The slaves were free, but not free. The south was in ruins at the end of the war, but the former slaves really had no place to go so they stayed where they were for the most part. Sharecroppers became a way of life, but even though people are "free" they were economically slaves. The plantation owners paid them very little, discriminated against them, and they could barely make a living. Jim Crow laws saw to it that segregation was a part of life.