Primary Source Document Assignment The Mississippi Black Code

After a war that claimed the lives of more men than that of all other wars combined, much of the country was left in ruins, literally and figuratively. Dozens of towns in the South had been burned to the ground. Meanwhile, the relations between the North and South had crumbled to pieces. Something needed to be done so that the country could once again be the United States of America, not the Divided States of America. The years from 1865 to 1877 were a time of rebuilding – the broken communities and the broken relations. This time period was known as Reconstruction. Reconstruction was a failure on the basis that the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments that were passed should have given protection and freedom to the African

It seemed as though black people were finally starting to be recognized as actual people. According to the article “Reconstruction” on the website ushistory.org it says, “Under federal bayonets,blacks, including those who had recently been freed, received the right to vote, hold political offices, and become judges and police chiefs.” African Americans were finally able to hold some type of power in political offices and could have jobs of importance, however, many Southerners were angered by black people having this new sense of freedom. From the same article it says, “Many Southern whites could not accept the idea that former slaves could not only vote but hold office. It was this era that the Ku Klux Klan was born.” Douglass’s dream of equality was starting to slip away with white supremacists discriminating against black people. To this day, there is still racism and discrimination among not only African Americans but all races and this goal of equality has yet to be reached and may not be achieved ever.

The Civil War was fought over the “race problem,” to determine the place of African-Americans in America. The Union won the war and freed the slaves. However, when President Lincoln declared the Emancipation Proclamation, a hopeful promise for freedom from oppression and slavery for African-Americans, he refrained from announcing the decades of hardship that would follow to obtaining the new won “freedom”. Over the course of nearly a century, African-Americans would be deprived and face adversity to their rights. They faced something perhaps worse than slavery; plagued with the threat of being lynched or beat for walking at the wrong place at the wrong time. Despite the addition of the 14th and

Eric Foner’s A Short History of Reconstruction is a shortened version of his Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877; however, in the shorter version certain broad themes unified the crucial narrative. His first theme is the midst of the black experience, second theme is to trace the ways Southern society as a whole was remodeled, third theme is the evolution of racial attitudes and patterns of race relations, and the fourth theme is the emergence during the Civil War and Reconstruction. This narration of Reconstruction begins not in 1865, but with the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. This was done to stress the importance of the Proclamation in unifying two major themes, grass-roots black activity and the newly empowered national state and to indicate that Reconstruction was the beginning of a broadened historical process: the adjustment of American society to the end of slavery.

During the period 1865 to 1941, there were as many as 18 presidents in office and in one way or another, they would’ve had to deal with the ongoing issue of black civil rights, whether that be improving them or reversing them. 1865 was the year of the end of the civil war, which has been a war over the question of whether slavery should be allowed. The South was defending the right to keep slavery within their confederate states, and the north was opposed to any extension of slavery. This was a key point in the fight for African American civil rights. 1865 was also known for the introduction of the 13th

From this time on through the south, Freedmen didn’t wanted to go to white churches so they made their own and they even did their own schools. They could now do what they wanted like learn to read and have their kids to learn to read. When masters no longer were master and slaves were no longer, In “The Late Convention of Colored Men” (1865). Former slaves asked the federal government for security and assistance now that they were free. This was because it was it primary concern in order to sustain life. Also it was important for them to own land so they wouldn’t be workers anymore. On the other hand, the Mississippi Black Code (1865). Created by the white Mississippian’s who strictly made labor contracts by which slaves had to sign or they will be arrested and they would also be hired out to white landowners. However it did grant freedmen the right to legally marry, own land and limit access to court. Freedmen and Frederick Douglas were demanding on the antislavery society it was a shout out, Douglas was afraid that a lot much had to be done. Another agency helping the freedmen and after the civil war was the freedmen’s

Throughout the 1800s in America, slavery was a controversy between the north and the south. A Slave was one who was the property of another human being under law and was forced to obey them. The North felt that slavery was unfair and inhumane, whereas in the South, they felt as though slavery was crucial to their success. African American slaves were not allowed many rights: they were not allowed to testify in court against a white person, could not receive an education, or even sign contracts. Due to the brutality they faced each day, many slaves escaped with hopes to find freedom. The Underground Railroad, a system utilized by many runaway slaves to help them escape from the South to Canada, played a large role in the downfall of slavery and eventual abolition in the United States following the Civil War.

