Awake of the Civil War

After the Civil War, the southern whites were extremely resentful and bitter. In 1865 the southern states began issuing “black codes,” which were laws made subsequent to the Civil War that had the effect of limiting the civil rights and civil liberties of blacks. This term tends to refer to the legislation passed by southern states to control the labor, migration, and other activities of newly freed slaves. When the slaves were freed, they still had

With the Union victory in the Civil War in 1865, millions of slaves were given their freedom. Although these millions of slaves are now free, the rebuilding on the South during the Reconstruction introduced many obstacles. These obstacles include sharecropping, tenant farming, the “black codes”, and not to forget the lack of education and rights African Americans had at the time. Sharecropping is consisted of a slave renting land from a white man and having to give up a portion of their crops at the end of each year. The black codes were basically laws against what type of labor African Americans can be given. In the state of South Carolina, blacks were only able to work as farmers or servants; the same jobs these free people worked as slaves. After decades of slavery, blacks were still under the control of the white people due to lack of education and rights.

Reconstruction (1867-1877) under Congress was a fast tightening of a noose in the South. Congress no longer trusted Andrew Johnson’s loose plan for Reconstruction, so they began closing in on their plans. Radical Republicans made many lasting impacts in this period. Under Congress, the 14th and 15th Amendment was created, guaranteeing rights to African Americans. A newly created Freedmen’s Bureau help create many schools and colleges, lasting up to modern times. African Americans held power in office, although they were quickly brought down by the Ku Klux Klan’s terrorism. The main path Reconstruction took was based on the government’s plans. There

Because of the active participation of the federal government, laws were passed so that former slaves could enjoy the benefits of the freedom just awarded to them. In South Carolina, blacks demanded "access to all the opportunities and privileges enjoyed by whites" (14). Black delegations in North Carolina, Alabama, Virginia and Tennessee all struggled to "secure blacks a modicum of justice in the local courts" (15). Schools were set up to educate the former slaves. Laws were passed that extended the rights of property ownership and the vote. Businesses were started and churches were built. All of the rights enjoyed by all other Americans were finally beginning to be enjoyed by these former slaves. But these gains were temporary.

The“ Black Codes” and “ The reconstruction Amendments ” (Documents B and A) are articles that support the argument that African Americans weren't free during reconstruction period as well as, used to diminish the liberty of the “ Freedmen ”.This was displayed by introducing new significant challenges that controlled the labor and behavior of former slaves and other African Americans. Furthermore this also claims to assist the counter argument that, former slaves were free and in addition introduces the idea that the institution of slavery continued to exist in spirit if not in law. Under the command of President Andrew Johnson in 1865 and 1866, new southern state legislatures passed restrictive “ Black Codes ” to control the labor and behavior of the freedmen and other African Americans. Outrage in the north over these codes destroyed support for the approach known as Presidential Reconstruction and led to the victory of the more radical part of the Republican Party. Some of these codes were extreme and absurd, for example SECTION

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.

Once the Civil War was over, the Federal Government started a process of Reconstruction. Reconstruction finished the remainders of Confederate patriotism and slavery, making the Freedmen nationals with social equality naturally ensured by three new Constitutional amendments. Even though, during the Reconstruction era “The Black Code” was passed in the Southern states. The Black Codes indicated the plans of the southern whites for the former slaves. The freedmen would have a more substantial number of rights than did free blacks previously the war, yet they would, in any case, have just a constrained arrangement of below average social liberties, no voting rights, and no citizenship. They would not be able to own firearms, serve on a jury in

Civil Rights, labor contracts, vagrancy, apprenticeship, courts, crimes, and punishments are policies that the government implement in attempt to uplift southern blacks. These rules bore a remarkable similarity to the antebellum slave codes. Restrictions Under presidential reconstruction, southern states recognized new constitutions and governments, which immediately determined to control the freedom of black through the way of laws called black codes. A reconstruction of Southern society to contain African Americans equally. There were some policies that were most successful in that it restored the United States as a unified nation. In 1877, a former confederate states had drafted new constitutions. For the most part, the North was an industrial

Voices of Freedom: A Documentary History. Vol. 1, 3rd edition New York, NY, 2011. 84-86. Print.

Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era written by James McPherson, It is very coherent that McPherson wrote Battle Cry of Freedom in a way that we see what lead up to a the civil war and major point of the civil war. As McPherson stated in Battle Cry of Freedom “Most attempts to explain southern defeat or northern victory lack the dimension of contingency – the recognition that at numerous critical points during the war things might have gone altogether differently” (pg857) McPherson his self is really hell bent on his view that the north and south are relentless on the pursuit of war.

After the Civil War conditions were bad for both Southern blacks and Southern whites. There were 4 million black men and women emerging from bondage. They began forming all black communities, freeing themselves from white control. But in 1865, Southern state legislatures began enacting sets of laws called Black Codes. These laws authorized local officials to apprehend unemployed blacks, fine them for vagrancy and hire them out to private employers to satisfy their fine. Some codes allowed blacks to only take jobs as plantation workers or servants. The South found a way to go back to slavery without breaking the new laws. In 1866, Congress passed the first Civil Rights Act, which declared blacks as citizens of the United States which

One of the biggest problems Africans Americans faced in America is Segregation, discrimination, racism, prejudice, rebellion, religion, resistance, and protest. These problems have helped shape the Black struggle for justice. Their fight for justice marks a long sequence of events towards their freedom. Provisions of the Constitution affect the operation of government agencies and/or the latitude chief executives and legislatures in the creation and implementation of policies today. The rights and passage of Amendments granted to African Americans in the Constitution serve as a source of “first principles” governing the actions and policies of elected and appointed public servants across the United States. The 15th Amendment Equal Rights: Rights

The Reconstruction Era after the Civil War was a headway for progress. Blacks thought that the Civil War Amendments which banned slavery, defined citizenship, and ensured voting rights would finally give them a chance to advance in society. These amendments proved to be ineffective when white supremacist Democrats took over, threatening blacks participation in voting and politics. The Black Codes laws were passed in several southern states during 1865 and 1866, which emphasized tax polls and literacy requirements that restricted blacks’ freedom.

The Civil War had led to Black freedom. Reconstruction under the Radical Republicans would lead to their suffrage. Despite presidential backlash, the Civil Rights Act passed and quickly advanced into becoming the forerunner for the Fourteenth Amendment. Its passage nullified the Dred Scott decision and redefined US citizenship. It also granted African Americans with the most political freedom they had ever experienced: the right to vote. In 1867, Congress passed the Reconstruction Act that reshaped the recently readmitted states. In order to be officially readmitted to the Union, the voters had to elect new officials to draft a state constitution that granted black suffrage. It was the start of a new era.

After the civil war ended, the southern plantations, cities, and farms were in ruins, they were faced with hunger and being impoverished. There was even an occupational army in their core. Reconstruction governments were threatening to seize the traditional white ruling authority. “For a few months after the war, white southerners had to contend with the losses of life, property and, in their eyes, honor.” “Southern state legislatures began enacting laws that made it clear that the aristocrats who ran them intended to yield none of their pre-war power and dominance over poor whites and especially over blacks” (www.splcenter.org). These laws would become known as the Black Codes. Mississippi and Florida, enacted vicious black codes, while other southern states passed less severe types, and President Johnson stood by and did