Question

In what ways did Reconstruction improve life for African-Americans and create a different political order after the Civil War? In what ways was Reconstruction a failure?

Answer 1

Positives: former slaves acquired many new opportunities such as voting rights, receive an education, legally marry, sign contracts, file lawsuits, etc. in 1868, 700,000 African Americans were registered voters. There was a greater economic opportunity as well.

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Negatives: while African Americans did have more economic opportunities, slavery still existed, but in systems such as free labor. Two examples are sharecropping and convict leasing. These two forms of labor are comparable to slavery(in humane). African Americans were kept in debt due to these labor forms. Furthermore, Jim Crow developed around this time. Jim Crow is segregation. These forms of segregation continued to the 1900s.