The period of reconstruction was a time for change. This was a time to "reconstruct" the nation after the civil war. A huge part of this plan was to give the newly freed slaves to have equal rights in society. It didn't exactly turn out as the "black" community had expected. Many of their hopes were crushed by the "white" society; mostly southerners. The period of reconstruction was hard for the newly freed slaves because their hopes and dreams were crushed and were destroyed by the southerners who didn't accept them into society.
             One thing the slaves were guaranteed was their freedom. That's why the civil war was fought for, and why the emancipation proclamation was passed. Whether the nation liked it or not, the slaves were free. Some southerners did not like this so a group called the KKK arose. The klan would kill and destroy the African-Americans and anything that belonged to them. This was their way of saying you are not welcomed in out "white" society. Also segregation grew as a problem. As time went on, the blacks were not allowed into certain places; places were set-aside just for them, and rights were stripped away from them. There was no equality for them. Also the newly freed slaves were promised 40 acres of land and 1 mule. That never happened because president Johnson said that the landowners could evict the African Americans off the land. As a compromise, they could sharecrop, which was the owner could give up some of the land and a few tools. So they got shafted out of that deal too.
             Another dream the newly freed slaves had was getting an education. They did get an education, but it was hard. Many southerners thought that they should not get an education so they made it hard. They killed them, burned down schools and protested.
             The political rights were stripped from the blacks too. Actually, they had no political rights because of the black codes. The blac...