The Struggles Of African American In Reconstruction Era In America

During the rise and fall of Reconstruction in the years between 1865 and 1900, African Americans saw rapid progression in the recognition of their rights, followed almost immediately by rapid and total regression. While many gains were made during this era, the years that followed saw many gross limitations of African American rights, including black codes and Jim Crow laws. These limitations were social, political, and economic in nature.

The social limitations of this era were quite vast. African Americans faced a system of segregation based on the principle of “separate but equal.” The Supreme Court upheld this system in Plessy v. Ferguson, which deemed segregation constitutional. African Americans could not marry white people, live with white people, or travel without written permission from a white person, or without having a contract approved by a local judge. Many believe that some African Americans were not concerned with these laws, stating that they were more concerned about directing their own affairs. This was true for a select minority of the African American community who had the fiscal and social ability to develop their own communities, namely in the Northern part of the U.S. However, this is not true of the majority of the black community, since these laws greatly limited their livelihood and their physical and social mobility.

The two main political limitations for African Americans during this era dealt with their ability to hold public office or vote. In 1870, Hiram Revels became the first African American to serve in the Senate. Blanche Bruce followed soon after. However, black codes limited the ability for African Americans to vote. Specifically, the literacy clause stated that anyone who couldn’t read couldn’t vote. The poll tax required that people who wanted to vote pay a tax. African Americans were largely unable to pay this tax. In fact, this method of limitation was so effective that it wasn’t deemed unconstitutional until 1964, by means of an Anti-Poll tax amendment – now the 24th Amendment to the Constitution. The grandfather clause stated that anyone who had a grandfather who voted before Reconstruction could vote. All of these measures effectively prevented African Americans from voting. An illustrative example is Louisiana. In 1894, 130,334 African Americans were registered to vote. In 1904, only 1,342 were registered. That is a 97% reduction in registered African American voters. With less African American voters to support them, African American public office holders lost control of their seats.

African Americans suffered gross economic limitations and barriers during this era. One of the most prolific systems of the post-Reconstruction period was sharecropping. After they were freed, few African Americans had land of their own or the means to purchase land. They were often forced to remain on the same plantations they had been enslaved on. Former slave owners took advantage of this phenomenon and indebted many of the sharecroppers for life. Few had the education to escape the debt cycle, and fewer still had the ability to speak out against it. The KKK and other hate groups terrorized the population to maintain the social class system. The legacy of the economic discrimination of this era is still evident today. According to a USDA report, African Americans, despite making up 14% of the American population, own less than 1% of land in America.

African Americans suffered blatant injustices during the Reconstruction Era, and they continue to battle the era’s legacy. However, for every step back, there have been several steps forward. There is still a long way to a post-racial America, but we are much closer to it today than we have ever been before.