Final answer:
The Civil War ended in 1865, resulting in the abolition of slavery and the subsequent cessation of the Underground Railroad. However, the post-war era saw the introduction of Jim Crow laws that undermined the freedom of African Americans, indicating a continuous struggle for civil rights.
Step-by-step explanation:
End of the Civil War and the Closure of the Underground Railroad
The American Civil War came to a close in 1865, bringing an end to the Underground Railroad. This clandestine network had served as a lifeline for countless enslaved African Americans seeking freedom from bondage. Following President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, and the eventual Union victory two years later, slavery was effectively abolished, and the use of the Underground Railroad diminished as emancipation laws took effect.
The end of the Civil War brought significant changes, including the promise of American life and self-determination for the newly freed slaves. It precipitated a shift in the country's moral compass, particularly in the rights and treatment of African Americans. Even after the war, the struggle wasn't over. Freed individuals faced ongoing racism, indicated by the establishment of Jim Crow laws and the spread of the Ku Klux Klan's (KKK) terror, which represented attempts to restrict African American freedom and undermine the gains acquired through the Civil War and Reconstruction.
Despite the end of the conflict, the promised freedom for former slaves was compromised by repressive local and state laws. Many previously enslaved individuals became sharecroppers, entangled in a system designed to restrict their economic progress and maintain a status quo of poverty and limited opportunity.