African Americans During Radical Reconstruction
After the Emancipation Proclamation (millions of slaves were freed on January 1, 1863 due to Emancipation Proclamation) and the end of the Civil War, countless African Americans who were once held in bondage were considered free. With slavery demolished, and the once enslaved Africans freed, there came the question of what about the freed African Americans and what would become of the South? You see, “under the administration of President Andrew Johnson in 1865 and 1866, new southern state legislatures passed restrictive “black codes” (which would prevent blacks from owning land and from getting an education) to control the labor and behavior of former slaves and other African Americans.” (“Reconstruction”)Then, “during Radical Reconstruction,
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The idea of even though they were separated, they were still getting equal treatment was used, but the idea was a lie that was used to uphold segregation. The case of Plessy v. Ferguson (a example of how segregation went against the idea of equal rights that was pushed out for all citizens), was a major case that first started when a man named Homer Plessy went to board a car that was strictly for whites and he was arrested since, it was supposed to be that whites and blacks were separated but it was considered “equal”. So, in the case Plessy v. Ferguson in April 1896, “the state of Louisiana argued that the law was necessary to avoid the “danger of friction from too intimate contact” between the races. In separate cars, all citizens enjoyed equal privileges. Plessy’s lawyer, Albion Tourgee, replied that the question was not ‘the equality of the privileges enjoyed, but the right of the state to label one citizen as white and another as colored.’” (“Chapter 20: Industry and Empire.”) With this landmark case, it was ruled that the races could be separated, as long as everything was equal. So, they segregated people on the grounds of the races being separate, but everything still “equal” or so they said. The Southern Government segregated African Americans by making them sit in separate cars (railroad), while
The idea of even though they were separated, they were still getting equal treatment was used, but the idea was a lie that was used to uphold segregation. The case of Plessy v. Ferguson (a example of how segregation went against the idea of equal rights that was pushed out for all citizens), was a major case that first started when a man named Homer Plessy went to board a car that was strictly for whites and he was arrested since, it was supposed to be that whites and blacks were separated but it was considered “equal”. So, in the case Plessy v. Ferguson in April 1896, “the state of Louisiana argued that the law was necessary to avoid the “danger of friction from too intimate contact” between the races. In separate cars, all citizens enjoyed equal privileges. Plessy’s lawyer, Albion Tourgee, replied that the question was not ‘the equality of the privileges enjoyed, but the right of the state to label one citizen as white and another as colored.’” (“Chapter 20: Industry and Empire.”) With this landmark case, it was ruled that the races could be separated, as long as everything was equal. So, they segregated people on the grounds of the races being separate, but everything still “equal” or so they said. The Southern Government segregated African Americans by making them sit in separate cars (railroad), while