Reconstruction refers to the period following the United States Civil War of Reconstruction. It was a time of great pain and endless questions. Reconstruction is the current topic of this essay that I want to analyze. The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 signed by President Abraham Lincoln freed slaves in the Confederate states and later all slaves were free under the Thirteenth Amendment of 1865. Even though by law slaves were free, it appeared that they were still in bondage because they were still treated cruelly and unfairly. We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Houston Hartsfield Holloway, wrote: "We colored people didn't know how to be free and the white people didn't know how to have a free colored person over them." Freed slaves could fight in wars but their full citizenship remained in question. Black people were seen as impure and evil and white people believed that they were not and would never be equal to them. White Terrorism In Tennessee in 1866, angry Southern whites formalized their hatred into an organization known as the Ku Klux Klan. Presenting itself as the protector of the noble traditions of the Old South, the Klan united resentful Confederates. The Klan used hoods and burning crosses, secret codes, and night raids to scare blacks away from new opportunities. Terrorism against blacks continued to spread throughout the world, not just in Tennessee. This Klan burned homes, killed African Americans, raped and lynched them to keep them oppressed and in fear. The Klan's preference for murder was lynching, which involved hanging Black Americans from trees using a rope around their neck. These heinous acts were committed in public and publicized in local newspapers in horrific detail. There were even photos published with smiling crowds taking photos of the lifeless bodies. These people were really proud of the things they were doing. It affects African Americans. One of the most important policies implemented were the Jim Crow laws. Jim Crow was a slang term for black men. He enacted state laws that were passed different for whites and blacks based on white supremacy and were put in place because of reconstruction. This was basically a response to reconstruction. Whites believed that blacks could be separate but equal. They didn't want to dine in the same place as blacks, use the same bathroom, work in the same place, and so on. They prevented blacks from having a say in elections by imposing requirements such as owning land or taking literacy tests because they knew it was difficult for most blacks to meet these requirements. Everything you could think of was segregated, schools, colleges, parks, phone booths, prisons, and hospitals, and this oppression took place all over the United States. Signs were placed on all these specific places and severe consequences were imposed in case of disobedience. Alabama specifically imposed a curfew on blacks asking them not to leave their homes after 10 p.m. These acts were not only humiliating, but they were also oppressive to these people of color. They were treated unfairly because of the color of their skin, which prevented them from advancing in everyday society. What freed slaves really needed once the Emancipation Proclamation declared subjugation as illicit was land so they could support or start their own families. Numerous previous slaves had ranched in an area that was