Yesterday, we went to the computer lab during class to learn about the South after the Civil War. First, we looked at pictures of the South after the war. The destruction was incredible - it is amazing how much the South has been rebuilt since that time. Next, we researched different statistics for Southern states. I was assigned South Carolina. I was not surprised that 50% of South Carolina's population was African Americans. South Carolina was a major slave state, so they would have had a great number of freed African American slaves following the war. It was surprising that the worth of farmland decreased after the war. Maybe Sherman's scorched earth policy destroyed any usable land. Then, we brainstormed legal and illegal ways that white Southerners could gain control again. I think illegal methods would be more effective because they would return life to the way it was before the war. Then, we learned about the black codes, which were laws that illegally reduced freed slaves to basically slaves again. The South seems like a horrible place to be following the Civil War.
Today, we learned about the 14th amendment to the Constitution. It focused on citizenship (US and state) and on equal rights. It stated that people born in the US or naturalized into the US would be given equal natural rights and equality before the law. They would also be protected by Congress through laws that could prevent state legislature from depriving citizens of rights. This amendment encouraged African Americans to do things like going to school and opening businesses. I think the amendment was mainly created so Congress could punish the Southern states with laws. Congress had more power and could prevent the South from making laws that compromised the rights of freed slaves. At the end of class, we made magazine covers about the amendment.
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