Blacks In The Post-Civil War

After the Civil War, the government had changed from a republican rule to a democratic rule that had hatred towards the South because of conflicts that had arisen during the Civil War. The Northern Republicans wanted to punish the South by forming laws that terminated slavery and granted freed blacks the right to vote, the right to own land, the right to due process, and outlawed discrimination based on race; all were attempts to try and end slavery by reconstructing the justice and social and economic equality among freed blacks.  In theory, the thought of reconstruction was practical and could end slavery however, a thought is never the same when put into physical use

The Reconstruction period after the Civil War was a fail attempt at uniting a divided nation over the issue of slavery and integrating freed African Americans into society. The efforts of the North was met with large, aggressive, and often violent white southern resistance. White supremacy groups like the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) with the combination of Black Codes, laws passed by Southern states post Civil War to prevent African Americans from achieving political and economic autonomy, intimidated African Americans and pushed back their civil liberties that was gained with the establishment of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendment. The 13th amendment abolished slavery, the 14th amendment granted former slaves recently freed citizenship as well as anyone who is born or naturalized in

In many aspects, Reconstruction had many successes, which included the ratification of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments by the Southern States to be emitted back into the Union. Although the nation had been brought back together, many other issues plagued Reconstruction such as racism and corruption rendering it a failure. Many Confederate veterans began gaining power in the new established Southern governments, counteracting many of the laws and regulations set up by the Republicans. Such laws passed by Southern Democrats as the Black Codes limited many of the freedoms that former slaves had established since the Civil War. Other examples of racism are seen with the establishment of the Jim Crow Laws, which made it legal to practice segregation meaning the separation of black and white societies. Corruption during Reconstruction, which aided in its failure were the Carpetbaggers from the North who took advantage of the Southern States during its rebuilding of the states’

The American Civil War was ending and African Americans gained freedom, freedom from slavery and to live life as common folk. However, being set ‘free’ was not enough for African Americans to really experience what freedom was really like. Respect and rights of citizenship are by themselves weak in the ability to survive without also obtaining economic power. This paper will examine the progression of African Americans after the Civil War of 1865.

Reconstruction after the civil war gave African-Americans an extremely limited amount of freedom compared to the equality and freedom that slavery had denied them. Though they were free in theory, in practice, they were not as free at all. At times, they were so restricted that they were basically treated like slaves, even though that isn’t what they were called after reconstruction. Their freedoms in practice were not the humane freedoms they dreamed of; their sphere of freedoms had increased very minimally compared to what they had as slaves. Some of what they had to face now was arguably even more brutal than what they had to face as slaves. After the Civil War, freedom for African-Americans were only “lip deep” (Doc

African Americans didn’t know that is was a Great Depression. African Americans have always been poor and knew how to survive. By 1932, approximately half of black Americans were unemployed, blacks always felt unemployed and under paid. Whites attempted to keep blacks out of work by not hiring African Americans. They used racial violence, and discrimination tactics to keep an underprivileged population depressed.

Reconstruction was forcibly imposed on the southern states by the government, with the presence of overbearing federal troops, and, as a result, racial attitudes in the south didn’t really evolve during this period. With the support of a conservative Supreme Court, black codes, voter qualifications, and other anti-progressive legislation were passed through state governments to reverse the rights that blacks had gained during Radical Reconstruction. Andrew Johnson had already provided generous pardons to virtually the entire Confederacy, so the same leadership had come into play, eventually instituting brutally racist governments. Because the North stopped enforcing Federal civil rights law in the South after 1876, the freed slaves lost all political

The Reconstruction era was put into effect by Congress in 1866 and lasted until 1877. Reconstruction was aimed at reorganizing the Southern states after the Civil War. The reconstruction plan granted the means for readmitting the southern states into the Union, and tried to come up with the methods by which whites and blacks could live together in a non-slave society. America's position as a country was established on principles of freedom but those beliefs were weakened by slavery. At the end of the Civil War, many blacks felt that they were entitled to start collecting the benefits that had been denied for so many years. Being able to vote, own land and have a voice in political affairs were all goals that they believed were reachable.

After the Reconstruction act of 1867, this gave African Americans the ability to serve in the government in positions such as congressmen to state and local officials (Reconstruction Government in the South, para. 1 & 8). With extensive research, it can be assumed that the geographical location where African Americans served in government and had enough power in those states are in Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Florida, and Louisiana. At this time, representatives were of a vast majority in government positions in these states, including and more noted, Senator Hiram Revels of Mississippi (Reconstruction Government in the South, para. 11-13). Regarding the party, African Americans made up a majority of southern Republican voters,

Freedom is not being controlled by others and having the rights that others have. African American slaves were pushed and motivated toward this goal, this was the ultimate dream during the Reconstruction period. Reconstruction period was a time in U.S history that spanned from 1865 to 1877, this period was triggered when the civil war ended and the period ended due to the Compromise of 1877. This essay will provide evidence that African Americans were free during the Reconstruction period of the United States.

Even though the voting rights issue did not end with the Reconstruction era, it inspired many African Americans to rise and to establish a new leadership platform. The enlightenment period of the radical reconstruction brought a “more active role in the political, economic, and social life of the south” with the Republican domination in the 1866 elections; it introduced a new era for African Americans (“Black Leaders”). With the ratification of the 14th and 15th amendments and the spread of political activism towards African Americans through festive parades, protests, and community meetings, African Americans challenged themselves with the task of serving in a political office because African Americans never had a voice to speak for them

At this point in my thinking, I do not think that we can do anything to stop the bleeding. I do believe that Obama’s presidency has awakened the core feelings of many white people in this country. I am saying many white people, because there are only a few coming forward to speak out against the injustices, which are pervasive in this country and throughout the world.

The purpose and goals of reconstruction was for the restoration of the Union, transformation of southern society, and enactment of progressive legislation favoring the rights of freed slaves. Reconstruction was a mixed success. By the end of the era, all southern state legislatures had abolished slavery in their constitutions. Reconstruction also laid to a rest the debate of states’ rights vs. federalism. But Reconstruction failed in many other ways. When President Rutherford B. Hayes ordered federal troops to leave the South in 1877, former Confederate officials and slave owners gradually returned to power. Southern state legislatures quickly passed “black codes,” imposed voter qualifications, and allowed the sharecropping system to thrive,

To start off, it might seem that African Americans feel that they are inferior to whites. Some might claim that our country has not overcome the Jim Crow Era, proving this by bringing up an example of an African American actress who did not get a part “because she doesn’t quite look the part” (Schwab). But the one actress that did not get a part does not compare to the countless amount of successful African Americans. “Obama, the first black president, Oprah, Samuel Jackson” and so many more are just examples of blacks that are successful in today’s eyes. This uncountable list of blacks in jobs equal to whites just proves that they are not inferior, but that they are in fact, equal. If that reasoning is not enough, take the fact that we have

The end of the Civil War brought the United States of America into a period of change and reconstruction. Race relations between White Americans and African Americans were being formed and it was still unknown how the two groups would coexist in this new era. One major change, the black codes, came about as white society and southern states retaliated against the abolishment of slavery and the loss of their previous lifestyle. Although slaves had been set free and southerners no longer had the right to own human beings as property, the black codes were passed to suppress African American’s freedom and prevent them from prospering. These laws included the requirements for African Americans to observe a curfew, sign labor contracts and be