Life After the Civil War What was life like for former slaves?

A Free People With the Union victory, 4 million enslaved people were freed. Free Africans quickly began to form new communities. They built churches and schools and opened businesses.

A Free People Newspapers were filled with ads asking for help in locating loved ones. Former slaves worked hard to build new lives. Yet life remained difficult. Often it was hard to find food, clothing, and shelter. Many began to look to the United States government for help.

New Amendments The 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the United States and was ratified on December 18, 1865.

New Amendments The 14th Amendment made blacks citizens of the United States and guaranteed them the same legal rights as whites. It was ratified on July 28, 1868.

New Amendments The 15th Amendment says that governments in the United States may not prevent a citizen from voting because of his race, color, or previous condition of servitude (slavery). It was ratified on February 3, 1870.

The Freedmen’s Bureau The Freedmen’s Bureau was set up by Congress in 1865 to help former slaves. The Bureau gave food and other supplies to freed slaves. The most important job of the Freedmen’s Bureau was education. Newly freed slaves were eager to learn to read and write. Over 4,000 schools were built to educate former slaves.

Sharecropping In search for jobs, some former slaves went back to work on plantations. Many planters welcomed them. Fields needed to be plowed, and crops needed to be planted Now, however, plantation owners had to pay Africans for their work.

Sharecropping In the days after the war, there was not much money. Instead of paying in cash, many landowners paid them in shares. At harvest time the landowner would take part of the crops (enough to cover the cost of the worker’s rent and supplies) and what was left was the workers share. Even in good times, most workers received very little, if anything at all.