African Americans have a history of struggling with racism and prejudice. Since the end of the Civil War, they have fought to benefit from the full rights guaranteed by the Constitution. The Fourteenth Amendment, which defined national citizenship, was passed in 1866. Even though African Americans were promised citizenship, they were still treated as if they were unequal. The South had difficulty accepting African Americans as equals and did everything it could to prevent the desegregation of all races. During the Reconstruction era, there were plans to end segregation; however, past biases and personal beliefs have lengthened the process. All African Americans thought that with the creation of civil rights they would be free to do what all Americans could do. In the context of civil rights, emancipation means being free from slavery. The process took much longer than expected. Many fled to the North to regain the freedom that was rightfully theirs. Legal slavery was abolished by the North, but the slave population doubled between the first emancipation and the end of the Civil War, from about 1.8 million in 1827 to over four million in 1865. It was very difficult for Southern farmers and for slave owners to immediately abandon the lifestyle they were accustomed to and remove their slaves. Southern whites viewed African Americans as their workers. They lived with this mindset for so long, making their transition more challenging than the transition of slaves in the North. The Civil War was intended to end slavery in the United States, but the victory failed to maintain prejudiced feelings and beliefs. distant. Newly freed African Americans living in the South...center of paper...past prejudices and prior beliefs lengthened the desegregation process, African Americans still succeeded and were able to be free. Cited Brannen, Daniel, Clay Hanes and Rebecca Valentine. “Segregation and Desegregation.” Supreme Court Drama: Cases That Changed America. (2011): 873-879. Cartlidge, Cherese. Reparations for slavery. Farmington Hills, Michigan: Lucent Books, 2008. Chafe, William, Raymond Gavins, and Robert Korstad. Remembering Jim Crow. New York: The New Press, 2001. George, Charles. Life under Jim Crow laws. San Diego, California: Lucent Books, 2000.Guelzo, Allen. “Should Black People Get Reparations?” Christian Science Monitor, 2009. Lichtenstein, Alex and Elizabeth Tenney. "A long struggle." Pebble. (2013). Martin, Waldo and Patricia Sullivan. "Emancipation." Civil rights in the United States. (2000).