The Emancipation Proclamation, issued by Abraham Lincoln in 1863, freed slaves from states in active rebellion. The Thirteenth Amendment, passed by Congress in 1865, legally abolished slavery. This amendment ended slavery throughout the United States, freeing four million African Americans. However, these men and women faced extreme challenges to their freedom right away. In the South, many states passed laws that fined or imprisoned freedmen who did not find work. Other state laws prohibited freedmen from assembling or required them to sign yearly labor contracts. Collectively, these laws were known as “Black Codes.” The end of slavery also marked the end of the plantation system in the South. The sharecropping system took its place. Sharecroppers rented their land and paid the owners a portion of their crops. This new system kept many former slaves in debt to their former masters.
After Congress passed the Thirteenth Amendment,
A
former slaves owned land and worked freely.
B
the Emancipation Proclamation was immediately reversed.
C
Black Codes in the South restricted the freedoms of former slaves.
D
Black Codes in the South were immediately reversed.
C
Black Codes in the South restricted the freedoms of former slaves.