Of particular importance to the community was the role of the Church. No longer required to attend
services with their master, blacks built their own churches, often raising money to buy land and build
premises. Working together also created a ‘sense of shared interests and goals’, and their achievements
created a feeling of pride which had never been felt before. Most blacks went to Baptist churches whilst
others went to Methodist or Catholic institutions. This was irrelevant; the important factor was that blacks
had the right to choose.
Education was also transformed. With the help of Charles Summer in the Senate, the Freedman’s Bureau
and other ‘Missionary Associations’ established 740 schools during the Reconstruction period. Higher
education institutions such as Clark University were also developed. People of all ages attended classes,
attempting to gain the tools to maximise their freedom and increase their job opportunities. In states such as
Rhode Island and Connecticut in the North of America, blacks and whites even attended school together.
The spirit of ‘self improvement’ and self worth embodied in the organisation of clubs, churches and
especially schools, was a significant part of what Reconstruction meant to African Americans.
Irrespective of these changes, many writers point out that Southern blacks were facing the problem that
Northern blacks had experienced in the past, ‘that of a freed people surrounded by many hostile whites’,
who did not believe that blacks were equal, and instead continued to treat them as slaves. As a
consequence, Reconstruction usually meant segregation. This was applicable in public places such as
hotels, restaurants and theatres. Facilities were supposed to be ‘separate but equal’; however this was
rarely the case with blacks being offered inferior seats or rooms. In certain cases, such as the New Orleans
Opera House, blacks remained excluded completely. Furthermore, irrespective of legalised marriages,
white land owners often gained custody of black children to ensure free labour. This was achieved by
claiming that parents were unfit to look after children. Black women also continued to be treated as objects,
often being sexually abused or raped. The court room also continued its bias in favour of whites.
There was also some change to the economy. However this was not as dramatic as had been hoped. After
labouring free of charge during slavery, blacks believed that they were entitled to the ownership of land
which would make them economically independent. Experiments off the South Coast of Carolina and
Davis Bend, Mississippi, where land was divided between blacks, suggested that this might be the case.
However during ‘Presidential Reconstruction’, Johnson handed the majority of land back to the slave
owners, and ‘betrayed’ the faith of African Americans. A small minority of blacks did become
landowners, whilst others attempted to lease land. Unsurprisingly, the cost of such ventures was
deliberately extortionate , whilst vagrancy laws, enforced at the beginning of Reconstruction, stated that
blacks had to be employed by whites or risk arrest. This was obviously a deliberately imposed disincentive
for blacks who were trying to buy their own land. As a consequence, ‘most African Americans were doing
the same kind of work as they had done as slaves’. The obvious difference was that the law now stated that
white owners had to pay blacks for their work, or take part in ‘crop sharing’. However, despite the fact that
the Freedman’s Bureau often helped to organise contracts, their rate of pay was considerably lower than
that of a white man, whilst the crop failures of the mid 1870’s often meant that their employers failed to
pay them at all. Although the National Negro Union was eventually founded, the majority were not
represented by any union. As a consequence, they were often helpless. Laws imposing strict laws on
African American fishing were also introduced. Unable to fish for food, blacks were forced to work in
order to provide for their families. This returned them to the mercy of their white employers. Other laws
changed also. Minor crimes such as steeling pigs had long term prison sentences attached to them. This
increased the ability of whites to take advantage of ‘convict leasing’, which once again meant black’s
worked for nothing.
Others attempted to move to the city to work. Before the Civil War, blacks needed passes to move within
States. However, with their new found freedom, blacks ascended on the major cities, doubling the black
population in many. This sudden influx flooded the labour market, resulting in many being unable to find
employment. As a consequence of their poverty, many blacks who had travelled to the city were forced to
live in ‘squalid shanty towns’, where disease was rife. This illustrates an important point. Reconstruction
may have meant the freeing of slaves, but it also meant the freeing of slave owners. Blacks were left to look
after themselves, and those without any form of employment found this very difficult. Irrespective of these
problems it must be noted that Reconstruction did mean a small number of blacks gained prosperity. This
occurred most frequently in the West where blacks owned tobacco and soap factories in San Francisco and
mining companies in California and Nevada.
There was also a significant change in political life with ‘Congressional Reconstruction’ providing
‘unprecedented opportunities for African American men in the South’. Making use of their new freedom
of speech, mass meetings took place throughout the Southern States, with speakers such as Abraham
Galloway in North Carolina, campaigning for electoral rights. In itself this was a considerable advance.
However, the most obvious change was that with the ratification of the 15th Amendment in 1870, black men
could vote in local and national elections. Voting was an extremely important step, as was suggested
by Frederick Douglas who claimed that ‘slavery is not abolished until the black man has the ballot’.
