Reconstruction was the beginning of a struggle to reunite a broken nation and redefine the meaning of freedom. The Civil War left the South destroyed, desolate, and economically devastated. After the war was over, newly emancipated African Americans left their plantations in search for freedom and a new life. Life after the Civil War in the South for African Americans was challenging, as any new found freedoms were stringently regulated by the Southern Democratic Party. Although the Civil War was over, and measures were taken through the ratification of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendment to expand the rights of newly emancipated African Americans, Southerners sought to maintain former hierarchy and pre-civil war race relations.
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The thirteenth amendment declared that neither “slavery nor involuntary servitude except as punishment” would be allowed in the United States. The Black Codes aimed to maintain former class order while restricting the recently required rights of African Americans. In an excerpt from the Black Codes of Mississippi, Southern legislatiures attempted to restrict African Americans by means of employment stating, “Every civil officer shall, and every person may, arrest and carry back to his or her legal employer any freedman, free negro, or mulatto who shall have quit the service of his or her employer before the expiration of his or her term of service without good cause.” This excerpt presents just one example of how the South attempted to find a loophole around the newly ratified thirteenth amendment to continue the oppression of African Americans and the reign of white supremacy. Freedmen could not violate or quit employment without good cause, otherwise, they would be arrested and returned to their employer. This resembles the forced labor and the acts of
The thirteenth amendment declared that neither “slavery nor involuntary servitude except as punishment” would be allowed in the United States. The Black Codes aimed to maintain former class order while restricting the recently required rights of African Americans. In an excerpt from the Black Codes of Mississippi, Southern legislatiures attempted to restrict African Americans by means of employment stating, “Every civil officer shall, and every person may, arrest and carry back to his or her legal employer any freedman, free negro, or mulatto who shall have quit the service of his or her employer before the expiration of his or her term of service without good cause.” This excerpt presents just one example of how the South attempted to find a loophole around the newly ratified thirteenth amendment to continue the oppression of African Americans and the reign of white supremacy. Freedmen could not violate or quit employment without good cause, otherwise, they would be arrested and returned to their employer. This resembles the forced labor and the acts of