Introduction At the end of the Civil War, Union General William T. Sherman spoke to the group of blacks in Savannah who had recently been freed. The group was made up of educators, ministers and leaders from the black community. What Sherman wanted was to know how these freed black groups thought about their current status and how they survived in a society that once enslaved them. They answered clearly that freedom meant the ability to develop from one's own work and that what was needed to do this was access to land. What was freedom? African Americans' understanding of freedom was simply shaped by their experiences as slaves and how they observed the free society around them. African Americans were excited about the chance to demonstrate their freedom through liberation from the norms of slavery. Freedom during that time altered the roles of family members within their homes. Most black women have retreated from their private lives. There were the beginnings of independent churches like the Methodists and Baptists, where their ministers played a huge role in politics. Children of all ages enrolled in northern schools supported by independent churches (Foner, 2008). Political freedom for blacks meant for them only the right to vote. The right to vote means empowerment and equality for African Americans. To be deprived of such privilege would mean “the stigma of inferiority”. They demonstrated their patriotism across the South by holding Fourth of July celebrations. After the conquest of freedom and rights, they manifested their rights to land ownership. Most slaves insisted that through unpaid labor they had a right to land. Labor Vision: Thir...... middle of document ....... 1940 Declaration of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure. Retrieved July 14, 2011, from http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/pubsres/policydocs/contents/1940statement.htmNational Archives. (2011). The Freedmen's Office, 1865-1872. Retrieved July 14, 2011, from http://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/freedmens-bureau/.Radical Reconstruction. (2011). Retrieved July 14, 2011, from http://www.sparknotes.com/history/american/reconstruction/section3.rhtml.Sidorski, D. (2001). The third concept of freedom and identity politics. Partisan review. 57(4).Vandervelde, L. (1989). Article: Labor's view of the Thirteenth Amendment. Retrieved July 14, 2011, from https://litigation-essentials.lexisnexis.com/webcd/app?action=DocumentDisplay&crawlid=1&doctype=cite&docid=138+U.+Pa.+L.+Rev.+437&srctype=smi&srcid=3B15&key = bf596ebb76dfa2c8b7c67a18c880bf04