From the testimony of Harriet Postle “We are men of peace…”

After the Civil War, African Americans tried to find a way to live in a community where they can live freely and be treated fairly. It was hard for them with the hostile environment they lived in. The creation of the Ku Klux Klan, and the Black Codes made it harder for African Americans to live as freed slaves. In a testimony by an African American woman, Harriet Postle, she explained how a dozen of men entered her home wanting to kill her husband. Although her husband wasn’t home at the moment the men tried to enforce their authority and try to stop Harriet from lying and accusing her of covering for her husband. No matter how many times she stated that her husband wasn’t home, these men insulted and abused Harriet. In order for her to confess the whereabouts of her husband the men stated “We are men of peace…” This quote itself was ironic. A dozen men had entered this woman’s home with their faces covered and harmed, insulted, and threatened Harriet and her family and they had stated that they were men of peace. As Harriet was on the stand, her attorney asked if she could identify the men that broke into her home. She stated she could and pointed to a man that she had seen around her neighborhood.

The social life of a freed slave was not something that came with ease. The struggle to try to fit within a society that doesn’t want to associate themselves with you was hard. Although African Americans were promised that they wouldn’t have to return to slavery and that they will be able to live as equals, there was no guarantee. The chances that the men that broke into Harriet Postle would be charged were very slim. The society that African Americans lived in was predominately white and their equality was never fair but more in favor of the whites. Not only was there no fairness but trust was diminishing as well. Harriet was able to identify the man that broke into her home. That man she would probably see almost every day and he was the cause of her suffering within her home. The trust that existed between African Americans and whites was pretty much nonexistent due to the fact that the white men and women did not agree with slavery being free and were displeased with the result of African Americans being treated equally. The social life of an African American was hard, due to the fact that they had no one to rely on. The justice system wasn’t in favor of them, society did not like them and they were poor. They had to build on their own and it was hard because there were people like the KKK that did not want to see them succeed.