Question

Although slaves were set free by Abraham Lincoln and by the North winning the Civil War, they still faced many obstacles in receiving their freedom. What were some of these obstacles and why were they obstacles?

Answer 1

After the Civil War, freed slaves faced obstacles including the limited reach of the Emancipation Proclamation, violent opposition from groups like the Ku Klux Klan, legislation that institutionalized racial discrimination like Jim Crow laws, and socioeconomic challenges stemming from poverty and a lack of resources.

Step-by-step explanation:

Despite the end of the Civil War and the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, African Americans faced numerous obstacles in receiving their freedom. First and foremost, the Emancipation Proclamation itself had limitations. It declared that slaves in the rebelling states were to be free, but it did not apply to those in border states still within the Union or areas under Union control.

Following the war, southern states enacted Jim Crow laws which imposed severe restrictions on the freed slaves' rights and ingrained systemic racial discrimination and segregation. The Ku Klux Klan and similar groups used violence and terror to prevent African Americans from exercising their new rights and achieving social or economic mobility.