Dealing With This Newly Granted Freedom...

13th Amendment- With slavery being abolished, we are worried that the farmers and their farms, which is the most important aspect in our economy,will suffer. To prevent this, we are encouraging former slaves to go back and work on the plantations that they worked on before slavery was abolished. This will ensure that farms will not fail and farmers can still live the lives that they used to, but also ensure that blacks have a chance to make a living.

14th Amendment- I, for one, full endorse the use of the Black Codes. The Black Codes are a set of laws that limit what blacks can and can't do in society. I am thinking that by limiting and regulating what the blacks can do, the whites will still feel superior. Also, these laws allow blacks to experience much more than they did while they were slaves, so in a sense, everyone wins. The fact that they can get married, own land, and have access to the courts, will give them a sense of freedom that they have never felt, while still giving them less freedom than the whites. They still can't vote, participate in a jury, or even testify against a white man pleases the former slave owners and whites because they still feel superior.

15th Amendment- This has caused many problems in the beautiful state of South Carolina. One of the reasons that the transition between slavery existing and being abolished was going as well as it was was due to the fact that blacks couldn't vote under the Black Codes. However, I have thought of a solution that might work. I propose that we enforce a poll tax. This would be a fee that blacks had to pay in order to vote. The amendment states that we shall not prohibit their ability to vote based on their skin color, and this puts us int the clear, because if one can't pay this modest fee, then one can not vote. And if that fails, and the blacks can pay the fee, then we will make them take a literacy test. This will ensure that only the educated blacks, which is very small number, can vote. These proposals should prohibit blacks from having too much say in what goes on in the government.

Tyler Perry
Governor of South Carolina

Diary Entry

Dear Diary,

Everything out here is great. Since people in the west practice slavery, I was able to buy myself some slaves. I also bought one of the new invented cotton gins, and my profits and production have sky rocketed. Life out here might even be better than back in South Carolina, but I won't admit that to anyone! Also with the newly purchased land in California from Mexico, the people here have more opportunity to expand and make things better for themselves. I have heard that many people are thinking about moving to this newly acquired land, and if enough people do, I might move myself and my slaves as well! We will just have to wait and see.

James

Letter to the Governor

Dear Tyler Perry,

Hope this letter meets you well. I just wanted to update you on the status of our trip west. Everything is going good so far. The west is full of opportunities, and I am looking forward to sharing our ideals with the people in these newer states. Also, because of the gold that is out here, we are experiencing what they are calling a
gold rush", and people from all over the world are rushing in to get their hands on the gold. Also, I think you would be happy to hear that the states out here condone slavery, so in a sense, it will be kind of like home. I will update you soon.

Sincerely,

James Smith