Black Consciousness and the Continuing Fight for Inclusion

          "Thus did the United States government definitely assume charge of the emancipated Negro as the ward of the nation. It was a tremendous undertaking. Here at a stroke of the pen was erected a government of millions of men,—and not ordinary men either, but black men emasculated by a peculiarly complete system of slavery, centuries old; and now, suddenly, violently, they come into a new birthright, at a time of war and passion, in the midst of the stricken and embittered population of their former masters. Any man might well have hesitated to assume charge of such a work, with vast responsibilities, indefinite powers, and limited resources. Probably no one but a soldier would have answered such a call promptly; and, indeed, no one but a soldier could be called, for Congress had appropriated no money for salaries and expenses."  -  W.E.B. DuBois
         
         
          Amidst the civil war, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. This statement decreed that “all slaves would be declared free in those states still in rebellion against the US on January 1, 1863.” The 13th amendment had originally declared in the first section that, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” However, this amendment was later ratified by Lincoln in 1865 so that this would apply to all states; even those in the South. Slavery was finally abolished, thus ending the civil war.
Although the Civil War itself had ended, hatred and bitter thoughts of revenge remained between the white and black peoples of America for centuries. Bigamy and racism divided our land, and caused the first ever fight within a nation. Though the rip that this hatred caused was mended, the stitches and scars remain to this day. The institution of slavery not only shaped the outcome of the civil war through people, documents, and prior revolutions, but it shaped the very nature of out nation today.