Essay On Was Reconstruction A Success Or Failure For African Americans

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Recommended: The political, social, and economic effects of reconstruction

[Franklin]: Discuss the economic, political and social changes that Reconstruction afforded African Americans. Was Reconstruction a success or failure for African Americans? Reconstruction was America’s first chance at interracial democracy. African Americans were technically freed but they didn’t have any place to work or live so they were in essence forced to work for their masters. Southern states established new constitutions and governments and enforced Black Codes. These codes limited the “freedom” of African Americans limiting them to work for low wages. The Codes disallowed them to testify in court unless it was against another black person(s). It also limited areas blacks could buy or rent property. They could be fined for speech deemed threatening to white …show more content…

It upheld the doctrine of “separate but equal”. Homer Plessy was a test case for the courts since he was seven-eighths white and one-eighth African. The 14th amendment was interpreted as meaning separate but equal. The blacks were given separate place for everything that read “for colored” or “Negro’s place. The color line was clear as separate facilities was not equal. It impacted the lives of blacks because it was clear that they were not treated equally. They were treated as second class citizens having to have their own facilities separate from the whites. Compare and contrast the views of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois. Booker T. Washington felt as though the black community had to come together to improve their standing before the color line could be equal. He wanted the black community to become educated. By becoming educated the community would emerge and white people would have to treat them as equals. W.E.B. Du Bois on the hand felt that equality was the rights of black people. He had the mindset of being confrontational towards white people to get their rights. He was more militant than

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