You might like to look at Skytrax; www.airlinequality.com which rates airlines with one to five stars. Most US based carriers get three stars, as does American. The site will also allow you to view passenger's comments bout their experiences. Again, many people only comment when things go wrong, so bear that in mind.
Reconstruction and Its Aftermath. The Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 freed African Americans in rebel states, and after the Civil War, the Thirteenth Amendment emancipated all U.S. slaves wherever they were. As a result, the mass of Southern blacks now faced the difficulty Northern blacks had confronted--that of a free people surrounded by many hostile whites.
On February 1, 1865, Abraham Lincoln signed the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery. The 15th Amendment, granting black men the right to vote was adopted on February 3, 1870; on February 12, 1909 the NAACP was founded; and on February 25, 1870, Hiram Rhodes Revels, the first black US Senator, took the oath of office.