How the Social Status of African Americans Changed during the Reconstruction Era - Essay Example

How the Social Status of African Americans Changed During the Reconstruction Era (1865-1875) The Reconstruction era is one of the most turbulent periods in the history of America. This period occurred right after the Civil War to help in re-constructing the South. During this period, the federal government assumed the basic responsibility of defining and protecting the civil rights of all Americans. More so, this period was concerned with bringing the nation black together and the formulation of the State’s new constitution that condemns slavery. Various scholars have focused on how African American lives have changed during the Reconstruction period and how the freed slaves have embraced freedom throughout the South. Notably, the Congress suggested a change in the constitution that would abolish slavery in the entire Nation. The plans for the Reconstruction included a vow of loyalty to the Nation and abolition of slavery that was to be taken by the Southern states before their re-admission to the Nation. Even though some states worked hard to enact laws that abolished the full civil rights of African American, slavery and exploitation was somehow eliminated during the Reconstruction era. Many African Americans were freed from slavery and forced labor. Initiatives such as freedmen’s bureau were established to provide relief and assistance to the former slaves including educational and abandoned land services among others. Moreover, the Congress passed the Civil Rights Act in 1866, which highlighted numerous civil liberties including the right to make contracts, own and sell property and receive equal treatment under the law among others. Indeed, this was a relief to the newly freed slaves as the Congress also proposed an amendment that provides citizenship and civil liberties to them. There were many changes experienced during the Reconstruction era and this paper focuses on how the social status of the African-American changed during this period. The Reconstruction process was a success as it enabled America to re-emerge and be called the United States. The Reconstruction amendments of American constitution included the thirteenth amendment which abolished slavery; the fourteenth amendment that accorded all citizens equal protection under the law; and the fifteenth amendment that provide suffrage to all male citizens regardless of race (Jones 175). Following the plans for Reconstruction that required Southern states to take vow of loyalty to the Nation and abolish slavery, all Southern states drafted new constitution, ratified some amendments and pledged loyalty to the Union. Before the Reconstruction period, individuals were socially determined in terms of rich or poor, native or immigrant among others. Although there were still some tensions in the relations between blacks and whites, the Reconstruction really changed this as well as the social status of African-American in the United States. Some African-Americans were employed in some industries like steel mills but generally, the blacks were barred from industries such as textile mills as they were portrayed as lazy and ignorant. More so, majority of African-Americans were tenant farmers but this changed when the civil rights of the blacks were advocated during the Reconstruction era. During this period, racial discrimination in public accommodations including hostels and theaters was highly condemned under the Civil Rights Act of 1875. Social discrimination has been there in black and white communities and even during slavery, African American community made a clear distinction between the slaves and the freemen. The growth of a black elite ensured that there were black leaders during the Reconstruction era and this indeed brought many social changes for the blacks (Moore 3). According to this act, every American citizen had the right to enjoy outlined civil rights in the constitution regardless of race. This act demanded that the blacks need to be accorded the same civil rights just like their white counterparts. However, the civil rights case was seen as unenforceable as it addressed social issues not civil rights. Later on, it was noted that this amendment protected individuals against violations of their rights by states not individuals’ actions. As a result, the South enacted laws that legalized racial segregation in all public places including schools, hospitals and restaurants. African Americans were discriminated by the Southern whites and there was intense social inequality between the two groups. Tolerating segregation led to the emergence of supremacy of the whites over the blacks. The self-consciousness of the white has been their self-identity not because they are in touch of the blacks (Gao 1). Movements such as the civil rights movement during the reconstruction era led to the banning of racism. More so, formal equality and freedom were created. However, the new system that was established to some extent encouraged white supremacy and racism and so the blacks were still separated and seen as unequal and occupied subordinate status in the United States (Smith 4). The Reconstruction period brought by many social changes to African-Americans who suffered from racial segregation, slavery and exploitation among others. Slavery was a system of domination and subordination where the whites monopolized all forms of authority and the blacks oppressed. This state changed during the Reconstruction era when the blacks were now able to acquire and use power (Smith 4). However, the Southern individuals were not pleased with the changes and readjustment experienced in the Reconstruction era. This is because the Southern whites wanted to continue exploiting African Americans and extended few civil rights and they never supported social equality. On the contrary, African Americans wanted full freedom and land of their own because they were tired of being treated as slaves, discriminated and oppressed by the Southern whites. Reunification of families and relatives was a significant social change experienced by the