Representation of Reconstruction Era in Howard Fast's Novel 'Freedom Road'

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Representation of Reconstruction Era in Howard Fast’s Novel ‘Freedom Road’

Freedom Road by Howard Fast is a historical fiction novel based on the Reconstruction era after the American Civil War. This novel emphasizes the racial impact on the African-American society transitioning from slavery to living a civil life. It elaborates on the superiority of racism during the 19th and 20th centuries. The events that occurred in the novel are fiction but they took place during a distinctly important and problematic time period in history.

In the novel, Gideon Jackson was a slave in South Carolina and fought during the American Civil War. African-Americans in their community were treated with massive disrespect, as if they were criminals, and as if they brought violence with them wherever they went. The white man paused, looked at Gideon out of a pair of very cool blue eyes, and made as to walk on. Gideon sensed something of the struggle inside the other, a southerner born and bred in the south, hating a slave system that made him a landless scavenger, but hating Negros too because of the economics that forced him into their class, his white skin the only badge of respect left (Fast). When the African-Americans were slaves, they did all the agricultural work for the white people. They were able to succeed and rank as a high class and treat their slaves like animals and gave them no credit for labor. Jackson had to treat Anderson Clay with respect because of his badge of skin color because of the vast majority of white supremacists within the southern states. Jackson was a symbolic figure in his community because of his desire for equality within the African-American community and his neighborhood. Jackson was later picked by his community to represent his state in the new state government in the US House of Representatives. Jackson was able to reconstruct democracy and bring freedom and equality in the South. He granted the equal rights to free public education, right to vote, and the right to own property or properties. With being able to write a new Constitution for his state, it brought everyone to unite as one whole peaceful community, regarding race. Everything was going amazing for Jackson, his family, and his community. His son went off to become a doctor, Jackson learned how to properly read and write and then his family learned, and he was able to build a house for him and his family. He was able to do all this with the help of the union army occupation.

Furthermore, everything took a turn when their equal protections were taken away by Abraham Lincoln’s party, the Republican Party. Because the whole future of this country is at stake. Because when we fought our revolution, when we fought our civil war, we were moving down a proud and shining road, what people call a hallelujah road. We were moving with all the good men who lived behind us, and we turn our face to darkness. For how long, Mr. President? How many shall have to die before we can call this a government of the people, by them and for them? (Fast). Organizations who highly opposed the African-American community were formed to overthrow their equal rights into the community. It was a grand spark of racism. The Ku Klux Klan was organized and wanted to pursue war with Jackson including with his family and with his community to end Reconstruction. The attack from the KKK did not well, Jackson and other freedom fighters were outnumbered and outgunned and were eventually defeated by the KKK. This resulted in a negative way, equal education, equal rights, and property and land rights were all taken away. They were left to misery, poverty, and with no equal rights.

In 1861 to 1865 marked the deadliest war ever fought on the United States with the killings of 620,000 soldiers. The American Civil War was a war between the states and was caused because of the tensions between the northern and southern states. During this time, the 19th century, the United States was expanding and growing economically. Tension started because in the south, slavery and racism was a major conflict in the South, African-Americans did not have the same equal rights as any other citizen. Before the Civil War, the south’s economy depended on their slaves. Their slaves did all the farming labor and growing for them. The northern states were doing great in the industry and okay in agriculture because farmers owned small farms and properties. The Reconstruction era followed after the Civil War. The purpose of the Reconstruction era was to bring the divided Northern and Southern states to come together to unify as one whole nation, including African-Americans. With Reconstruction, there were people who opposed this and organized their own group. The Ku Klux Klan or the KKK, is the oldest hate group that was founded in 1865. The goal of the Ku Klux Klan was to regain white supremacy within the Southern states following the Reconstruction era. Under the law for every state, it was mandatory to follow the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution that every ex-slave has equal protection. The KKK was most known because of their violence and terrorism towards African-Americans. The KKK took in a massive role in violence, killing or bringing violence to those who were African-American and were in office.

To conclude, the novel showed aspects of the racial impact on African-Americans or ex-slaves during earlier centuries. Jackson had the chance to successfully change the states Constitution but was taken away because of hatred towards the black community. It also elaborated on the impact on democracy, voting rights, and a change in the society. The novel gave a great emphasis on what African-Americans had to go through in order to have freedom and equality. Racism was largely demonstrated in this novel and it has been an issue in real life history for the past centuries and it continues to leave negative impacts on our society up to this day.

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