Post Emancipation of Slaves

The black codes suggested that the blacks were still the inferior race, and they also show the reluctance the south had to change their lifestyle after the Civil War. The black codes returned political, social, and economic power to the white southerners. Black codes also affect us today. If black codes were never enforced during reconstruction, black people would have been able to be a part of the government much sooner than they did. They would have been able to vote, marry interracially, work where they wanted, and get an education.

The reconstruction of the south after the Civil War was one of the biggest struggles of nation because of the turmoil and dramatic change in the country. The South was faced with the issue of black citizens and that they will have equal rights that the whites have. Additionally, the emancipation of slaves caused many riots and conflicts because the white citizens did not approve of the fact that their society is integrated. The biggest issue that the South faced was trying to incorporate the newly freed slaves into the society because they are uneducated and are unable to sustain themselves economically. The death of Abe Lincoln proved harmful to the nation because the Congress and Johnson were not able to agree on a reconstruction plan and they had different opinions.

Through slave revolts, the whites were forced to see that slaves were never going to be satisfied with life as it was. By word of several rebellions arising in the south, they couldn’t legally free their black servants, but they could treat them better over time. The white owners did not want their families and homes to be part of an insurrection. Though many lives were lost of white men, women and children, the slaves showed power and resistance to being mistreated and disrespected. Though freedom was years away, they were taking necessary steps to prove they were indeed human.

Jim Crow Laws were an extreme obstacle in the integration of African Americans. Hate Groups were another attempt to restrain blacks from integrating into society. Although the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments were designed to provide freedom for the slaves, they were still denied their freedom by specific obstacles. Although the Thirteenth Amendment outlawed slavery, whites kept their supremacy by finding legal ways to control blacks. Many white Southerners were not in favor of the 13th Amendment so many Southern states enforced Black Codes, which basically returned blacks to slavery without calling it slavery.

These state laws varied in strictness and detail from state to state; they abased the status of the freedmen by regulating their activities and treating them as social and civil inferiors. Generally black codes were not beneficial, because the supposedly freedmen were treated little more than slaves. "Furthermore, to define the status of freed men and women and control their labor, some legislatures merely revised large sections of the slave codes by substituting the word freedmen for slave." (pg. 448 Nortan) Congress would not stand for such injustice.

The events that took place during the Civil Rights Movement were unjust and left a large impact on the African Americans. The Civil Rights Movement was one of the most significant movements to take place in American history. African Americans were faced with equality issues and were “judged by the color of their skin, [not] by the content of their character,” (Source 3). They were deprived of jobs, education, voting rights, economic opportunities, and most importantly, their freedom and rights as a citizen of the United States of America. After being freed from slavery, the blacks thought they had achieved their freedom, but soon realized that was only the beginning.

Many people were threatened, beaten and harassed by a group known as Ku Klux Klan trying to fight for what was right like voting privilege. Although, they struggled to get their voice heard it was worth the probable cause even if that meant putting their life in danger. The South did not come easy especially for minorities living in America like Edesha said, Whites had sworn since before reconstruction that we blacks would not only know our place but stay in it forever. This showed that after slavery was abolished some white people did not want to make a change in society under the law some whites still wanted to be separated from all blacks and those who did not fit their description. It seems like the whites were afraid that African Americans would someday take over and treat them the same way they were being treated, and that was mentally, verbally, and physically abuse just cause of their skin color and ethnicity.

There are multiple reasons why slavery caused a lot of problems between the whites and the blacks. “We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people”. -Luther King, Jr Most African Americans were enslaved “95 percent of the African Americans in the United States was slaves.” (Problems of Slavery – Murphy). Many problems evolved due to slavery racism became a really big problem. The problem was that most slaves didn’t understand that there was other life out there they thought that because they were black that they had to be enslaved and couldn’t live their own lives.

Both generations of Jim Crow have been implemented through legal laws or ways that the government which helps to justify the implementation of this unjust treatment of blacks. In chapter one of Alexander, she lays out the foundation of the original Jim Crow. With slavery abolished within the south, whites were beginning to feel that their economic success was going to begin to deteriorate. Without the ability to exploit blacks and keep them as slaves, it was difficult to find individuals to be able to work these horrific jobs. It also damaged the economic status of rich whites because they now were required to pay individuals for the labor that they did.

Before Reconstruction, when Blacks were forced to live on plantations, it was frowned upon to show any of their own culture and religion. Now they could let their cultures bloom freely without repercussion. When families were enslaved men couldn 't protect their families anymore. Masters would abuse their women slaves and do with them what they pleased. The enslaved women 's’ husbands would have n control, they felt powerless.