The Union Victory in the Civil War in 1865 granted freedom to approximately 4 million slaves, however, the process of rebuilding the South during the Reconstruction period 1865-1877 brought a lot of challenges. In 1865 and 1866 under the supervision of President Andrew Johnson, new Southern state legislatives passed the “black codes” to control the labor and behavior of former slaves and other African Americans. During the Radical Reconstruction in 1869, new enfranchised blacks had a voice in the government for the first time in

The American Civil War claimed the lives of over 700,000 people. The war was fought from 1861-1865. The results of the war were described as; a union victory, abolishment of slavery, territorial integrity preserved and the destruction and dissolution of the Confederate States. The twelve years that followed were called the Reconstruction Era, 1865-1877. The purpose of the Reconstruction Era was to restore National Unity, strengthen the government, and guarantee rights to freed slaves. The reality of reconstruction though was; violence (260,000 dead), newly freed slaves suffered the most, and Lincoln's hopes of trust and rededication to peace were lost when he was assassinated on April 15th, 1865. It is these realities of the Reconstruction Era and beyond that this paper will address and how those realities affected the newly freed slaves. Life in post-bellum America for African - Americans was violent and filled with fear because of white supremacy, lynching, and the brutal mutilations of blacks.

The newly passed laws became known as “Black Codes” and socially, they directly impacted the lives of all freedmen and indirectly benefited the white race. These laws restricted the rights of free African-American men and women (Doc A). In Opelousas, Louisiana, some of these restrictions were the denied right to keep or own a house in the town, the denied right to enter the town without special permission, the denied right to hold public meetings, the denied right to carry firearms or any kind of weapon, and a requirement that every negro must be in service of some white person (Doc A). The elite members in the South did everything they could to prevent blacks from gaining civic power, and the reasoning for supporting these codes ranged from fearing black political influence to the comfort of knowing farmers still had a stable and reliable work force. Even in the post civil war North, people believed blacks were unfit to be government officials (Doc E). Pro-freedman presses ran racist letters arguing blacks were not fit for the proper exercise of political duties, and their generation needed a period of probation and instruction in order to learn the ways in which society ran (Doc E). Many northerners felt blacks were incompetent to hold important jobs; therefore, the government was in no way aiding the reconstruction efforts to provide equality to all people in America.

During The Reconstruction era, African Americans faced many obstacles on their way to success. Reconstruction of the United States refers to the remodeling that took place after the civil war. The country was injured in all areas. Its society, economy and physical structure had been In January of 1863; President Abraham Lincoln lifted the chains off thousands of African Americans’ shoulders by releasing the Emancipation Proclamation. Unfortunately, this relief was short-winded. The Emancipation Proclamation stated that all people who were deemed as slaves, were to be set free from slavery and guaranteed to no return to it. At first glance, this new legislative act appeared to provide endless opportunities for newly freed African Americans. Instead, life after the passing of the Emancipation Proclamation conceived more problems for African Americans than those they possessed during the bondage of slavery. After the Emancipation Proclamation was passed, African Americans faced various issues including a lack of opportunities, an unfair starting point and continuous discrimination.

In 1865, the United States government implemented what was known as Reconstruction. Its’ purpose was to remove slavery from the south, and give African-American’s the freedom in which they deserved. However, the freedom that they deserved was not the freedom that they received. With documents like The Black Codes restricting them from numerous privileges that white people had and the terroristic organization known as the Klu Klux Klan attacking and killing them, African-American’s were still being oppressed by their government as well as their fellow man. Slavery may have been abolished, but African-American’s were not yet given the freedom and rights that their white counterparts took for granted.

During reconstruction the United States was divided on social issues, presidential campaigns were won and loss on these issues during this period. The struggle for development of African Americans and how they initiated change in political, economic, educational, and social conditions to shape their future and that of the United States. (Dixon, 2000) The South’s attempts to recover from the Civil war included determining what to do with newly freed slaves and finding labor to replace them. The task of elevating the Negro from slave to citizen was the most enormous one which had ever confronted the country. Local governments implemented mechanisms of discrimination to combat citizenship

The Mississippi Black Code is a law that I don’t agree with. This was a law in which it was put in place by Southern after the Thirteenth Amendment which abolished slavery. This type laws were just one way Southern try to keep free slaves socially, politically and economically in what they consider in there place with the southern states. Their where four parts to the code which where the Apprentice Law, Vagrancy Law, Civil Rights of Freedom and the Penal Code. With all this laws and codes free Negro and mulatto could be imprisoned or fined and forced in to work for a judge appointed employer due to violation on this laws and codes. The reason I disagree with this type of code the where made only for freed slaves not for everyone. Even

The election of President Obama marks the most noteworthy political accomplishment for African Americans in the United States during the post-civil rights revolution, thus bringing about a change in the country’s social and political landscape that was steeped in racial discrimination since the founding of this great nation. Because social and political conditions are subject to constant change, President Obama’s