Life of African Americans in the period after the civil war was
             stimulatingly difficult. Among the host of challenges were the Black codes
             which made their life no better than it was before the civil war. The Congress
             promised to emancipate African Americans from slavery, but it appeared as if
             blacks were still deprived of their basic rights. They still did not achieve the
             status equal to that of the whites. During this time of political unrest two
             prominent African American spokespersons, Booker T. Washington and
             W.E.B Du bois arose and put forward their views about how this racial
             conflict could be ended and the blacks and whites could be united. They both
             strived real hard to help blacks achieve recognition of the civil and political
             promised by the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to the Constitution.
             They even wanted blacks to rise out of poverty. Although their final goals
             were the same, the route that they took to it differed drastically. Du Bois
             could be categorized as a person who was more liberal while Booker T.
             Washington chose to take the more conservative path. Knowing the
             differences between Washington's and W.E.B Du Bois's ideas as an African
             American living in the postwar south, I would follow Du Bois as his views
             were more satisfying and would prove to be a more effective way to pursue
             the goals of achieving recognition of the civil and political rights promised by
             the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments and also to life the blacks out
             Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Du Bois were people with conflicting
             personalities. Washington's approach was more moderate as he seemed to
             be averse to rapid change. He believed in order for blacks to gain complete
             respect from the whites, they would have to live a life quite similar to the
             one they led in the period before the civil war. They would have to perform
             the same menial tasks. He believed that in ...