freed individuals during the Reconstruction era. During this time, the separated families as a result of the Civil War were reunited and were free to start life all over again as one united and happy family. The blacks lived separately from relatives as a result of slavery as some blacks were sold far away from their family members to go work in white-owned plantations. Former slaves desperately looked for their loved ones sold and enslaved elsewhere. Many freed many were forced to seek help from the Freemen’s Bureau to assist them in tracking down their lost relatives (Campbell and Rebecca 8). The blacks considered their reunification with families and relatives as the most essential part of their freedom as this would enable then reconstruct their lives. Reconstruction provided the opportunity to meet relatives and strengthen family ties. After the end of slavery, African American households were reconstructed and freedmen reclaimed their position as the heads of households (Campbell and Rebecca 9). More so, the Reconstruction era was marked with imperceptible changes in the Southern society. The freed slaves were allowed to get married legally and establish stable families because slave marriages were formalized via legally recognized ceremonies. Before the Reconstruction period, the laws in the Southern states perceived the blacks as being morally and legally unfit for marriage. African Americans were prohibited from entering into civil contracts and this includes marriage contract as they were seen to lack moral values required to respect and honor the marital vows. Therefore, many slave couples lived together as husband and wife though they were never married in the eyes of the law. Furthermore, African Americans almost entirely withdrew from white-controlled religious institutions where they were down looked upon and excluded from occupying any position in church governance. They were also instructed to sit the back pews during church services. Instead, they formed their own religious organizations which served as the centers for the African American community as a place of worship, social events and political gatherings. Some of these black churches were created to take care of the weak in the community, provide the basic needs to the needy and provide opportunities for learning and cultural enrichment (Royster 209). More so, there were mutual societies within these newly established black churches that supported the church members who experienced different kinds of difficulties (Royster 209). The desire for freedom and self-improvement was part of what blacks perceive as economic freedom. They refused to work in huge numbers for wages under the supervision of whites and they preferred renting land and working independently. Nevertheless, many freed slaves believed that they deserved to be given land following their years of forced labour but the whites were reluctant to sell the land to the blacks. Again, the decision made by the federal government not to redistribute land in the South left few freed individuals to be landowners and most of them rented land or continued working for wages on white owned plantations. Most freedmen who lacked land and money continued working for whites but not as slaves under close supervision of the plantation owner. New systems of labor emerged during the Reconstruction period to replace slavery with sharecropping dominating cotton and tobacco plantations whereas wage labor dominated sugar plantations in the South. Some bureaus supported the black aspirations to work on their own land. Majority of African American practiced sharecropping because this labor system enabled them to live in cabins on the tracts they rented. More so, they preferred this system because they were free to choose what to plant and cultivate under no supervision or other people’s influence. The central focus of the Reconstruction was to free African Americans from slavery and to encourage them to claim their rights as citizens. The congress enacted laws and made amendments that empowered the federal government to ensure equal rights where black Southerners were given the right to vote and hold office. Even though this era was sometimes called the Black Reconstruction, African Americans never got a chance to rule the South. There were no blacks who were appointed and blacks controlled only one legislature. Many African Americans managed to hold prominent political positions during the Reconstruction through the right to vote and participate in politics. Those African Americans who managed to hold office had competence and honesty to the whites. According to many whites, the blacks were not competent enough to be fully in charge of their individual affairs (Moore 3). Accordingly, during the Reconstruction period, many whites in the South had difficulty coming up with new system of labour that would replace slavery after slavery was prohibited in these states and the Nation at large. Therefore, the lives of planters, freed slaves as well as that of the whites were completely changed during this period. The planters found it challenging to adjust to the end of slavery and because of they had absolute control over the labor force, they tried to revive the old trend of slavery but this was highly opposed by the freed individuals. Although some Southern whites were willing to cooperate with the African Americans, the mass of Southern whites remained opposed to African American political, civil and social equality. In 1890, African Americans were relegated to a subordinate and segregated position following the triumph of Southern populism. The position of an African American was that of total subjection to the personal interest of the white owner of the plantations (Du Bois 10). Legal sanctions such as black codes were imposed upon African Americans that allowed the Southern whites to control the lives of the blacks. More so, informal and brutal actions such as lynching were taken to ensure that the blacks were kept in their place. In some cases, lynchings were public events that attracted huge crowds (Finkelman 91). Because of the increasing hostility from