The four-year war between the states not only left Southern cities destroyed, its economy in shambles, and its population destitute, but also introduced an overwhelming population of former slaves to be integrated into the folds of the victorious Union. Freedom for blacks came slowly, and progress on their behalf was tainted, inconsistent, and weak. Freedmen and women, accustomed to conflict and adversity, desired only equality as citizens of the United States, yet such status would come at a high price. Lincoln proclaimed freedom for slaves in the midst of the Civil War, but that freedom was neither immediate nor accepted at the end of the war. With great uncertainty and only with the title of freedmen, the black community immediately sought its greatest needs, regardless of the brutality they faced from those who refused to accept their freedom. As long as Union troops occupied the South due to the establishment of the Reconstruction Act of March 2, 1867, blacks could be assured that any path they wanted to take was open. The immediate priority for many of them was reuniting lost family, friends and romances. Thousands of freed slaves could be found traveling the streets looking for a place to call home as one community. Their first notable achievement was to establish an economic presence through higher education, namely the ability to read and write. Many schools were built, financed, and operated by Northern whites sympathetic to the freedman's plight. This progress was soon followed by the construction of places of worship to exercise their new freedom of religion. Managed by themselves, the black churches were vigorously built to provide a spiritual sanctuary for the 900,000 black citizens of various dense... middle of paper... this was not lost on the black citizens. Unfortunately, when the time came to assist the emancipated slaves, many hands reached out to help. The rebuilt government did what it deemed necessary to bring economic and political stability to the freedmen. Many renowned institutes were founded to alleviate the suffering of a people who had nothing, not even a homeland. Support poured in from every avenue only to be tainted by doubt, inhumane practices and ultimately only furthered the ruin of the black community. Lincoln's slave independence did not define freedom. In the years following the end of the Civil War, the identity of freedom for a black American citizen became darker than ever and planted the seed of doubt as to whether the Union was truly triumphant over the extinct mentality of the Confederacy. Works Cited The American Pageant