Reading diary no. 1 for Hist 110: America Since the Civil War Chapter sixteen begins with the Civil War Reconstruction period. From previous history lessons I learned more in depth about the war and why the North was fighting the South, but overall I think the most important part to look at about the Civil War is its end and what would come after, which it was the era of reconstruction. Lincoln had just issued his Emancipation Proclamation and freed the slaves. As happy as it sounds, it was actually quite the opposite. Southern whites' attitudes toward Southern blacks had not changed at all since the Emancipation Proclamation. In 1865 Carl Schurz was sent by President Andrew Johnson to investigate the current conditions of the Confederacy after its defeat in the Civil War. While there, he shared in his “Report on the Condition of the South” that Southerners have a belief “so deeply rooted…that the Negro will not work without physical compulsion.” Overall this simply shows how Southern white attitudes were no different. They truly believed that blacks were incapable of working or acting without force. Many Northerners and abolitionists, such as Wendell Phillips, noticed this at the time and actually said that Lincoln had not done enough. They wanted him to do a complete overhaul of Southern society. I personally understand where these people were coming from. They were people who really wanted all problems solved. Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation was a step in the right direction, but he could have done more. Schurz also noted that “Negroes who strayed from the plantations, or were found on the roads, were shot or otherwise severely punished.” Former slaves were not... the focus of the paper... documents and quotes about people's feelings during this time and for this reason they are often not taken into consideration. Even today it is difficult for us to imagine that these women are real people with families and busy lives. These women worked around the clock in other people's homes. Many of them said they had no set schedule. People in the house called them at all hours of the day and they never had time for themselves. One woman shared exactly this in her interview when she said, “I had a nice room and everything was nice, and she gave me a lot of things, but I would have saved them all if I just had a little time to myself. " Life was extremely difficult for these women even though they did not have strenuous jobs. They were forced into the lives of other families with unpredictable schedules while still trying to maintain a life of their own.