The Emancipation Proclamation and Its Human Consequences

by Ashley Wutz

University at Buffalo Honors Program

The topic of my paper is the Emancipation Proclamation and its effects on as well as the reactions of African Americans.  In my paper I focused on the immediate reaction of those freed by the proclamation and the alteration of African American life post-Civil War and into Reconstruction.  Emphasis is placed on the lifestyle and culture that developed among the society of freedmen.  The livelihoods of African Americans and the institution of sharecropping and tenant farming are assessed.  First hand black perspectives are analyzed to reveal the feelings and sentiment of the period.  The political structure of the time period is also taken into account and the affect that restrictive black codes had on those newly freed.  Racism and the emergence of organized hate groups such as the Klu Klux Klan and their effects on blacks are also analyzed.  The political structure and social patterns that emerged and the people and organizations such as the Freedmen's Bureau and how they shaped African American life are assessed.    The struggle and lengths African-Americans took to become educated is also addressed.  Changes in financial responsibilities and freedmen's ability to adapt to fluctuations in a market economic system and its impact on their daily lives are also discussed. 

 

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