the Southern whites made African Americans to forget about politics and further education and focus on how to be better farmers and artisans. The Reconstruction period brought important social changes for the freed African Americans. Primarily, great expansion in African American higher education was witnessed during the Reconstruction era. Literally, before the Civil War each Southern state prohibited education of the slaves, but now, freed slaves including adults and children flocked to the schools established after the war. The planters or white owners of plantations allowed the blacks to acquire inferior education since a slave had no right to education or religion (Du Bois 10). The blacks considered the Reconstruction era as the period full of many significant social changes including the expansion of education and so majority of freed individuals grabbed these new opportunities for higher education. Initiatives such as the Freedmen’s Bureau play a leading role in education expansion. The Bureau’s major focus was to provide food, health care, assist with resettlement, and establish schools for those affected by the Civil War. Before this period, African Americans were enslaved and were not allowed to attain higher education and they mainly focused on how to be better artisans instead. This was also because of racial segregation in the South where the blacks had unequal access to facilities and education as compared to the whites. Increased hostility, racial segregation and social inequality left African Americans with no choice but to leave higher education for the whites who were considered superior. However, things changed during the Reconstruction era as many blacks including women had an access to higher education and artwork was no longer the main focus of African Americans. School segregation after the Reconstruction period was highly opposed as many local schools adopted freedom of choice programs (Finkelman 92). Therefore, school desegregation was given necessary attention and was addressed by many scholars during this period (Persons 125). Many pushed for the educational equality and were in interested in ways through which education can be improved for black students to attain the same education as the whites (Persons 124). The end of slavery enabled black children to go to school and focus on education rather than working on white owned plantations. Freedmen’s Bureau assisted in establishing many African American schools, created teacher-training institutions, and financed several black colleges and this was a good opportunity for the blacks to acquire equal education. Such opportunities never existed in the South before the Civil War because the slaves were not allowed to compete with their masters in acquiring education. As opposed to the Civil War era, many African Americans could now graduate from different colleges and secure a good job just like their white fellows. In conclusion, the Reconstruction period is indeed one of the most important eras in American history. This period was meant to reconstruct the South, abolish slavery and free African Americans from oppressed life. The constitutional amendments made during the Reconstruction era were to ensure that the civil rights of freed slaves are not violated and also they are treated equally under the law. The creation of the Bureau of Refugees and Freedmen’s Bureau was motivated by the urge to manage the transition from slavery to freedom and assist African Americans to effectively exercise their newfound rights. The Reconstruction brought important social changes to African Americans and their lives completely changed. For instance, the family members that were separated during the Civil War were reunited and reconstructed their lives. Slavery led to separation of families as slaves were sold to go work far away from their family members and so the freedmen considered reunification with families. Secondly, African Americans were allowed by the law to get married and establish stable families just like the whites because the slave marriages were formalized during this era. African Americans were able to marry and form a stable family. More so, African Americans took advantage of the new opportunity to go to schools established by the Freedmens Bureau. As opposed to before the war where educating slaves was prohibited, Reconstruction enabled many freed individuals including children and adults, men and women to attend schools and higher education and attain various degrees. This became possible following new opportunities for higher education and many established African American colleges and universities. Additionally, the blacks abandoned white-dominated churches where they were discriminated to form their own churches. During the Reconstruction period, the number of African American churches increased rapidly and they served as a place of worship and social centers where different communal activities were undertaken. Works Cited Campbell, James M, and Rebecca J. Fraser. Reconstruction: People and Perspectives. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO, Inc, 2008. Print. Du Bois, W. Black Reconstruction in America 1860-1880. Simon and Schuster, 1935 Finkelman, Paul. Encyclopedia of African American History, 1896 to the Present: From the Age of Segregation to the Twenty-First Century. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. Print. Gao, Chunchang. African Americans in the Reconstruction Era. Taylor & Francis, 2000. Jones, Angela. African American Civil Rights: Early Activism and the Niagara Movement. Santa Barbara, Calif: Praeger, 2011. Print. Moore, Jacqueline M. Leading the Race: The Transformation of the Black Elite in the Nations Capital, 1880 - 1920. Charlottesville [u.a.]: Univ. Press of Virginia, 1999. Print. Persons, Georgia A. Contours of African American Politics. New Brunswick, N.J: Transaction Publishers, 2012. Print. Royster, Jacqueline J. Traces of a Stream: Literacy and Social Change among African American Women. University of Pittsburgh Pre, 2000. Smith, Robert C. Encyclopedia of African American Politics. New York, NY: Facts On File, 2003. Read More