What ifs of Reconstruction

Last night, I went to a swim meet at Maine South.  The water was frigid and most of our team didn't have towels- we forgot them at New Trier.  However, I knew that when I got home, I could take a shower with a lot of hot water, and then go to sleep in a warm and comfortable bed.  This was not the case for the newly released slaves in the mid 1800s.

When the slaves were released, they owned nothing, and the newly passed 13th amendment did not have provisions for the welfare of the slaves- ie, the food, shelter, education and livlihood of these newly proclaimed human beings.  They were simply turned out to whatever their fate may have been.  But, the freedmen were quickly hired again by their former masters and African Americans were killed and beaten all throughout the South regardless of their condition.  On letter from a former slave who is being asked to return to his old master can be found HERE.  One of the most interesting things is how Jourdan Anderson addresses his former master very politely, yet sets a requirement that is almost impossible to meet.

So, the freedmen were treated in an inhumane way, but what could have been done differently?  The whole idea of emancipation was not new, but getting it accepted by the white members of the United States of America was very hard anyway.  Should they have been given more rights, or would that have sparked even more anti-African American sentiment?  Or would less rights have been a better idea so that the long time citizens could ease into the idea of African Americans being human beings?  But it is clearly seen in Anderson's letter that he was thriving with his new family and that he had learned to read and write.  Bigger questions can be who should yield when the class in power clearly wants to keep it?  Is government set up correctly to handle issues where people are being harmed every instant?  Can it be fixed?