African American Rights Dbq Essay

708 Words3 Pages

The Union victory in the Civil War prompted the abolition of slavery and African American’s were granted freedom, along with rights that should have been there from the start, however, white supremacy overpowered in the South, forcing African Americans back into a state of slavery. The Reconstruction era, the postwar rebuilding of the South, proved to be an attempt towards change in the lives of African Americans but the opportunities were only available for a limited time. African Americans had hopes of a new South after the Civil War was fought yet that was only accomplished to a certain extent. African Americans have always faced discrimination in society, for that same reason they weren’t accepted into Congress. The graph shown in Document …show more content…

Terror groups rose up to assure white supremacy in the South. African Americans could never win, especially when the Ku Klux Klan always forced them into debt. Although government awareness was brought up when they interviewed Henry Blake in Document 5, nothing could be done to stop the terrorizing feelings of individuals who fail to see that people of color are human as much as someone white is. African Americans worked to get the rights they deserved so of course they would be proud of what they accomplished. Document 4 is an account of Lucy McMillan, an African American, who had her house burned down by the Ku Klux Klan for “bragging” about her land owning rights. The Ku Klux Klan is a terrorizing organization which made it impossible for African Americans to get their rights. Ida B. Wells argues that they are free but don’t have freedom because they are armed with a motive for doing everything in their power to render the freedom of African Americans. How could anyone say that the South changed when African Americans were discouraged from doing about anything, especially voting. How many massacres had to occur for people to finally realize that being free doesn't mean freedom. There were many attempts to exploit African Americans still after the Civil War. Black codes were brought up and even sharecropping. No