Ramirez1

Jacqueline Ramirez
May 23rd, 2016
The Civil War, a pivotal point in American history, occurring in 1861 to 1865, in which the
nation separated at the 36o, 30o lines of latitude. States below that line created what is to be
known as the Confederacy, and those above that line formed the Union. After four years of war,
both nations came to a consensus and called for peace in 1865. One by one, Confederate nations
rejoined the United States. The path to reconstruction was on its way to creation and paved the
way for the era of reconstruction in the United States. However, would there be a change in
society that would make the nation safe for newly freedmen? During the era of Reconstruction,
there was no change on a social basis for ex-slaves as they lacked natural rights in society, there
was little to no protection of freedmen due to personal bias, and there was a lack of acceptance in
the nation.
Abraham Lincoln put an end to slavery by issuing the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.
This allowed for amendments, such as the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments, to
give rights to ex-slaves. Most importantly, the fourteenth amendment ensured that ex-slaves
would considered as United States Citizens, as stated by document one. With the amendment put
into full power by 1868, it was expected that ex-slaves were to be given the same rights as whites
such as: life, liberty, and property. This, however, was not the case as ex-slaves were given
unequal treatment in comparison to their white counterparts. In a petition to the United States
government, or document 3, it is stated that, We would respectfully state that life, liberty, and
property are unprotected among the colored race of this state. Although the fourteenth
amendment states that there should be no abridgement of basic rights without due process of
law, the statement in document three shows an abridgement of that right. Therefore, it is
insinuated that ex-slaves lacked the ability to practice their natural rights in the United States due
to a lack of social change during the Reconstruction era. However, many citizens believed the
ex-slaves rights were given the right to property as they were granted land in Shermans Field
Order No. 15. The field order gave ex-slaves right to 40 acres of land, supplies to care for the
land, and a mule. Document four shows that ex-slaves of the Barrow plantation were given land
that once belonged to their slave owners. With the new land they were to be tenant farmers.
Although this is proof that former slaves were given the basic right to property, former slaves
had this land taken away after their former owners were pardoned and given back their land. ExSlaves were then faced with a lack of right through deprivation of votings rights. Document Six
states, Suffrage is a federal guaranty and not a privilege to be conferred [given] or withheld by
the States. We content for the principle of manhood suffrage as the most effective safeguard of
citizenship. The deprivation of suffrage took the basic rights that the ex-slaves had gained
through the issuing of the fifteenth amendment. The fifteenth amendment states that no citizen
should be denied the right to vote on basis of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. In
connection with the fourteenth amendment, which named ex-slaves to be citizens, freedmen were
to be allowed to vote no matter what as they had the basic right to. However, because the
American society still held a belief that ex-slaves were to not have rights, freedmen could not

Ramirez2
vote in some states. The lack of belief for this right on behalf of the ex-slaves was due to a lack
of change in society. However, ex-slaves received this right in a peculiar and unjustified manner.
The issuing of the Voting Right Act gave former slaves the right to vote with the passing of a
literacy test which was meant to prove if ex-slaves were educated enough to vote. With the
issuing of the Voting Right Act, many ex-slaves were not allowed the right to vote. The lack of
ability to vote due to an impossible to pass test shows that ex-slaves were deprived of natural
rights. Deprivation of natural rights shows that there was a lack of natural rights given to exslaves due to societal bias.
On December 24th, 1865, the infamous Ku Klux Klan was formed as an alliance to bring
white supremacy back to the United States. In the years to come, ex-slaves were severely
persecuted by the KKK in the form of lynchings and severe harassment. There came a time
where local authorities paid no mind to the acts of lynching being committed in many southern
states. In a political cartoon drawn by John Mitchell in 1938 named Is this a Sample of States
Right, it is seen that a man is lynched with a rope title mob rule, while a scroll, with AntiLynching Bill, written on it boycotts the lynching, and the federal authorities paying no mind to
it, it can be told that there was no protection of ex-slaves as the authorities did not care. This
shows a lack of protection due to personal bias as the federal authorities had their own bias
which made them believe that the lynching of ex-slaves was justified. However, many believed
that ex-slaves were protected by groups such as the Freedmen's Bureau housing, food, and
educational facilities. The freedmens bureau did allow for ex-slaves to receive several
protections, however their efforts were not enough as the protections given were subpar to those
available to the white communities. Document eight shows the alliance made between the white
league and the KKK, as well as the oppression of ex-slaves due to this alliance. Personal bias
was shaped as the connections made between the KKK and the white alliance pushed for federal
authorities to turn a blind eye to the harassment and lynching of ex slaves. However, the issuing
of the Anti-Lynching Bill in 1922 made many believe that ex-slaves would be protected. The
issuing of the Anti-Lynching only made states to feel like the government was coddling them
from exercising their rights, and only angered the white community. Lynchings still continued to
happen regardless of the issuing of this act because local authorities turned a blind eye to the
problem. Personal bias came to be because of a lack of social change in American society due to
the failure of altercations during the Reconstruction Era.
Even with the ordinance of amendment which gave ex-slaves the same rights as the white
community, ex-slave were not accepted in society. Document two states, They were hated for
because the had been slaves, hated because they were now free, and hated because of those who
had freed them. The statement made by Frederick Douglas shows that the ex-slaves were hated
for being freed and given rights. The American society lacked the ability to accept the idea that
freedmen were very much part of the nation. Many believed that this was not the case as exslaves were given opportunities to work and grow in the nations much like the rest of the nation.
Document five supports this by saying, ...when he sees a multitude of small shops giving
employment to men, women, and children who never had any work of that sort to do before..
The statement is directed towards the ex-slave community; which is meant to show that ex-slaves

Ramirez3
were accepted by society and given opportunities. However, the payment received in these jobs
were subpar to the payment given to the white community. Ex-slaves only made 30 cents in these
jobs which was much less than the pay of whites. Furthermore, the issuing of Jim Crow laws
made it harder for ex-slaves to be deemed part of American society as they were separate from
the white community. Separate facilities and separation of races in other public places made the
ex-slaves outsiders rather than citizens. Many believe that these law were fair as everything was
separate but equal. After the ruling of Plessy V. Ferguson, which stated that Jim Crow Laws
were constitutional and brought the phrase of separate but equal, white member of American
society saw no problem with separation. However, separate but equal was never equal as exslaves never received equal treatment in society and equal public facilities. Society never
accepted the idea of ex-slaves being part of the community which led to a lack of social change
in American society during the Reconstruction era.
What effects did a lack of social altercation in society have on the future of ex-slaves in the
United States? Because many African Americans were poorly treated in the American society,
the fight for black civil rights came in full effect after the second World War. Even though
African Americans were given equal rights and Jim Crow laws were abolished, African
Americans and other marginalized groups still have yet to see an American that is founded on
equality.