No Real Freedom According to Norviel

1. The main point that Zinn is trying to get across in “Slavery Without Submission, Emancipation Without Freedom” is that even though after a lot of struggling to be free, the African Americans were not given the same rights and privileges that the white’s had.
2. In the beginning of the reading Zinn talks about the hardships and abuse that the slaves were put through. They were separated from their families at all ages, not know if they were ever going to see each other ever again. They were then forced to work in fields and in homes for their white owners, with only whippings and little food given to them in return for their hard labor. In the reading Zinn quotes another, saying that by the blacks raising their children to be slaves is only adding to their situation, and that they too are responsible for what they are put through by bringing their children in the world to go through the same things that they are. Later on in the reading the author talks about Lincoln working to grant the slaves their freedom. Although they were said to be “free men” and did not have to work for the white men anymore, they were not granted the same rights as the whites were. They were still not allowed to bear arms, own land, and were paid less for doing the same work that a white man is doing. At the end of the writing Zinn questions the motive of Was Du Bois. He asks if the growth of capitalism is in a way making not only blacks but whites slaves of their own country. Since capitalism is such a major focus point in America, people are forced to work and produce profit in order to ensure their survival, much like slavery.
3. Does Zinn not think that we have made any progress, that slavery has just been masked but not really completely abolished? If the focus on capitalism was not made into a main focus what would our country be like today? Would people live more equally, and would we be as advanced as we are not?
4. I personally was not all that overly fond of the reading. It was rather boring and had too many quotes in it, that at times seemed to be quite pointless.