Why The North Won The Civil War

The North won the Civil War after a long and difficult battle with the South. The North opened the door for African Americans to be free. Blacks achieved and exercised freedom in many ways, but whites stopped them in a few ways. Even though slavery is over, African Americans are still trying to get equal freedom. African Americans want to live comfortably and have a good life while being reasonable. “We do not wish in the least to charge exorbitant prices, but desire to be able to live comfortably if possible from the fruits of our labor (First Collective Action of Black Women Workers). Since this was the first collective action of black women workers, they realized that they were not getting paid enough. This means that they want to charge equitable prices for their
White people sold African Americans expensive and low-quality goods. Emanuel goes into depth about the experience of buying land from a white person. Emanuel said, “They will not sell our people's land” (Emanuel Fortune’s Report to Congress, 1871). White people would sell land per acre for a good price. But they sold African American land in large quantities they could not afford. Even if white people sold African American land, it would not have much value. White people did not want African Americans to prosper. White people found ways to stop African Americans from voting. ”Such laws and the constant threat of violence caused African American voting to decline sharply” (p. 512). Whites used various methods to stop African Americans from voting. For example, poll taxes, literacy tests, and grandfather clauses stopped African Americans from voting. A poll tax is a fee required for voting. Many African Americans could not afford the fee, so they could not vote. A literacy test made voters read and explain different parts of the Constitution. Many African Americans had little to no education, which prevented some African Americans from