Essay On African Americans After The Civil War

371 Words2 Pages

Its spring 1865 and the Civil War is finally over- costing more than 600,000 lives, and a downfall economy for the South. Although economic reasons, slavery and state’s rights led the Civil War and had caused much damaged to the South, it still gave many African Americans slaves their freedom. But now what? What should the Nation do with the free slaves besides focusing on reuniting and reconstructing the South? Just because African Americans weren’t no longer slaves, does that mean they have the same social, politic and economic life as a white American? Well, according to the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments, African Americans in the South had the same constitutional and legal rights as any other American in the United States. For example, …show more content…

They were now able to reestablish their families, become wage laborers or sharecroppers, establish schools to learn how to read and write. The best part about their rights was having the opportunity to participate in in politics. After the war, many African Americans were either political leaders or served as state legislator while several of them were delegates who participated in political conventions. The outcome to all of this? Prejudice and discrimination. For example, many white Americans in the South were against the idea that slavery was over. They couldn’t believe that they weren’t superior anymore and that Africans Americans had the same rights as them. So, many white Americans did their best to limit many African Americans rights. For example, new Southern States legislatures used “black codes” to limit many African Americans voting right. Besides that, the Ku Klux Klan intimidated many blacks and they either harassed them or caused violence and destruction. At the end, no matter what white Americans would do to belittle African Americans, it still doesn’t change the fact that many African Americans roles after the Civil War changed because they were now

Open Document