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African American Struggles After 1865

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Struggles After Emancipation Emancipation in 1865 prohibited slavery and proved to be an incredible mark in our Nation’s history. Freedom, though, didn’t solve all the ensuing issues the African American community would have to face. These issues and struggles range from the overwhelming prejudice that still thrived in the South even after the war, to poverty and education difficulties that troubled African Americans. Segregation, lynching, and general class order were also issues that younger generations like Ida B Wells, Frederick Douglass and W.E.B Du Bois fought to improve. Education and economics were two of the primary focuses after 1865 from the perspective of the black community and rebuilding South. This was the first time blacks …show more content…

Houston Holloway once wrote, "For we colored people did not know how to be free and the white people did not know how to have a free colored person about them."2 This stemmed from the sudden change in social and physical constructs. People actually had a difficult time realizing they can’t own people, they actually had to pay their workers on plantations for farming, and they actually struggled to see them as equals. Following 1865, a period of what is now known as “reconstruction” took place. This lasted from 1866-1876 and was a way to re-enter the black community into the rest of the nation. President Andrew Johnson began this reconstruction by distributing land back to the freed slaves. One common practice that was especially interesting for the time, was that “40 acres and a mule”3 was all you needed to get by. This reconstruction, though, was very limited by the federal government and was left in great detail to the Southern states by themselves. This left much room for not necessarily slavery, but a great deal of injustice to sneak back into society. Black codes or sometimes called Jim Crow laws restricted daily life and punished blacks for almost everything. Some major restrictions included laws against interracial marriage and laws restricting freedom. A black man was not allowed to marry or have relations with a white woman for example. African Americans could not assemble in a church or a rally without the presence of a white person. And disagreements that went to court would often be given to a white male that always won. Punishments for these black codes range from jail time to even lynching. Black codes, when they were put into place, gave a huge incentive to arrest blacks for just about anything. Struggles especially arose because although they were learning and becoming educated, many still didn’t know about all of the codes and were targeted because of

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Black Codes were laws created by Southern states that had the intention of dwindling and restricting the African Americans’ new found rights. These laws were passed in the Democratic dominated South where white Southerners wanted themselves separate and thought of them as inferior. African Americans had little protection from the law, besides the Thirteenth Amendment, until the North sent their military down to help the Southerners see African Americans as equal (Document C). By

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What were the Black Codes? Answer: Black Codes were a tactic created and supported by Southern states to restrict African American freedmen from gaining enough wages to support their families. Although it granted them the right to marriage and owning their own property, they could not testify against whites or even vote. Punishments against African Americans were ridiculously unfair compared to the ones white landowners received for far greater offenses.

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The Black Codes were legal codes set into place, primarily by the Southern states, in the interest of opposing the reality of free colored slaves. Essentially, the Black Codes were passed as a means of dealing with the situation regarding the emancipation of slaves. The Black Codes dealt with vagrancy, apprenticeship, labor contracts, and civil & legal rights. In regards to the laws of vagrancy, each state expressed their definition of the word “vagrant.” These definitions, as well as other laws, sometimes specifically applied to colored people, or as most of the time, they were stated in general terms that were intended to fit the “Negro’s condition” and to be enforced with regard to colored people.

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During reconstruction, The creation of black codes played a crucial part in its failures. Black codes came from laws passed in Louisiana that led to the restriction of freedom for African American men and women. Following, “no negro or freedmen shall be allowed to come within the limit of the town.. whoever breaks this law will go to jail and work for two days or pay a fine of five dollars.”

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In the years 1861-1865, the United States had a Civil War between the North and South. As a result, the North won, and the period after the war was called Reconstruction. It was called Reconstruction because the North’s goal was to Reconstruct the South, but there were many issues in this era. Slavery, and giving Social, Political, and Economic rights to African Americans were one of the most debated issues in this period though. Between the Radical Republicans, who wanted to give full citizenship and rights to African Americans, and Andrew Johnson, who did not want to give African Americans, there were a lot of issues that came about during this time.

