Reconstruction_of_the_Southern_States_After_the_Civil_War

= __How did the lives of African Americans change after reconstruction started to occur in the southern states? __ = __By: Taylor Williams __

African Americans still had to work, but this time they got paid for what they did. They took up jobs wherever someone would hire them. But black codes restricted the freed slaves to what they could do, where they could go, and how much money they made. Some select people were still being whipped just like they were still a slave. Even blacks in prison could be rented out for work still. That just shows that the world didn't change drastically, it just changed a little bit. African Americans were still treated like were just another blade of grass. Like they didn't matter in the world. They still weren't treated the way they deserved. African Americans, even though they were restricted, still fought for their independence and they still fought for their rights. Freedmen from different counties in the state held a special convention in North Carolina's capital to protest against their restrictions. The same men established the North Carolina Equal Rights League in order to advance their ideas and interests.They also established an education association to build schools and things like that for the community. They worked with the Freedman's bureau which was an agency set up by Congress in 1865. It provided food, clothes, shelter, and education for former slaves. Reconstruction was really difficult for African Americans.



During reconstruction there were white people that were called carpetbaggers. They were men from north states that have come to NC to gain power and to also gain fortune. They formed a government group that was very in tune with needs of other people. Another thing that happened was that during the reconstruction era people helped establish the idea of Universal Manhood Suffrage. This means that all men over the age of 21 are aloud to vote, regardless of their race. Women were still not aloud to vote yet in this time period. During reconstruction, public education for everyone was enforced. Every single community and city had to create schools for all of its children. Both African American and white people were now aloud to go to school and get an education, even though the state still made them be separated by race.



When William W. Holden was finally elected governor of North Carolina he immediately started to improve all of the bad conditions in the state. The first step was to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution. North Carolina was soon readmitted back into the Union in July of 1868. Republicans also passed many laws that allowed the state to borrow some money to rebuild and reconstruct the state's railroads. The same people also expanded institutions for handicapped people and they created prisons in Raleigh where people were to be jailed if they needed to be.

Sadly, white extremist groups became apparent again around the year of 1869. The Ku Klux Klan was one of those extremist groups. As many as 40,000 whites in North Carolina were involved in this group. They wore horned masks and red gowns to conceal their identity.

Holden was soon impeached because there were charges filed against him for wrongdoing. One of the reasons was for the way he arrested so many people without even charging them first. He was also not aloud to converse about the KKK. Only because the Conservatives feel that since the KKK did not "exist" that it should not be talked about. So, Holden was removed from office and he was the first governor to be impeached in the history of the Unites States.

This is near the end of the reconstruction era. African American's were still treated badly but not as bad, and things we being done to help stop all of the segregation. Say goodbye to Slavery and hello to Martin Luther King Jr. and the "I Have A Dream" speech to stop segregation.