How were” black peoples” lives affected after the civil war?
The answers so far have properly noted the many hardships faced by the newly freed blacks, and the failure of Reconstruction programs to meet the initial hope. . . and the eventual victory of the “Jim Crow” laws. But this is not the whole story — there WERE gains during this period, and SOME of them had a lasting positive impact. To begin with, though Southern recalcitrance and conservative court decisions undermined their effect, the three Constitutional amendments (and some of the legislation) passed in the late 1860s did enable SOME blacks to vote and participate in the system (many at first, fewer later on). Note that these amendments, passed in part in direct response to the “black codes” Southern started passing in 1865, did help somewhat to limit /ameliorate the effects of the codes. The Freedman’s Bureau DID have some successes in helping to reunite black families, provide legal assistance and training. Most significantly, for the first time, the state mandated the public educ
