Before the Civil War most black people living in America were slaves. Once the Civil War ended slavery was abolished and black people were given rights. However, people in the south thought otherwise. After the civil war, slavery returned in the form of convict leasing, blacks lost rights again, and were arrested for petty crimes. Convict leasing is something not many people know about, most likely because it’s a darker part of America’s past. Convict leasing is selling prisoners to big companies to do work for them for free. Prisoners would be loaned out to large companies for a small sum of money for about a month. Companies would house and feed the convicts and in return they would work for them for free. Convicts were forced to work