vantage of their freedom, but their reasons for moving were not simply because they were testing their freedom. Many former slaves were eager to leave the plantations because they associated them with the oppression of the slave system. Former slaves also decided to travel because of their desire to track down family members. Many African American families had been split apart because of slavery – spouses lived on different plantations, and children were separated from their parents. The Freedman’s Bureau worked to reunite families, and African Americans printed newspapers asking for information about their families, however many lost family members were never found. Education was also an area that former slaves began to explore after the Civil War. Because they would be punished if they tried to learn to read and write, most of the freed African Americans were illiterate. School, colleges, and universities were set up for African Americans with the help of the Freedman’s Bureau, African-American churches, state governments, and northern charitable organizations. Because slaves were now able to marry legally, and get an education, many African Americans began to adopt the traditional family roles. For the first time African Americans were able to raise their children without the fear of someone selling them. The work ethic of African Americans also changed with the end of slavery. Husbands became the primary providers for the family, and wives either went to work later, or stopped working in the fields completely, so they could take care of their children and houses as they had seen white women do. The period of Reconstruction after the Civil War was successful because it brought the Confederate states back into the Union, which is what one definition of the term Reconstruction refers to, and it helped African Americans to experience aspects of life that they had never before been allowed to. Due to the ra...
