could then take off.
I think the critical thing is getting black people lane and federal protection.
History Learner
Banned
Such was considered by Lee and Johnston both, but was mutually rejected as unfeasible; the people of the South were tired and the peace terms lenient.
POD after 1800. That leaves you 8 years of the atlantic slave trade.