FREE ESSAY ON STRUGGLE FOR BLACKS RIGHTS AFTER CIVIL WAR

STRUGGLE FOR BLACKS RIGHTS AFTER CIVIL WAR

After the Civil War and the emancipation proclamation by lincoln the slaves of america
were free. This was a huge step in making our country truly free to all people. The
reconstruction of the south did not however work out smoothly for the freed slaves. There
were many road blocks along the way such as the "Black Codes", the Plessy vs. Ferguson
case and the terror of the Ku Klux Klan. The 14th amendment gave the freed slaves
citizenship and some voting rights. From the reconstruction the 14th amendment the "black
Codes" and the Plessy vs. Ferguson case all had significance on the status of african
americans from reconstructoin to 1900.
The radical republicans method of reconstruction called for an amendment that would do
three things. Extend citizenship for all people. Punnish the southern representation in
the house if they didn't alow black voting, and not allowing and former confederates to
hold office. These three things made up the 14th amendment. Also in the radical
republican reconstruction plan was the idea of station military in the south. This was
very effective in giving the blacks their rights. Unfortunally when the miltary left the
rights of the blacks went with them. the white supremecists treated the south as 2nd
class people and were not given oppertunities to get any jobs but manual labor. Also the
kkk was formed to scare away blacks from voting and keep them in their so called place,
the plantation. The 14th amendment was a good thought, but it did not work out how the
radical republicans had hoped going into the 1900's
After lincoln was shot in december of 1965, vice president andrew johnson took over
office. He was a southern man and was not interested in blacks having the same rights as
white people. Infact he incouraged southern states to inact laws limiting the blacks
freedom. These laws were called "black codes". They ranged in harshness through out the
states but in all they were in credibly restricting. Blacks were forced to sign a
contract for a laborer at the beginning of each year and could not break his contract
even if his boss was abusing him. Also there was vagrancey laws which prohibited freed
slaves from even walking on city streets. They were a fined and made to work off there
debts. The "black codes" slowed down the evolution of equality between the races
consistantly going into the 1900's
Another very important factor in black history was the Plessy vs. Ferguson supreme court
case in 1896 which ruled that segragation is not nessseceraly descrimination and that
blacks and whites should be separate but equal, this was mainly a factor in southern
schools, whites got 70% of state funding or more for schools. While black children were
forced to school in a shack. Blacks were also forced to use different public bathrooms
and waterfountains. In 1890 2/3 of blacks were illiterate in the USA. 60% of southern
whites won to schools and only 35% of blacks did. This shows that separate was rarly
equal. The separate but equal issue continued well into the 20th century.
These threee factors have been very important in the evolution in blacks in america. How
can stilll see the effects today. Only 40 to 50 years ago blacks were still forced to use
different restrooms and water fountains.