Voting during Reconstruction also meant supporting the Republican Party who stood for ‘union and
emancipation’, and were against the Conservative views of the Democrats.
Blacks also had a greater influence by actually becoming part of the political executive. By 1867 blacks
often held office in local and State governments, and campaigned for policies important to the African
American cause. Furthermore they stood on juries and were able to stand in the witness box to give
evidence. Blacks were also voted into national office. Sixteen men served in the U.S. Congress during
Reconstruction, with Hiram Revels becoming the first U.S. senator in 1870. Indeed the period of
Reconstruction was an ‘historical landmark’, with more blacks holding office than at any other time in
history. However, despite these facts, it is possible that they may be slightly misleading when considering
what Reconstruction meant to the political situation for blacks. Undeniably there were improvements, but
the majority of blacks with political power were individuals who had been free before the war.
Many of the blacks who held seats in the House of Representatives were ‘light coloured Mulattoes’
who were relatively well off and climbing the social ladder. As a consequence they were not always
representative of the majority of blacks. Moreover, whites often refused to employ those who exercised
their right to vote for the Republican Party, whilst the Ku Klux Klan continued to attack and intimidate
black voters.
The influence of white vigilante groups such as the ‘Ku Klux Klan’ must not be underestimated. Such
group’s terrorised blacks who refused to be subservient to whites and did the same to white teachers or
missionary volunteers who tried to aid the black cause. In Piedmont alone, 260 Ku Klux Klan terrorist acts
had taken place by 1870. Although the Ku Klux Klan Act was passed in 1871 which gave Federal
Government the right to use Federal courts against those who stopped blacks voting, sitting on
juries or holding public office, it would be naive to suggest that this had any great effect. Furthermore
‘Race Riots’ continued to take place in places such as New Orleans and Memphis (1866). As suggested
previously, these factors meant that Reconstruction was often a time of great fear, and under the influence
of such fear, it also meant the loss of many chances to increase and develop black freedom.
In conclusion it is obvious that Reconstruction meant that the rights of blacks did improve, and was a time
of hope and a ‘push in the right direction’, for black equality. The months after the war did result in many
changes and ‘was a period of remarkable accomplishment for Southern blacks’. ‘Presidential
Reconstruction’ was however somewhat disappointing. Black Codes established certain practices that were
never entirely eradicated irrespective of Congressional attempts, whilst giving land back to former slave
owners ensured that blacks never made the economic advances which they had hoped for. There were also
political advances and many social changes. However many of these were marred or even obstructed by
groups such as the Ku Klux Klan. Furthermore, it is important to remember the Reconstruction did not last
forever. In 1872 the vote was given back to former Confederates. This saw the Democrat Party regain
control of many of the Southern States, and reinforce their racial bias. Similarly, after the 1876 Presidential
election, the Republicans, desperate for harmony, agreed to let Southern States disenfranchise black men.
As a consequence, although the initial period of Reconstruction meant that many blacks felt that they ‘had
progressed a century in a year’, the meaning of the rest of Reconstruction was somewhat unclear, with the
long lasting changes expected by blacks failing to become reality.
WORD COUNT: 1995
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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A.L.Trelease, ‘White Terror: The Ku Klux Klan Conspiracy and Southern Reconstruction’, (London: Secker & Warburg 1972)
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D.Stirling, ‘The Trouble They Seen: A Story Of Reconstruction In The Words Of African Americans’, (De Campo Press: New York 1994) p62
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E.Foner, ‘A Short History Of Reconstruction 1863-1877’, (Grand Rapids: Harper & Row 1990) p37
N.Frankel, ‘Breaking of the Chains’ in R.Kelly & E.Lewis eds., ‘To Make Our World Anew: A History Of African Americans’, (New York: Oxford University Press 2000) p249
R.J Kaczorowski, ‘To Begin The Nation Anew: Congress, Citizenship and Civil Rights After The Civil War’ in ‘American Historical Review 92’, (New York: Macmillan 1987) p 52
D.Stirling, ‘The Trouble They Seen: A Story Of Reconstruction In The Words Of African Americans’, (De Campo Press: New York 1994) p87
H.Rabinowitz, ed., ‘Southern Black Leaders of The Reconstruction Era’ , (Urbana: University of Illinois Press 1982) p47
D.Cecelski & T.Tyson eds. , ‘Abraham Galloway’ in ‘Democracy Betrayed: The Wilmington Race Riot Of 1898 and its Legacy’, (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press 1998) p63
D.Stirling, ‘The Trouble They Seen: A Story Of Reconstruction In The Words Of African Americans’, (De Campo Press: New York 1994) p90
E.Foner, ‘A Short History Of Reconstruction 1863-1877’, (Grand Rapids: Harper & Row 1990) p45