Essay The Reconstruction Era: A Time of Change

After the war, loved ones were desperately sought out and the family sphere was strengthened. However, along with this came the notion that men and women occupied separate sphere, with women caring for the family while the men worked for wages2. Church and school also allowed gained more freedom. Churches were able to flourish, as the black community was able to attend church and worship in the manner they wished without white supervision like before the emancipation act. ‘“Desire for education”’3 also grew rapidly, as it was seen as another form of road to freedom. It would allow the African Americans to read the Bible and participate in politics and the economic marketplace. In politics, African Americans wanted to be able to vote and attempted to right after the Civil War. Land was also important to the slaves’ vision of freedom. It was believed that land acquired in the South during the war would be split up among the newly freed slaves. However, a difficulty arose after President Lincoln’s assassination. His successor, Andrew Johnson, instead had all this land returned to its former owners4. This left the African Americans in poverty, not being able to work their own fields. Instead, they were forced to work on white-plantations as laborers to simply survive. The newly freed slaves also faced another bump in the road. Southern governments, in an attempt to reconcile for the former slaves new freedom,