AMERICAN HISTORY SINCE 1865 TO 1900 - Essay Example

ples of this differential in overall levels of freedom exists with regards to the period in time following the conclusion of the Civil War and the turn of the 20th century. As a function of this unique reality and the differentials and freedom that were existing for whites and blacks during this unique period in American history, the following analysis will seek to analyze these differentials so that the reader may gain a more informed and realistic interpretation of how they impacted upon such people and the far-reaching historical ramifications that these differentials had and continue to have.

Firstly and most obviously, African-Americans were able to experience freedom from slavery as a direct result of collusion of the Civil War. Although this statement seems the very matter of fact, the overall an underlying importance that it holds should not be misunderstood. Prior to 1865, at least in areas that were controlled by the Confederacy, the practice of slavery had reduced nearly all legal and democratic rights of African-Americans and place them on a level that was comparable to property.

As can reasonably be expected, the overall humanitarian, democratic, legal, and egalitarian effects that this had were profound. Yet, once freedom was one and the process of slavery was abolished, it cannot be stated that African-Americans within the deep South, or anywhere else in the country for that matter, suddenly realized drastic improvement in the overall quality of life or level of freedom that they could immediately express. As a result of the horrors of the Civil War, large sections of the South were laid waste.

Cities were burned, infrastructure was destroyed, working aged men and business owners were dead, and resources that could be directed to capital investment were otherwise lost. As such, even though freedom existed for these African-Americans, at least in terms of no longer being slaves, the level and extent to which they could express this freedom and seek