The Reconstruction Era: The Economic and Social Changes Blacks in The South - Article Example

The Reconstruction Era: The Economic and Social Changes Blacks in The South The Reconstruction era focused on achieving freedom from slavery by the African Americans (Stroud, & Schomp, 2006). Very few southern states allowed the slaves to access education, farm, and freedom of expression and citizenship. The civil war that triggered the Reconstruction era ended with many slaves being set free (Stroud, & Schomp, 2006). The slaves lacked fundamental needs such as provisions, garments and shelter.

The government had to provide food, clothing, and settle some of the slaves in refugee camps. Constitutional adjustment by the federal administration empowered the African Americans (Stroud, & Schomp, 2006). Social amenities such as schools and churches were established to assist the slaves adopt a lifestyle. Restoration of families and protection were alarming issues.EducationSlaves were uninformed because most Southern states prohibited them from pursuing education (Stroud, & Schomp, 2006).

Poverty rates were high among them and the desire to come out of it inspired them to seek education. They considered education as a stepping-stone to liberty. As this hunger for education rose, the Freedmen’s Bureau and the Northern aid societies engaged in constructing hundreds of schools meant for the freed men. The freedmen contributed significantly to these projects. They inculcated their resources to construction, purchase of facilities, paying teachers and even offering protection to the teachers and schools.

Kids and grown persons enrolled in the schools (Stroud, & Schomp, 2006). Such efforts led to the opening of the first black entities in the Southern state and by 1870, most of the teachers in the freed men schools were African Americans (Stroud, & Schomp, 2006).ChurchThe Northern missionaries and the Freedmen’s Bureau contributed to the construction of churches. The churches were built alongside the schools or at times, housing served as a church and a school. The freed men not only depended on the aid from the Northern missionaries but also contributed towards the construction of these churches.

During slavery, they faced segregation the whites and their preachers who insisted that they should maintain their status. With their own churches, they had the autonomy to prefer preachers of their own, worshipped freely. The churches also provided ground that they used to hold social and political group meetings (Stroud, & Schomp, 2006).Family lifeAs slaves, the African Americans could not legalize marriage because the Southern state laws failed to accredit their marriages. On attaining freedom, they desired to legalize their marriages.

Mass wedding ceremonies underwent authorization at the Freedmen’s Bureau offices. Most families underwent separation by bondage in slavery (Stroud, & Schomp, 2006). Individuals decided to look for their departed familial relations (Stroud, & Schomp, 2006). The schools helped these members search for their family members FarmingAfter slavery, the freed men were poor. They failed to possess, let, and tend farms. The Freedman’s Bureau introduced sharecropping to the freed slaves. This system helped them practice subsistence farming.

The organization also could lease farm inputs to the slaves to enhance their farming practices. The incentives offered were paid back after an agreement between the parties (Stroud, & Schomp, 2006).ReferenceStroud, B., & Schomp, V. (2006). The Reconstruction Era. China: Marsahall Cavendish.