Neoslavery: The Perpetuation of Slavery After the American Civil War

Abstract

Many Americans are under the impression that slavery ended following the Civil War. However, this is a vast oversimplification of the reality that Black men and women faced in the South after the war’s end. Freedmen’s bureau reports, “Black Codes,” and the research of historians demonstrate the ways in which Black men and women were treated following the end of the Civil War. Comparing the conditions revealed in the aforementioned sources to the conditions Black men and women faced during legal slavery reveals startling similarities. Violence against Blacks continued to be widespread in the post-war period, and many Black men and women were even bought and sold through convict leasing. In short, slavery continued in all but name.