Despite the fact that the African Americans were declared freedom during the Reconstruction, they were still faced with many challenges from the South. The Reconstruction Era is a lesson for everyone to learn, but it was necessary in order to get our society back in order. President Abraham Lincoln had died as soon as the Reconstruction era started and then came in Vice President Andrew Johnson. Andrew Johnson made a statement that the southern states must swear loyalty to the Union and pay their debts off and this gave them a chance to rebuild themselves. The Reconstruction Era was one step to making our nation into a world of freedom, especially for African Americans. But, with every step you will always have complications. Before Lincoln died, he declared the Emancipation Proclamation, which according to the web, freed more than 3 million slaves in the Confederate states. 3 million is not a small number. Despite all the negative impact slavery had on African Americans, before the Reconstruction, we can say it all changed due to the Civil War.
Aisha, I'm glad that you point out that the Reconstruction had lessons for everyone; it is easy to think that the Civil War was obviously about slavery and the good guys in the North against the bad guys in the South. We would do well to remember that history is rarely simple, and simplistic thinking is a disservice to those who came before us.
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