The reconstruction era (1865-77) took place after the Civil War in America. In the South, African American and white people both went through some similar experiences and those that were very different when slavery was ended.
African American people began to take advantage of the new rights that were given to them including strengthening their church and school systems. They were no longer bound to their oppressors and could seek economic autonomy. Former slaves left their plantation in seek of paying jobs and find their family members that were separated. Black men were largely confined to farm work, unskilled labor, and service jobs, and black women to positions in private homes as cooks and maids. [1] President Johnson also made it difficult for African-Americans because he tried to pass laws known as the black codes, in order to limit the freedom of former slaves. The codes banned black people from possessing firearms, making or selling liquor. They were also denied the rights to testify against whites, to serve on juries or in state …show more content…
They felt like they had to give in to the demand of the North. After the war, Nearly 260,000 men died for the Confederacy more than one-fifth of the South's adult male white population. [1]. In I870, the value of property in the South also declined by 30 percent [1] They had trouble understanding that blacks are free and they have the same rights as white people Those that previously owned slaves had to experience difficult manual labor for the first time and many lost most of their money. Also, Southern planters were actively trying to incorporate a labor system that was as similar to slavery as possible. White farmers were forced to grow cotton because the cost of cotton was so low because of the high-interest rates. By the mid-1870s, white farmers, who cultivated only 10 percent of the South's cotton crop in 1860, were growing 40 percent,
African American people began to take advantage of the new rights that were given to them including strengthening their church and school systems. They were no longer bound to their oppressors and could seek economic autonomy. Former slaves left their plantation in seek of paying jobs and find their family members that were separated. Black men were largely confined to farm work, unskilled labor, and service jobs, and black women to positions in private homes as cooks and maids. [1] President Johnson also made it difficult for African-Americans because he tried to pass laws known as the black codes, in order to limit the freedom of former slaves. The codes banned black people from possessing firearms, making or selling liquor. They were also denied the rights to testify against whites, to serve on juries or in state …show more content…
They felt like they had to give in to the demand of the North. After the war, Nearly 260,000 men died for the Confederacy more than one-fifth of the South's adult male white population. [1]. In I870, the value of property in the South also declined by 30 percent [1] They had trouble understanding that blacks are free and they have the same rights as white people Those that previously owned slaves had to experience difficult manual labor for the first time and many lost most of their money. Also, Southern planters were actively trying to incorporate a labor system that was as similar to slavery as possible. White farmers were forced to grow cotton because the cost of cotton was so low because of the high-interest rates. By the mid-1870s, white farmers, who cultivated only 10 percent of the South's cotton crop in 1860, were growing 40 percent,