 Emancipation and the conclusion of the War were followed throughout the plantation districts of the South by a period of tumultuous struggle over the rights of black laborers, the political rights of African Americans generally and, temporarily, the political rights of those who took up arms against the Union.While devastating for many former white Confederate veterans, newly emancipated African Americans saw more political freedoms than ever.Pensacola and Escambia County had more African-American political representation than ever before or since.