Looking at the great things that happened in the late 19th century and early 20th century, it's hard to think that something like race is still so prevalent in everyday life. With failed attempts at Reconstruction, partially successful attempts at Reconstruction, often brutal oppression of African Americans, things like Jim Crow laws, eugenics, public lynchings, and some Southern states not allowing blacks to vote, America achieved an all-time low in race relations. Author Rayford W. Logan in his book The Negro in American Life and Thought: The Nadir 1877-1901 (1954) presented the idea that this period was the lowest point or "nadir" for the African American population. The end of the Civil War marked the beginning of a period in American history in which the greatest amount of civil change occurred. Four million slaves were freed immediately without a real plan for integration into society. The Southern economy was in chaos. In an agriculture-based economy, slaves represented the majority of the workforce and were considered assets worth between $500 and $1,000. This means that when the slaves were freed the South lost between $500,000,000 and $1,000,000 in “property.” The slaves owned no land, had no capital, and were ignorant, but they embraced freedom and organized to realize their new rights. This did not matter much since blacks were seen by whites as an inferior race and not worthy of the same rights as slaves. white. This opinion was widespread, and even President Lincoln shared many of these ideals, such as being “…for or having a superior position assigned to the white race.” After the war, Negroes were free men and women and not property, making them… the center of the paper… righteousness throughout American history. Racism and its justifications were everywhere in American society, including some parts of black America. Black people were victimized based on the color of their skin and faulty science that created racial stereotypes. Reactionary events and the lack of detailed planning for the incorporation of poor, uneducated freed blacks into American society after the end of the Civil War led to one hundred years of horrific discrimination. However, freedom and the spirit it ignites always find a way out against oppression. I think Claude McKay said it best in his 1919 poem, If We Must Die: Men, We Will Face the Murderous and Cowardly Pack, Pressed Against the Wall, Dying, But Fighting Back!”