Sabeena Jagdeo
Reconstruction in the South has Failed “The slave went free; stood a brief moment in the sun; then moved back again toward slavery” -W.E.B. Dubois. Reconstruction of the south seemed to help the southern society greatly in creating a equal environment for slaves, but in reality, all it did was make the world believe that slaves were free from their landowners. The reconstruction freed slaves from the obligation of working under the whites, but they were still forced to do so, in order to survive. The reconstruction failed because it only made slaves free from slavery, but did not make them entirely free of oppression from the whites, as Dubois suggested. They were still inferior to whites, and only gained freedom for a short period. The privileged whites will say reconstruction of the south was successful because slaves gained freedom. The United States passed new laws into the Constitution, allowing blacks to remain free for eternity. The 13th amendment states that “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude … shall exist within the United States” (Document B), protecting blacks from slavery forever. The 14th amendment makes African Americans legal citizens, and the 15th, ensures that every citizen can vote without …show more content…
They were free, but still encountered many hardships as freedmen. For one, they were still in debt to white landowners. Slaves did not automatically become rich after slavery. They had nothing, and needed a way to make money. They did so by becoming sharecroppers. They would be given land, and in return would give their landowners crops to sell. If the landowner felt like the crop was not enough, the sharecropper would owe him the following harvest. With this system, sharecroppers were always in debt, and could never succeed. They were always being controlled by their landowners; which is not much different from slavery. Thereupon, reconstruction did not make any improvement in the
Reconstruction in the South has Failed “The slave went free; stood a brief moment in the sun; then moved back again toward slavery” -W.E.B. Dubois. Reconstruction of the south seemed to help the southern society greatly in creating a equal environment for slaves, but in reality, all it did was make the world believe that slaves were free from their landowners. The reconstruction freed slaves from the obligation of working under the whites, but they were still forced to do so, in order to survive. The reconstruction failed because it only made slaves free from slavery, but did not make them entirely free of oppression from the whites, as Dubois suggested. They were still inferior to whites, and only gained freedom for a short period. The privileged whites will say reconstruction of the south was successful because slaves gained freedom. The United States passed new laws into the Constitution, allowing blacks to remain free for eternity. The 13th amendment states that “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude … shall exist within the United States” (Document B), protecting blacks from slavery forever. The 14th amendment makes African Americans legal citizens, and the 15th, ensures that every citizen can vote without …show more content…
They were free, but still encountered many hardships as freedmen. For one, they were still in debt to white landowners. Slaves did not automatically become rich after slavery. They had nothing, and needed a way to make money. They did so by becoming sharecroppers. They would be given land, and in return would give their landowners crops to sell. If the landowner felt like the crop was not enough, the sharecropper would owe him the following harvest. With this system, sharecroppers were always in debt, and could never succeed. They were always being controlled by their landowners; which is not much different from slavery. Thereupon, reconstruction did not make any improvement in the