From the book Reading the American Past by Michael P. Johnson, we can know that after the civil war, the Republicans in the Congress took a break and the African Americans weren't actually “freed.” They were not given their land at the beginning of Reconstruction; they still had to work on the plantations, with the only difference being blacks would receive wages and the outlawing of whipping. Then the Democrats established a Black Code that allowed the whites to treat African Americans much like when slavery is around. Elias Hill is a black preacher and teacher who lived in York County, South Carolina. He was known for preaching about rights and equality and taught local children how to read and write. He proposed for African Americans to
