Edgar Poe Essays (279 words) - Slavery, , Term Papers

Edgar Poe 1. The federal government attempted to use many laws to protect the rights of the newly freed slaves, such as the Civil rights Act of 1866, which gave African Americans the right of citizenship and forbade other states from passing their own discriminatory laws. This brought on the Black codes, which restricted much of the African American lives dictating where they were legally allowed to go and designated places they should be in. The fifteenth amendment was also passed, which states that no one can be kept from voting despite their"race", color or past servitude. It seems to nt wanted to lay down the basic rights for the African Americans of the time, but didn't want to give them to much freedom by restricting everything that they did. It seems it was much like probation to me, giving them a little slack to see what they would do with it, but still not really trusting them. I think the restrictions on African Americans was a good thing however, with all of the hatred and discrimination against blacks that was going on at the time. Restricting what they could do and segregating them from the whites was probably the best thing. This separation probably saved many of the newly freed slaves lives, the separation most likely reduced the amount of disputes and violent eruptions between the two races of people. In the end, although the laws may have seemed like they failed or brought grief to the newly freed slaves, I feel the laws saved lives, and yet gave the African Americans a new feeling that they were a part of their country and mattered because they able to vote. I happen to think the laws passed to protect the rights of freed slaves were a success.