A Step of Equality and Freedom for African Americans

RECONSTRUCTION:
A Step of Equality and Freedom for African Americans
The end of the Civil War left the South in great turmoil and chaos. With the Emancipation Proclamation freeing the blacks from the institute of slavery, the foundation of southern economy was being crippled. Also, the blacks themselves given freedom needed help adapting to this world of freedom, "For we colored people did not know how to be free"(African American Odyssey, Library of Congress). The government assisted in this process by establishing a period of reconstruction, which was an effort to restore the blacks to…