Sympathy

Post-Reconstruction spans from 1877 to about 1900 in United States history. The politics and culture of the period shaped Dunbar’s rhetorical choices in “Sympathy.” During Reconstruction (1865-1877), the federal government attempted to use its power to ensure that Black Americans, particularly men, had in practice the civil rights enumerated in the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. Efforts like the Freedman’s Bureau helped set up literacy schools and other important institutions to integrate Black Americans as full citizens and provide reparations for what enslavers materially stole from them. The federal government used troops and federal officials to govern Southern states that fought against the United States during the Civil War. When these state governments were reconstituted, many of the first Black Americans elected to state government gained their seats.

For a brief moment, it looked as if this effort to undo centuries of enslavement and oppression would be successful. By the early 1870s, however, most of the Southern states that the federal government directly governed during Reconstruction regained full statehood, and federal troops withdrew. During the presidential election of 1876, political bargains and waning interest in guaranteeing Black Americans’ rights with force ended Reconstruction. During Post-Reconstruction, the consequences included lynching by terroristic groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, disenfranchisement at voting polls, and draconian Black codes that limited Black Americans’ right to free movement and economic activity.