Slavery In The 19th Century

Slavery was abolished in 1865, but many racial prejudices still exist today, as they did in 1900. 19th Century Galveston was relatively racially accepting. It is noted in the book that “Blacks, whites, Jews, and immigrants lived and worked side by side with an astonishing degree of mutual tolerance.” (Pg. 67). Because of the Negro Longshoremen’s Association, Galveston’s wharves were controlled by its black population. In general, Galveston’s black population luxuriated in a much higher standard of living than most of their race across the country. However, not everybody shared the camaraderie. Louisa Rollfing met her first black man in Louisiana, before she moved to Galveston, and was terrified. She honestly expected the man to kill her, and was astonished when he continued on without harming a
Of all the things the storm destroyed, it seems to have also taken away whatever was giving Galveston such uncommon harmony. After the storm hit, soldiers gathered 50 black men at gunpoint and appointed them the horrific task of tying weights to the thousands of corpses and throwing them into the ocean. Black people were also accused of stealing jewelry off of dead bodies. While I'm sure looters were having a field day with the many rich corpses that littered the streets, I doubt they were all black and I doubt they were “chewing off fingers to gain access to diamond rings, then stuffing the fingers in their pockets.” (Pg. 242) or “holding orgies over the dead” as an Alabaman newspaper suggested. I found two pretty alarming examples of sexism in the book. The first is one of the rules of Galveston’s Garden Club, a luxurious beauty spot that included tennis courts, a dance pavilion, even a small zoo. The rule was that women weren't allowed