On May 26, 1865 the last battle of the civil war was fought. This marked the end of slavery for more nearly 4 million black Southerners. It was the start of what they thought would be a new life with equal rights. The end of this war was supposed to be the beginning of freedom to go where they wanted when they wanted, and have family and friends. Sike! Instead, this war left them landless, dead broke and supporting themselves. With the outcome of this war the white southerners were outraged and found what northerners took as a “blatant attempt to restore slavery”. So came the year of The Black Codes.
Approximately 5 days after the war ended Abe Lincoln was killed and Vice President Andrew Johnson took over presidency. On-top of being a new president he was now left with the responsibility of rebuilding the nation. Just before the end of the war, Congress created the Freedmen’s Bureau. This furnished the slaves with food and medical help. This also helped slaves with education, and finding jobs.
During the summer of 1865 southners found a way to restore some of their beliefs and power. At a convention, President Johnson permitted only white persons to vote for convention delegates. By the end of the election most ex-confederate leaders had won. The state legislatures began to pass laws limiting the freedom of the former slaves. The newly freedmen could not vote, serve on juries, travel freely, marry, or work in occupations of their choice. This raised uproar in the north which helped the upcoming of The Black Codes.
The Black Codes applied to anyone with One-Eighth or more of Negro in their blood. These codes restricted their rights of freedom but gave them the right to marry in their race. Work was very hard to come by after the war, and most work that Freedmen were given were the jobs that the White men did not like. These jobs consisted of mostly agricultural work. Even when the freedmen did come buy an occupation it was regulated and chosen for them. Many Southerners believed that the slaves were predestined, and it was their responsibility to keep them on track. Freedmen could not raise their own crops nor lease land. All of their aspects of life were regulated.
Life after the war was hardly what they expected. Life was livening as a puppet for the African Americans, and The Black Code made sure the puppet show was accurate. Often when people think of life after war they think of segregation and Freedmen, not being able to vote, but it was so much more than just that. In the year of 1866 The Black Codes were suspended and life began to look up for freedmen. Although the codes were eliminated equalness was still not restored to them.
18 comments:
Hey GIRLLLL!!! figured ide read your thing since i love you and all. Well heres what i think.
I liked the way that you put a lot of facts in yourblog. like how many slaves were freeded at the end of the war. I also Love how you were like SIKE. that was good. I never really thought about how when the war ended, a new improved life didn't start for those freed slaves. In fact, a harded life was created. i really like how you brought that out. ALso i never knew about those "codes" that you talked about. I loved your blog!
Coolycoolcool. Very informative. You used a lot of information that we got from class, and some not so much. You just have to remember to compare it to today. Other than that it was great.
I enjoyed reading this blog, as it was written about the struggle blacks had to endure even after the Civil War. It was very unfair that the new president was discriminative towards the blacks, and the laws that followed him displayed that discrimination. Still doing agricultural work with low wages and not being able to own land, the blacks still seemed like they were slaves. This had to be hell for them, but later on, the North sees these discriminations and makes things easier for the blacks to live as free citizens.
Your blog really made me think about how crazy the world can be just because of the color of your skin. The Black Code was almost as if someone was holding your hand and telling you what and what not to do as if you were a child. It's easy to eliminate something that is wrong but will people still change their ways? In the end it was as if a change was not even made. Great blog! Way to make me think. ;)
this was a very informational blog alot of information many facts, they were never really free untill like the 50 there was still segergation in the united states even thow they wernt slaves. they wernt equals neither even thow they said they were
i really learned a lot from your blog about slavery. i like how you talked about the outcome of when the civil war. for example how you said the slaves did agricultural work that the white men didnt want to do. great blog! you made me catch up on all the information that ive missed from sleeping.
I really enjoyed reading your blog. It made me think about how the US still wasn't ready for the freedom of the slaves and how the US government oppressed their rights. I was thinking, it's an ironic situation: at the beginning of Civil War, the North opposed the South's treatment of the slaves and vowed to fight for the good of the slaves and their cause...yet after Civil War, the slaves were not granted the rights they were promised by the North if they won the war. But eventually, US enforced and applied all principles of the Constitution for everyone regardless of their skin color. Your blog was well written and I enjoyed reading it. Keep it up!
it was a wonderful blog. your blog made me think of the present issues going on in our country. For instance, the issue of illegal immigrants. Alot of the immigrants came to America looking for jobs and instead of finding good jobs, they ended up with jobs that the Americans didnt want, the ones with low wages. The immigrants aren't really free because they spent their time trying to avoid getting caught without their citizenship. Our country is trying to restrict the number of immigrants and also trying to prevent them by making them wait for a year to become a citizen. Also immigrants didn't have the right to vote or serve on jury duty.
Awesome blog!
I thought it was horrible that the black southerners still had to go through so many hardships even after their previous struggles. They still really didn't have much power because they couldn't vote. Of course with all the racism the white southerners voted for laws that would limit the freedom of the blacks. It was such a huge step backwards. It seems like if the white southerners were really trying to be equal, black southerners would've gotten full freedom a long time ago. Oh, and the whole "predestined to be slaves" thing? Come on! I couldn't believe some southerners actually thought that.
Hey your blog was good.I agree wit the fact that Abraham Lincoln freeing of the slaves was fake. In addition 2 what you said did u kno that freed men were also restricted 2 enter the city. In order 2 enter the city the freed men had 2 have passports stating the reason for entering. All and i think ur blog was pretty good u jus missed a few details. Good Job young Jawn
There was a lot that i learned after reading your blog. I never knew about the black codes. I liked how you told about facts but you never made it sound like a lecture. Throughout all of my years of school, i always learn about slavery but after reading this, i actually learned some new things. Great blog!!!
I liked how much information and facts were in your blog. I didnt know that Licoln died only five days after the war. Another thing that your blog taught me, that any body one eighth black, they applied to the black codes. It bothers me that even after the codes were eliminated blacks were still treated unfair. Im glad things are different today.
your blog was great. i like how u really put yoursef into it.i also like the words you use to describe everything. it is aslo very acurate.
The beginning paragraph reminds me of A Series of Unfortunate Events. How it seemed to all be patriotic, just puppies and candy canes. But when it was just a long bloody battle between brothers. Codes, rules, morales, they're just silly words on a paper to make somebody feel better. Whats really going down in the consciences of people then and now seem to differ but are horrifically still quite similar.
I thought you did a great job emphasizing how life for African Americans following the Civil War barely changed. Slaves were still not seen as human beings with freedom and equal opportunities. Although the Union won the war, African Americans basically were forced to continue living in agony. Andrew Jackson undoubtedly did a poor job in enacting laws that could have protected the lives of slaves. It's such a disgrace that so many lives were lost during those four bloody years in history, and still, slaves' natural rights were ignored for decades. Keep being creative-- I love how you expand on facts and make your blogs interesting! :)
Wow, you mentioned some things in the blog I was not aware of. Your sentence about how Pres. Johnson had to take over and rebuild the nation really hit me. That's almost how it's gonna be when Obama or McCain win the election (only that'll be mostly the war and possibly the economy if things don't get fixed). It really made me wonder how stressed the guy must have been. Good information about slaves after the war.
Porsha i really enjoyed reading your blog. You had so many facts, i learned alot. I liked how you explained the outcome of the civil war. It's crazy that blacks stilled struggled after the war. Blacks worked so hard, for so little. It was not fair that the president was descrimitive, he showed his discrimination through the use of laws. I'm glad the North came between and recognized how hard it was for African Americans.
i loved your blog too!!
Post a Comment