The Civil War in America occured between 1861 and 1865. Though it was not a long war, it was one of the bloodiest America has seen yet. It turned North and South against each other for economic and social reasons. Not only did the conflict arise because of the disagreement on slavery, but states rights and state soveriegnity also were being argued over. The Constitution was also came into play, when dealing with slavery and immigration rights. Currently, in South Africa, a similar war is going on that has lasted for over 40 years and it is called Apertheid. Both of these conflicts have many things in common, including colonization, land ownership, and faulty constitutions.
During the civil war, there was the obvious black and white separation. After, however, more immigrants started moving into the US, looking for jobs. Italians, Irish, Polish, and Chinese all came over and tried to work in the industrial areas of the North. This created tension with the just freed slaves, who were trying to get the same jobs as these immigrants. Nonetheless, all Caucasians still treated them harshly, got paid more, and did not have such hard labor or dangerous jobs. During the Apertheid, there was tension between the Africans and the whites, Africans and the Indians, and the Africans and the "coloreds", meaning anyone who is mixed. All of these different races were legally separated from the whites, and sent to live in townships out of the city. Their homes, good education, and voting rights were all stripped away from them, and they were deemed inferior to the Whites. In revolt, the other races would rob, rape, or commit other crimes against the Caucasians, which caused them to built high fences around their yards to protect themselves. Both America and South America had a lot of racial tension, and both still have it today, although it has calmed down.
Though it was never in the United States Constitution, the prominent land owners in America were white. There was no rule against other ethnicities owning land, but most of them couldn't afford it anyways. Most immigrants came over to America with barely any money looking for work, not for land. Since almost all of them were discriminated against and had horrible wages, it would take years to save up to buy land. During Apertheid, it was a law that only Caucasians could own land. All other races were legally not allowed to. Both countries had white land ownership.
Another thing both countries had in common were faulty Constitutions. The US's Constitution had blurred lines on Africans. It did not state whether blacks were property or people, so America came up with the 3/5 clause, stating that they were 3/5 person and 3/5 property. Obviously, it didn't work. There was also the "fugitive slave clause", which stated that any slave that ran away to a free state was returned to their master, which contradicted some states that said once you walked into their borders you were a free human. The Constitution since then has been changed. In South Africa, the Constitution banned all Coloreds and Blacks from voting or participating at all in the government. Later, the country threw out their Constiution and came up with a whole new one in 1996.
So although these two countries are on complete different continents, they both endured the same problems. Even with different economic standings, the two have many things in common when it comes to how their government has changed over time. Both countries faced racial tension, the same land ownership, and bad constitutions.
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13 comments:
I learned that the civil war was one of the bloodiest battles in US history. I learned that Apartheid and civil war conflicts have similar problems. Racial segregation was one of the similar problems, in both the civil war and Apartheid conflicts. In Apartheid, the Africans were legally separated from the whites, and sent to live in townships outside the city. After the civil war freed black slaves wanted to get jobs, but also the Caucasians wanted to get work. So the bosses gave Caucasians better wages and better working conditions, but the Africans were given lower wages and bad working conditions.
Yo! i enjoyed reading your blog. it was cool how you brought up the facts blacks were the only races that were treated to badly or discriminated upon so much. But all immigrants were treated badly as well. But the blacks deffinatly had it the worst. I like how you pointed out that there wasn't a part of the constition that stated on;y white men could own land. It was just that other races weren't able to save enough money to buy land.
wow i cant belive Apartheid and the civil war were so similar. like in the old days blacks and whites were seperated in two different communitys and Caucasians would fight and say that why should they get better jobs than us? like why make more money then us? and so blacks would always get less wage and no benefits at all
Well put. The comparison to Appartheid is cool. You actually remembered to compare the past and present. Keep on it. If this is what we can expect, at least I won't be bored commenting.
This is a significant relation between the wars in America and South Africa. Like you said, both had many comparisons, such as colonization, land ownership, and faulty constitutions. Though the war in Africa was 40 years long, the war was for the same purposes: to become a nation and slavery. Many have died in both wars to fight for what’s right. Both these wars were important in history and are other examples in reformation of nations.
It's insane how long Apartheid lasted. You'd think the more freedom the easier it'll be, but when the black southerners actually gained some rights, the war against inequality just became harder. I mean, if the blacks rebelled once, what did they think was going to happen if they kept treating them unfairly?! I'm glad you talked about the 3/5 clause as well. I didn't really understand it fully, but this cleared it up. The Civil War and Apartheid were almost identical in what they fought for, so I think in reality the Civil War really lasted 44 years! Cool blog Amanda. :)
Really good blog. That apartheid lasting for 40 years is extremely depressing. I couldn't imagine living like the south Africans did for that long period of time. I also like how you commented on Caucasians role in both of the conflicts, not that Caucasians are problem causers. You really did a good job telling what the Africans did to fight back against the whites in South Africa
Good job Amanda! That is crazy that the Apertheid war lasted so long. Slavery and the Apertheid were a lot alike and also different. I like how you go into detail about how they all connected to eachother. Its interesting to see how badly certain people were treated then and how things are now.
Your blog was very interesting i did not know that other races started migrating into the us immediately after the civil war. It unbelievable how Caucasions could be so cruel to anyones skin whos wasnt as pale as them. I kno that in america they considered Africans to be animals not humans but majority of their protests were none violent. THen on the other hand you see Caucasions sicking dogs on ppl, firehoses, and so much more horrible acts. Who do you really think looks like the animal in these situations
The Apartheid and the Civil War were both bloody, similar, and left a lot of history to the world and still leave an imprint on the Earth. Both fought for many things that were very similar. Very good comparing and contrasting.
Amanda!
Great job on comparing the two. The way you described the events that occurred and the racial tension between the two races was very in-depth. It seemed as if you were almost there. There were many similarities yet many differences too and you showed that. Great job Amanda it was astonishing! =]
Isn't that crazy how the Constitution left out anything about black people and slaves? I find it absolutely insane. It's as if these people decided to forget entirely other races, or just were simply ignorant and didn't know about black people. It's cool that you linked Apartheid with conflicts during and after the Civil War.
I see how Africa and America's problems where a like but I still don't understand why it took Africa 40 years to end their apartheid. I liked how you thoroughly explained the problems and similarities it really helped me and gave me a nice review. I am very glad to see that in current America we are all equal...yes we still have tension but we will probably have said tension for a long time because they his how people are..unfortunatly. Very well said blog.
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