Race relations have changed dramatically since 1801 and 2001. In 200 years, blacks and whites have found some common ground; they for the most part can work together, play together, and some can even worship the same God of their choice together. But between the years of 1880 and 1955, things weren't always that simple. Although slavery had ended some years ago, the mental impact of slavery had yet to be emancipated. The miracle of change was nowhere to be found during that time; and the eras of Reconstruction after the Civil War, the Harlem Renaissance, African-American views on World War II, and even the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka outcomes would all have been very different had the racial tensions been eased. African-Americans only wanted to be considered equal to whites, but would that ever happen?
             The period of Reconstruction- the immediate age after the Civil War, which was how and when the northern and southern United States had to come together to mend their broken nation. African-Americans, or rather former slaves, would reap the benefits of reconstruction because Northerners fought to secure economic rights and civil liberties for them. After the war, blacks did not have legal rights or the material resources to make them even feel close to equal to their white counterparts. Conditions in the south weren't good for anybody. There were approximately 4 million black people being released from the epidemic of slavery, some had been of service to the Confederate army or as teamsters and laborers for Southern armed forces. Nearly 200,000 had fought for the Union, and 38,000 had died. (Brinkley 509) For blacks, freedom meant a series of things; slavery was over and so were the inequalities and degradation that went along with it. But it also should have mean that they (African-Americans) now should have the same rights and freedoms that white men and women had. However, black people wanted reparations. So...