Life After Reconstruction Essay

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Emancipation was not meant with the celebration and joy that should have followed but rather ugly truths were revealed. After emancipation many asked if their freedom was worth the pain and turmoil that followed emancipation (Bryant). The abolishment of slavery didn’t eliminate overall discrimination or segregation. But, it also leads to a long life of trial and turmoil of former slaves trying to adapt to American culture, from the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, to the Reconstruction era in 1866, until the growth of racism today (Harris). The effects of slavery and the aftermath of the civil war are being felt today (Bryant).
Before the signing of the emancipation proclamation of 1863, blacks were slaves and considered property. Some animals were treated better than a black person (Lab). President Abraham Lincoln felt pressure from the northern states, they felt the south was getting free labor to propel their economy and industry, and their business (Harris). He also felt pressure from the abolish groups for owning another human being (Harris). The emancipation proclamation was issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the American Civil War, declaring all “slaves within any State or designated part of a State then in rebellion, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.” The states affected were enumerated in the proclamation; specifically exempted were slaves in parts of the South then held by Union armies (Bryant). Lincoln’s issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation marked a radical change in his policy (Bryant). Life after the emancipation proclamation, referred to the Reconstruction period from 1865 to 1877 (Lab).
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The emancipation proclamation in 1863 freed slaves in rebel states, but after the civil war the thirteenth amendment freed all U.S. slaves no matter which state (Harris). A quote from a freed man, Houston Hartsfield Holloway, said “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 (Harris).” During this period, after the civil war the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments added to the constitution and the civil rights act of 1866, Blacks enjoyed a short period of time when they were allowed to vote, actively participate in politics, buy land, seek employment, and use public accommodations (Tugraham). But it was also a period of hard times financially, medically and most of all a time of fear (Harris). After emancipation a small amount of former slaves were able to own their own land (Harris). Although ownership of land was a means to achieve wealth these former slaves landowners were riddled with crippling debt from acquiring less than desirable land (Lab). The land acquired in some cases was worth far less than the former slave owed for the land (Lab). Former slaves could not afford to get medical attention because of a lack of funds in many cases (Lab). Medical bill would lead to their overall debt and push them even further behind white society (Harris). To offset acquiring debt from medical attention many former slaves resorted to home remedies to fix what ailed them (Tugraham). Many of these home remedies was a staple in the black family (Tugraham). Emancipation didn’t mean that everything was automatically alright. Being released from slavery penniless and with no education or a place to live was very hard for former

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