What do Ain't I a Woman and Address to the People of the Free States Essay

What do Ain't I a Woman and Address to the People of the Free States by the President of the Southern Confederacy tell us about the divisions between people in United States during the 1860s - Essay Example Division between black and white people was on the basis that, black people were considered slaves while white people were considered citizens. Black people at that time did not enjoy any individual rights as citizens they were property to be owned. However, white people were full citizens with rights, and they owned black people as their own property. Davis in his speech said â€Å"†¦.in the Southern Confederacy†¦.slaves and their children†¦.considered as property†. Truth said, â€Å"†¦negroes of the South†¦are talking about rights†. The division caused white people to see black people as being lesser of humans and thus making them properties and slaves. Ethnicity and hatred, between blacks and white escalated due to the division among them (Rodriguez 110). Women during the 1860s fought to have same rights as men did. In this case, both black and white women suffered. White women were oppressed in the South with their husbands same as the way Negroes were also oppressed in the South. Women together with Negroes were denied rights because of they were less educated. Truth says â€Å"a man in black†¦says women cannot have rights as men†. The division caused women to be seen as the weaker sex in capable of doing duties on their own. On the women side, they started fighting to have same rights as men and overcome male chauvinism (Rodriguez 105). The division between the people living in Northern and Southern United States came as a result of declaring slavery to be illegal in the Northern part of the United States. Abraham Lincoln declared slaves to be free in the all the Northern states in America. This made the Southerners separate with the Northerners since in the South slavery was still legal. According to Davis â€Å"..Lincoln has declared that slaves†¦may be incorporated in the Army and Navy†. Truth asserts that â€Å"the negroes in the South†¦women, in the North, talk about rights†. The division between the South