The material this week focuses on a period of vast uncertain

The material this week focuses on a period of vast uncertainty and change in American history. Following the Civil War, no one quite knew what was to come as the country reunited and rebuilt. Innovation and industry also initiated change and growth like never before. All of these things came together amid an environment of political and social change as the decades leading to the turn of the century came closer.

Questions:

1. How did the experiences of one group of Americans change during this period? You can pick any group to trace this period – freed slaves, immigrants, women, soldiers.
2. What role did violence in the South play during Reconstruction? Include a discussion of a group that emerged during this period.

Primary source

http://www.americanyawp.com/reader/reconstruction/mississippi-black-code-1865/

http://www.americanyawp.com/reader/reconstruction/frederick-douglass-on-remembering-the-civil-war-1877/

don’t forget to summarize and answer the following questions!

Mississippi Black Codes
1. What do these codes reveal about life in Mississippi following the war?
2. What can we learn about the experiences of freed men and women during this time period from this document?

Solution

Mississippi Black Codes

2. Experiences of freedmen and women during this time. Rights of minors who work for a person were being protected. Masters have the capacity to inflict corporeal punishment as a parent or a guardian. They can summon the apprentice. If a person is enticed away from the master or mistress, the person must provide food and clothing to the freedmen. If not, the person can be convicted. Laws for rogues, vagabonds, assembling of men and women, gambling, prostitution, getting persons to work for a segment were passed for freed men and women. Civil officers were being paid for carrying back a deserting employee.

Rules were built for black men, their lives were regulated but they were not given rights to testify in court.