The Struggle of Gaining Rights as Freedmen The Civil War was a huge turning point for slaves. It helped slaves become free and gave them rights as people instead of being considered property. Before and after the Civil War African Americans fought for their rights, but mainly wanted their own land they can live on and farm on. They also wanted to have the option to be able to learn and get an education in schools. During these times African Americans were considered lesser then Whites, so they struggled trying to make things legal. While being discriminated, like being faced with “lynching, burning at the stake, with the humiliation of “Jim Crow” laws…” (White) and many more hateful acts, the African Americans were still able to earn their
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The 13th and 14th amendment were a huge factor during this time. The ratification of both these amendments made the freedmen’s desires a lot easier to succeed. It said if you were born in the United States you were considered a citizen, no matter you skin color, and “no state could deprive you of your rights, liberty or property without due process of law” (Medley). This helped the freedmen because since a lot of them were born in the United States, they were now considered citizens, which gave them the right to liberty and property. With liberty and property people are able to purchase their own land and have it be there and they can use the land freely at their pleasure as long as they are not committing any crimes. Although they got laws passed, acts created and amendments ratified, some of them did not help them exactly they wanted. The Southern Homestead Act of 1866 was an attempted that worked, but also hurt their efforts. This act made land available to blacks, however, it gave them bad land that they could not even get to. The Freedmen’s Bureau also got congress to promise them 40 …show more content…
After the civil war with the help of the ratification of the 13th and 14th Amendments and the created of many other laws and acts the freedmen started to gain more rights like right to property and education. They had many attempts of trying to get land and education that failed. While trying to get land, they were given bad land and land they could not even get to and they got themselves into problems between contracts with white landowners. While trying to get education they struggled with integrating schools and maintaining teachers because white teachers did not want to teach the African American children. Although they still got a lot of resentment from whites, they still managed to get more and more progress over time. By 1900, 25 percent of African Americans owned land and 1.5 million African American children were attending
The 13th and 14th amendment were a huge factor during this time. The ratification of both these amendments made the freedmen’s desires a lot easier to succeed. It said if you were born in the United States you were considered a citizen, no matter you skin color, and “no state could deprive you of your rights, liberty or property without due process of law” (Medley). This helped the freedmen because since a lot of them were born in the United States, they were now considered citizens, which gave them the right to liberty and property. With liberty and property people are able to purchase their own land and have it be there and they can use the land freely at their pleasure as long as they are not committing any crimes. Although they got laws passed, acts created and amendments ratified, some of them did not help them exactly they wanted. The Southern Homestead Act of 1866 was an attempted that worked, but also hurt their efforts. This act made land available to blacks, however, it gave them bad land that they could not even get to. The Freedmen’s Bureau also got congress to promise them 40 …show more content…
After the civil war with the help of the ratification of the 13th and 14th Amendments and the created of many other laws and acts the freedmen started to gain more rights like right to property and education. They had many attempts of trying to get land and education that failed. While trying to get land, they were given bad land and land they could not even get to and they got themselves into problems between contracts with white landowners. While trying to get education they struggled with integrating schools and maintaining teachers because white teachers did not want to teach the African American children. Although they still got a lot of resentment from whites, they still managed to get more and more progress over time. By 1900, 25 percent of African Americans owned land and 1.5 million African American children were attending