St. Paul Community Church Essay

Opportunity to thrive in American was available however. Many blacks sought their refuge in the northern states, which provided economic opportunity in the thriving industrial industry of the time. However, segregation existed there as well, as many blacks were not allowed jobs, given menial roles and minimal payment. Many others found that their only option would be to take to working on the fields as laborers and workers in a system known as sharecropping. This was an economics strategy to keep blacks financially and lawfully dependent on their employers, with binding contracts, exuberant fees and delayed or nonexistent pay. One other option that was available to the blacks at the time was to build their own communities, free from the laws, authority and persecution of the state. Many

Paul Community Church was the center and main hub of the society, where many records of the land could be found. This church was built in 1893, bought along with the rest of the land for the town by three men; William Taylor, Patrick Hebron, Jr. and John H. Diggs from former slave owner George W. Dawson for a sum of $25. The church stands as a symbol of heritage for the founding families of Sugarland. The church symbolized the lands connection to religious faith in God, values in community, maintaining ties with neighbors, raising children, maintaining the home, providing for the family and many other core Christian values. The church acted as a place of community, where everyone could worship, sing and rejoice in their beliefs in peace. This church covered many issues which are comparable to some white preachers of the time, such as the place of blacks in a white world, and who would be better for the black man to follow. It acted as a court, where disputes could be handled by the people, and where judgment could be given justly. This included a dispute where a woman was removed from her grandmother’s home due to her behavior, and left to a presumably unmarried man to stay