The Reconstruction era was a period of tremendous political complexity and far-reaching consequences. We learn that it was the end of the suffering of an entire people. So much was promised to African Americans after the civil war, the Emancipation Proclamation sung. For formerly enslaved people, freedom meant an end to the whip, to the sale of family members, and to white masters. The promise of freedom held out the hope of self-determination, educational opportunities, and full rights of citizenship. But it was not so simple. Reconstruction was a period when American waged a sustained debate over who was an American, what rights should all Americans enjoy, and what rights would only some Americans possess. In short, Americans engaged in a strenuous debate about the nature of freedom and equality. And the promise was sold short.The main rationale of the reconstruction era had been to guarantee the freedmen their rights and fabricate another South out of the ashes. Although the immediate effect of these provisions was quite profound, such rights were violated which made African Americans free but not equal.
There was a arrangement of laws that were expected to lift African Americans, However politicians and people alike from the south disregarded these laws. There was no uniformity enacted because there was no risk of punishment. The federal enactment was lost, the inescapable truth is that government policy at state and local levels violated federal laws mandating equal protections with the purpose of establishing a pernicious racial caste system.
The Laws were an obvious methods in silencing these rights. Black Codes enabled the oppression and suffering of African Americans. Black codes were restrictive laws designed to limit the freedom of African Americans and ensure their availability as a cheap labor force after slavery was abolished during the Civil War.
