The Reconstruction vs. Civil War Movement

In a sense both the Reconstruction and the Civil War Movement were pretty much the same. African-Americans were prohibted from having any type of authority or any where near it in a white man's eye. Even though the Reconstruction's main purpose - was for freedom of the slaves in the south but the slaves seem to keep the same status on the human specturm - "the inferior".

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Here are a few examples of how they were treated that I found on several different websites:

African Americans during Reconstruction

The Emancipation Proclamation abolished the legal fact of slavery, but racial discrimination and segregation remained during the reconstruction era. Many things happened during the time of the Emancipation Proclamation and Reconstruction and it definitely did not do as much for the black people as everyone thought it would. The blacks became the forgotten people after the war and fell through the cracks of society, while people only looked on. Then the suddenness of the Emancipation left both the blacks and whites unprepared to deal with each other and their new status. Also, there was difficulty with legal discrimination and harsh imprisonment as blacks attempted to integrate themselves into a white society during a very overwhelming time.

After the war, the blacks fell through the cracks of the North and South. There was massive confusion regarding what people were really fighting for. The North was fighting to abolish slavery, whereas the South was fighting for their state's rights. The blacks were caught somewhere in the middle between right and wrong. As Abraham Lincoln introduced the Emancipation the Southerners were bitter and resented the sudde ...

They were sent away with no education and would soon learn that life could be a cruel game directed at them. They never had the option of being the winner. They were given the losers positioning right away. The blacks were vulnerable and the carpetbaggers were quick to take advantage of them. The carpetbaggers were cold-hearted people who would stop at nothing for a little money. "I was pretty hard up and I did not care who the candidate was if I go

With the end of the Civil War in 1865 African-Americans still had fewer rights than white people. Even with the passing of laws such as the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifthtenth amendments, which were aimed at giving
them equal protection under law, blacks were still discriminated against. Although under law African-Americans had equal rights they were still considered economically inferior to the whites and suffered from this position below them.

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It was nearly impossible for a black farmer to be able to own and farm his own land because whites were given first priority. Union general Sherman promised the newly freed slaves forty acres and a mule to be able to farm by themselves. This land was taken away in August 1865 when President Johnson ordered the eviction of all former slaves and the land be given back to former slave holders(Danzer et all). To make up for this loss of land the President passed the Southern Homestead Act with set aside 44 million acres of land to be used by the former slaves. The problem was that this land was mainly swampy and it was unsuitable for farming. Also the former slaves did not have the resources such as seed, plows, tools, and horse to farm(Danzer et all).