The Role Of African Americans During The Reconstruction Era

The victory of the Union after the Civil War had given millions of slaves their freedom. The Reconstruction of the South after the war, presented a lot of challenges for the African Americans. African Americans in the south began to lose their rights due to the Jim Crow Laws and Black Codes. African Americans engaged in many leadership roles during the Reconstruction Era. With the African Americans improving their rights and status, many whites in the south were disgruntled. Even though the federal government had control over the southern states, the states took over. They then created Jim Crow Laws which were established so the African Americans are segregated from the whites in public places such as transportation, schools, restaurants, and restrooms. In other words, Jim Crow Laws restricted the rights of African Americans. The term "Jim Crow" is referring to African Americans.
In some states, African Americans and whites have different waiting rooms, different cars in a train, and separate ticket windows base on race. There would be separate schools for whites and African Americans. Even in jail, the white and African Americans have to be separate when in jail. The laws did not allow most African Americans to vote in public election. Voting was a right for the African Americans. the African Americans would have to pay poll taxes, which they could not afford in order to vote. They would haw to pass a literacy test which was not a requirement for the whites. Most African Americans failed this test due to the lack of education they received. African Americans were also excluded from southern politics. The democrat party banned the participation of African Americans. With this ban, African Americans had little influence in Southern politics. There were consequences if the African Americans didn't follow the Jim Crow Laws. They would endure brutal punishments and even