The Gilded Age: African American Challenges and Accomplishments

Sydney Heinle

Dr. Chalifoux

HY 204-14

20 September 2013

The Gilded Age: African American Challenges and Accomplishments

Although Du bois' Reconstruction and its Benefits portrays the hardships of reconstruction in the African American community during the Gilded Age, its intent is to make known the progress throughout their community during this time period. The reading even explains the negro governments attaining free public schooling. Although African Americans succeeded in a few parts of reconstructing after the Civil War, they struggled to find jobs, attend school, and receive suffrage. The emancipation laws were not executed strictly after the war, as some blacks were re-enslaved, and white men would patrol the counties, driving back African Americans when found wandering about. Agencies such as The Freedman's Bureau, the negro churches, and the negro schools came to the south to help solve the problem, while reconstruction politicians made decisions on how they must handle it.

Black Codes were laws that restricted African American freedom. They ensured blacks would be available for cheap labor even after emancipation, and if they refused to sign the contract they would be re-enslaved. They faced segregation, and paid taxes for the schools they weren't allowed to even attend; until the northern missionaries came down. According to Du Bois, The north and south both didn't want negro suffrage because the south believed it would uplift the negro, and the north was worried that they wouldn't be educated enough to make the correct decisions. These are all challenges African Americans faced every day, which made it harder to succeed at their goals.

Three agencies contributed to the success of the African American community. The negro church, the negro school, and The Freedman's Bureau all three contributed to teaching and training these ex-slaves into becoming educated members of society. "Seldom in the history of the world has an almost totally illiterate population been given the means of self education in so short a time" (Du Bois, 782). By 1877, 571,506 African American children were in school. This shows great success in the African Community, with help from the northern religious bodies. Not only were they being educated and given more equal opportunities, but they were about to have a say politically. For example, in Booker T. Washington's Up From Slavery, he reads us the Atlanta Constitution. This is a great achievement because he is one of the only African American's to give a speech in front of a majority of white people.