FREEDOM VS. INDEPENDENCE While reading Eric Foner's book I came to appreciate the difficulties the freed black slaves encountered for example, how the previous slave owning class continued to manipulate the freed slaves. Also, I was impressed at the great sacrifice they made when attempting to become educated. Last of all I was surprised at the severity of persecution and abuse of blacks that was still considered legal after they were "freed". When the label …showed first 75 words of 1595 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1595 total…tortured both mentally and physically in their struggle for freedom. Racism prevented Reconstruction's incorporation of the free black into white American society. The disenfranchisement of the black citizen pervaded America's culture and politics. Racism allowed the south to remain a one-party system ruled by a regressive privileged few who used violence and deception to repress internal dissension. The black American desired and deserved independence from racial bigotry, caste, and segregation. Bibliography Eric Foner - Reconstruction