2. The meaning for the freedmen was being able to do what they watched
their white masters do for so long, and the aftermath of emancipation
is evidence of this in economic (the meaning of land and the African
American’s stance as a ‘working class people’), political (the right to
vote and the African American integration into politics) and social (the
change in the African American household, the change in American
society) settings.
3. The author says that not only did emancipation strengthen preexisting
family bonds for African-Americans, but it also evolved them in such a
way that they proved to further emulate that of white society.
Contributions to this theory are the changes that African-American
family life underwent post-emancipation, examples being the
withdrawal of black women from field labor, the attempted reuniting
of previously separated families, and the development of a stronger
patriarchy within the African-American community.
4. African-American familial society begins to emulate that of white society.
Family members were reunited and able to live together in their own house.
Withdrawal of black women from field labor.
Emancipation transformed already existing African American communal
and familial bonds.
9. African American Communal and Familial Bonds . N.d. Digital History. Web. 3 Jan.
2012. <http://www.cerritos.edu/soliver/student%20activites/
StAct_Reconstruction_files/image002.jpg>.
Marriage of an African-American soldier at Vicksburg by Chaplain Warren of the
Freedmen's Bureau. N.d. The New York Public Library Digital Library
Collections. Web. 3 Jan. 2012. <http://digital.nypl.org/schomburg/
images_aa19/images/aa19/008h412p.jpg>.
African American Family. N.d. PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2011.
<http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/banished/images/rep_top.jpg>.
African American Woman Writing. N.d. Early America.com. Web. 3 Jan. 2012.
<http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/notable/wheatleyp/
wheatleyPORT75.jpg>.
Foner, Eric. "The Meaning of Freedom." A Short History of Reconstruction. N.p.:
HarperCollins Publishers, Inc, 1990. 23-37. Print.