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While Reconstruction after the Civil War seemed to have promise for former slaves, there were still many hardships. President Andrew Johnson’s leniency with the south during this decisive period allowed for there to be debate over what the fate of freed slaves should be. Some believed that continuing to work in the fields they were once slaves in was the best option for blacks because of their past as field workers, while others believed that there were more options for blacks than just farm work as seen in the schools built in the south for the black population by the Freedman’s Bureau. However, the question still remained as to what freedom for blacks truly meant. People’s opinions on what freedom for ex-slaves needed to be depended exclusively on their race and their socioeconomic status.

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The codes imposed a series of restrictions on African Americans, including limits on their freedom of movement and labor, and imposed severe penalties for any violations of these restrictions. The impact of the Black Codes was significant as they effectively re-established a form of slavery under a different name and thwarted the progress of the Reconstruction Era, setting back the cause of civil rights for African Americans for many years to come. The Black Codes of 1863 were a series of laws passed by Southern states in the United States immediately following the end of the Civil War. These laws aimed to restrict the rights and freedoms of newly freed slaves and maintain African Americans' social and economic subordination. The Black Codes had a profound impact on the lives of African Americans, as they effectively re-established a form of slavery under a different name and prevented many former slaves from fully enjoying the fruits of their newfound

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I chose this topic because it is directly related to the African American history since 1865. After the end of civil war in 1865, there was a period of rebuilding and reuniting the United States. During this reconstruction period, there were three basic constitutional amendments that acted towards black people rights. Even though the purpose of reconstruction was to free slaves and give African American their rights as a human being, Black Codes, restrictive laws that control black people, passed under the administration of President Andrew Johnson. Also, southern whites did not accept the fact that colored people were getting a chance to vote and to be elected for political positions.

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Black codes came into the picture after the civil war. Black codes were mainly used to put black people into a position as similar to slavery as possible. Later, Jim Crow laws came into America. They were used as a way to continue oppressing and separating black people. For hundreds of years, there have been countless laws made to justify devaluing black lives and protect the legality of slavery.

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After the failed reconstruction, blacks were subjected to racism and discrimination. Black codes were instituted in order to reinforce the notion that blacks were inferior to whites, which further enticed a racist atmosphere in America. During the 19th century, workers also dealt

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In the aftermath of Reconstruction, the South was searching for a new normal. African Americans faced immense challenges as they sought to navigate the unique landscape of the postwar South. Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois were two of the most prominent voices in the ongoing debate about freedom for African Americans in the South. Washington’s “Atlanta Exposition Speech” and “Booker T. Washington on Citizenship,” along with Du Bois’s “Of Booker T. Washington and Others,” provide insight into the divergent views of these two figures. Meanwhile, Jordan Anderson’s “Letter to His Former Master” offers a unique perspective on what freedom meant to an ordinary African American in the postwar South.

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“The very manner of their emancipation invited to the heads of freedmen the bitterest hostility of race and class.” (Douglas, 1881) Although historians differ on the success or failure of reconstruction, one cannot disagree that changes were made in areas of social, political, and economic structures of American society. Social, political, and economic segregation examples can be seen through United States documents. During reconstruction, political changes accompanied the abolition of slavery.

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Common "Codes" included restrictions on weapons and travel , while others were less explicit. The codes could grant blacks the rights to marriage, but make it illegal to marry whites. They could allow for the usage of the legal system, but make it a crime to testify against a white person. Some were far

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Those who remained in power in the south were determined to keep African Americans at a low social rank through systems such as sharecropping, which kept workers in perpetual debt, sometimes even under their previous masters. Blacks who had moved to the north in search of better conditions found that it was no better. There were almost no jobs available due to factories hiring immigrants for disgracefully low wages. On top of that, “separate but equal” was in its prime, after the court case Plessy v. Ferguson. This case gave those in power the right to separate people of color from all aspects of their life from establishments to schools to even drinking fountains.

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The Reconstruction (1865-1877) was a period during which the life of the defeated South was to be returned to normal; it was also a time when the Black Americans attained some rights thanks to Lincoln and the Republican part of the Congress and despite Johnson’s intentions. An extremely violent time, it is sometimes called “the darkest period of American history”; still, it brought many important progressive changes to the US. Abraham Lincoln is known for proclaiming the black slaves Emancipation in 1863; he was convinced that it was necessary for the North to win the war. Lincoln believed that the Confederate states needed to be reintegrated back into the US while preserving the abolition of slavery; however, the 16th President wasn’t planning

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