The Union is unified once again, but the troubles are far from over. In 1865, the 13th amendment of the Bill of Rights abolished slavery, 1866 the 14th amendment gave these freed slaves citizenship, and in 1 866 the 15th amendment gave freed male slaves the rights to vote. Even with these rights, slaves were given the freedom to live in the county, but some southern states passed harsh laws that restricted the reed slaves will to live as “freed” slaves.
Southern States passed laws, which restricted the freed slaves ability to become an active part of society. The Mississippi law shows this injustice. It wasn’t only the states that made life hard for freed slaves, but extremist such as The Ku Klux Klan violently reacted to the abolishment of slavery. This is shown in the congressional testimonials of former ku Klux Klan members to congress. Finally, Jordan Anderson’s letter to his former master and Fredrick Douglas’ book, What A Black Man Wants are first-hand accounts of what freed men wanted for their family’s and hemselves.
Therefore, the life for freed slaves was far from easy after the civil war, racist white people in the south continued to treat freed slaves brutally through violence, unjust laws, and discrimination. Even though slaves were freed, they were still treated unjustly by the majority of the whites. This mistreatment usually came in the form if violence. Radicalism groups such as The Ku Klux Klan, or the KKK as it’s known otherwise. These groups were created to enforce the idea of white supremacy in the southern part of they United States.
Many members of the clan joined o display their racial power. In the Ku Klux Klan’s congressional hearing, several witnesses gave their testimonial to about the clan’s brutality to people. Harriet Postle, a free black mother testified that they clan busted in to her home and violently threatened her and her family. She describes the brutality of the Ku Klux Klan in her testimony to congress. Postle was thrown on the floor while being pregnant and holding an infant in her arms. 1 She recalls what ones of the members said to her, “l am going to have the truth tonight; you are a damned, lying bitch, and you are telling a lie; and he had a ine [rope], and commenced putting it over my neck; said he: You are telling a lie; I know it; he is This shows how little the members cared about the people they abused. Thomas L. Berry, a former member even says, “The purpose of the organization was to break down the radical party by whipping and killing. “[3. ] This shows the sole purpose Of the clan is to kill those who opposed their views and beliefs.
To conclude, radical groups such as the Ku Klux Klan unjustly treated freed slaves through violence and abuse. Not only did the extremist group treat the freed slave poorly, but the state overnments created unjust laws that diminished their right to live. For example, the state of Mississippi in 1865, created the Black Codes of Mississippi for the newly freed slave. For example, in Article 1, Civil Rights of Freedmen in Mississippi starts by laying the preliminary rights, such as marriage, the ability to sue or be sued, and labor laws.
These rights may have laid some rights for the freedmen, but it restricted them from intermingling with the white race. [4. ] Article 4, section 1 states that “no freedmen, freed negro, or mulatto, not in the military service of the LJnited States government, nd not licensed so to do by the board of police of his or her county, shall keep or carry fire-arms of any kind, or any ammunition, dirk or bowie knife, and on conviction thereof in the county court shall be punished by This prevented their right to bear arms, which violated the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution.
This proves that state laws not only were in just, but they violated the Constitution. Article 4, section 3 even prevents a white man from leading, giving, or selling a gun or any other type of ammunition to a freedman, freed negro, or mulatto. This further proves the point that hese laws were created unjustly. To close, southern states treated the freedmen, freed Negros, and others unconstitutionally with legislations, such as the Black Codes of Mississippi. Freed slaves were considered free in the eyes of the government, but African Americans were seen as out cast by the whites of the south.
The dominant white race in the south discriminated the freed slaves based on their color and their previous occupation. Jourdan Anderson writes as a reply to his previous master Colonel p. H. Anderson requesting for him to come back and work for him. Jourdan Anderson says, “We are kindly treated; ometimes we overhear others saying, “Them colored people were slaves” down in Tennessee. The children feel hurt when they hear such remarks, but I tell them it was no disgrace in Tennessee to belong to Col. Anderson. ” [7. Excerpt from his letter depicts the discrimination and racism towards him and his family. Some whites during this time accepted and welcomed newly freed slaves in to society, but their were a few people who believed in the purity of society, this is shown in the quote above. Anderson also says that “in Tennessee there was never any pay-day for the Negroes any more than for he horses and cows. ” [8. ]This shows that the owners and bosses believed that the freed slaves were worth as much as live stock. Again this shows the discrimination between freed slaves and white men.
Therefore, white men discriminated and mistreated the freed slaves. In conclusion, violence, unjust laws, and discrimination restricted freed slaves from being truly free.