mancipation of African-American slaves. Following the war was the Reconstruction Period (1865-1877) in which blacks and whites worked together to change and to rebuild the South. New requirements for voting allowed both blacks and poor whites to vote for the first time. And also for the first time, Southern black men were elected to responsible jobs in government albeit many were kept from taking their seats. As one black Senator pleaded his case, ôFriends I have been told that if I dared utter such Sentiments as these in public that I certainly would be kept out of the Senate . . . if I cannot enter the Senate except with bated breath and on bended knees, I prefer not to enter at allö (Pinchback 28). A public school system was established during Reconstruction, as well as new roads, bridges, and railroads built. Cities were redeveloped, and there were opportunities for new industries and jobs. African-Americans moved closer to equality with whites as many old restrictions were removed, but some whites still wanted to keep blacks as second-class citizens. ôNothing in the experience of the slave owning class had prepared it to deal with blacks as free workers, and in many respects it was less equipped to make the transition to freedom than its former slavesö (Litwack 113). Anti-black organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan were formed to intimidate African-Americans with violence and deprive them of their civil rights. Eventually, whites regained control of South and blacks were once again relegated to second-class citizenship. With complete white control, the Reconstruction period came to an end.
By the late 19th century, many black people in the South were facing unemployment and starvation. To survive, thousands left the South to seek jobs in other parts of the country. Large numbers of these migrants settled in the West, some establishing all-black towns in places like Boley, Oklahoma or Tennessee Town, a black co...