I've often read that the conditions during and after Reconstruction for former slaves were often worse than what they had experienced before their emancipation. What are some of the difficulties and inhumane conditions they encountered?
You must be a white American to ask such an incredible question. The slaves were dragged from their homeland, brought to a strange country and force to work for free. They were denied access to education. They were free but treated worse than most farm animals. No education meant difficulty finding work. When they did manage to find work, they were often cheated out of their correct pay since they couldn't read or write. Top this off with Jim Crow (the system where blacks were treated everywhere as second class citizens). Add to this horror the still prevalent Klu Klux Klan.
Well...they still faced discrimination and economic barriers. There were few jobs for them so they often had to become sharecrop farmers. These jobs would take forever for them to pay off debts to the landowners. White resistance to the former slaves' new freedom was evident in the formation of the Ku Klux Klan. In many ways, nothing had changed at all except for the fact that they were "legally" free. In reality, a lot their conditions remained the same.
Yes, conditions were hard for them with the Democratic KKK persecuting and killing them in the South. They also targeted Republicans. They were called "Dixiecrats" and they fought the civil rights legislation in the '50 and '60's. By the late 1960's the Democrats had changed their tune but not their racism, offering the welfare state as the new form of slavery, this time to the state and not the landowners: encouraging single motherhood and discouraging the participation of black fathers in the lives of their families and rewarding poverty in exchange for Democratic votes. See the economic decline of the Democratically controlled cities to see the results of the welfare programs on American blacks and the economy at large. To this day, entitlement spending is keeping poor people of all races poor. There is so much unfairness.
You said it skyblue. That is exactly the situation. Is is better of course, but still a sad state of affairs for most Americans. White are complaining about reverse discrimination because a very few of them were unfairly discriminated against in favor of a very few blacks. All you have to do is see who is in charge of everything and know that discrimination and injustice is still prevalent in our society.
"What are some of the difficulties and inhumane conditions they encountered?" I'd also like to find out, thanks !!
Well anything. You name it. Slavery and a little there after was hell on Earth. Former slaves were literally treated like animals.
The discrimination continued even after slavery. Voting was difficult, with poll taxes, grandfather clauses, etc. after the 15th amendment.
Well let see Mississippi has only recently ratified the 13th admendment. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...n-realises-state-ratified-13th-Amendment.html
Huh, I never realized that. I was under the impression that part of the Reconstruction agreements was that all seceding states had to ratify the amendment.
Well said, skyblue. Too many people these days don't realize that. Things like Affirmative Action don't help people with darker colored skin. All that it does is convince them that they can't do as good as whites, so they shouldn't have to try as hard. If MLK were still alive, he'd be having a fit at the things done in his name. He wanted people to not be judged by the color of their skin, but by their character. AA and similar programs are still judging people by the color of their skin.
Thanks, Red. It's a touchy subject but I think people should read the history of the Progressive movement to see how the intellectuals and societal leaders have manipulated the poor of all races and created a permanent underclass of voters to do their bidding. Until this is fully understood we will be dealing with the huge problems caused by the creation of the welfare state.
The state has an abhorrence of anybody owning slaves, it prefers to own them itself. As for the original question, I would imagine that everybody was left dazed and confused in the aftermath of the civil war, not just the blacks. Circumstances and conditions in the South were worse for everyone whatever your color. No good being free if you have nowhere to go.