History of African Americans After ReconstructionDuring Reconstruction, the United States was divided on social issues, presidential campaigns were won and lost on these issues over the course of this period. The struggle for development of African Americans and how they initiated changes in political, economic, educational, and social conditions to shape their future and that of the United States. (Dixon, 2000) The South's attempts to recover from the Civil War included determining what to do with newly freed slaves and finding labor to replace them. The task of elevating the Negro from the status of slave to citizen was the most enormous task the country had ever faced. Local governments implemented mechanisms of discrimination to combat citizenship and equality, such as Jim Crow laws and the KKK (Bowles, 2011) in place in the South to ensure the superiority of white citizens. These inherent beliefs have been perpetuated for generations. African Americans, considered second-class citizens, were denied their inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. (Dixon, 2000) Penniless, African Americans left their plantations with nothing more than the shirts on their backs. As African Americans, the lack of voting rights led to an unequal political balance that ensured inadequate representation in their communities. “Separate but equal laws” implemented by Congress prevented blacks from receiving the proper education, proper medical treatment, and quality services provided in their communities that their white counterparts enjoyed. Although free, African Americans' continued struggle for independence begs the question: Did the Emancipation Proclamation actually free the slaves? Several decades since the reconstruction era, Africa has found...... middle of paper ......o CA: Bridgepoint education.DARDEN, G. (2009). The New Southern Empire: Jim Crow on the Global Frontier of High Imperialism and Decolonization. Southern Quarterly, p. , 46(3), 8-25. Dixon, M.A. (2000). Journey to the Promised Land: The African-American Struggle for Development Since the Civil War. Westport, CT, USA: Greenwood Press, Gossett, T. S. (1997). The story of an idea in America. Cary, NC, USA: Oxford University Press. Heale, J. (1999). Franklin D. Roosevelt: New Deal and War. London GBR: Routlege.Himmelberg, R. f. (11/2000). Great Depression and New Deal. Westport, CT, USA: Greenwood Press. Kelley, g. G. (2005). Making Our World New, Volume II: A History of African Americans Since 1880. Cary NC: Oxford UNiversity press. Snead, D.L. (2012). John F. Kennedy: The President of the New Frontier. Hauppage New York: Nova Science Publishers, Inc..