The Reconstruction of 1870s in both North and South battled for equal rights for the men free from the Thirteenth Amendment. The political actions of our nation limited the freedom of these ex-slaves. Horrible hate groups caused panic and fear to spread throughout the country to whom ever supported freedmen. People often wonder if the Reconstruction was a success or just a terrible idea. In this essay I will discuss all the reasons why it was not a success. Newly Freedmen and women were placed under high restriction to inhibit their success in their new free nation.
Black Codes were put into place to stop the newly freedmen from actually using his freedom and his basic rights. These laws hid all the rights that African American men fought to have. In one place Freedmen and women were not allowed to go into town, hold public meetings in towns, or live in the town, they were supposed to be in service for their original owner or any white person. Another way the Freedmen were restricted was by sharecropping. This was forced in the South and was an endless cycle of death and laboring for the freedmen.
The freedmen received land, in return promising that they would give half the crop to the land owner. After the freedmen has given half of his crop to the landowner, the freedmen owes a lot more than he made profit, so he must work next year again for the same landowner. This was the best way freedmen could own land, but the southern men made them forever in debt so they could never stop having to pay them. These new laws in place limited the freedmen’s newly won freedom. White southern men singled out those that were for equality for all races. These white southern men were called the Klu Klux Klan and they did not tolerate any kind of acts for equality for all races.
They were strongly against African Americans becoming free and having rights, so they did everything in their power to stop anyone with that belief even if it meant killing them. The Union was very much afraid of what the KKK would do to anyone supporting the new freedmen in any kind of way. The KKK would kidnap and beat horribly a African American because they didn’t want them taking their place in society. A slave says by the name of Abram Colby says,” no man can make a free speech in my country… it can not be done anywhere in Georgia”, by him saying this you can tell that any African American man or woman are not giving their full freedom.
