How Free Were Freed Blacks After the American Civil War?

Before discussing how free the freed blacks were after the Civil War it is worth describing the situation prior and during that conflict that the unfree blacks found themselves in. Black slaves were mostly confined to the Southern states of the United States whilst the majority of the Northern states no longer had slaves and had declared themselves to be slave free states. It was to be President Abraham Lincoln who expressed the aim of removing slavery from the United States. During the 1860 presidential election he stated: “There is a God, and he hates injustice and slavery. I see the storm coming, and I know that his hand is in it.” Due to the way in which the United States constitution worked a confrontation between the free and the slave states became inevitable and victory for the Union or slave free states seemed the most likely result.