What was the status of slaves after the Civil War?

The surrender by General Lee to General Grant at the Appomattox Courthouse officially ended the Civil War, but it would be weeks before word of the war's end would filter into rural areas. The victory by the Union effectively freed more than an estimated four million slaves; however, as freed slaves, their status was not so easily determined by their emancipation. The freed men, women, and children were not equal in the protection of the law or in the eyes of the prevailing white social structure.
While their status changed from enslaved to free, the idea of freedom for a people enslaved for many generations must have been surreal. Many of the men, women, and children were born as slaves: they had not known what it meant to be free. While slavery was a horrible system of oppressions, it was, in many cases, the only life they had known.
Theologians, with the assistance of historians, compare the plight of the Hebrews leaving Egypt with the plight of African slaves freed from the bondage of slavery. Many freed Africans identified with the Old Testament account—generations had known nothing but slavery. Thus, it would take generations to begin to create life as a free citizens, not only because of the severe psychological and physical damage enslavement had on the population, but also due to the systems of oppression that were constructed through and even followed their enslavement.
Additionally, following the war, former slave owners were resistant to make the conscious change to view former slaves as humans, rather than as property or chattel. This shift would take generations to develop, if at all. Furthermore, many of the freed slaves endured under the similar conditions of slavery—only by another name. Sharecroppers and tenant farmers assumed roles of economic slavery. Poverty became a weapon used by white landowners to root former slaves to the land and to continue to use their labor without compensation. To change their status, many freed slaves therefore saw migration as an attractive possibility.
Many of the freed slaves went north (with some going as far as Canada), believing that it would be more tolerant and accepting. Though abolitionists tended to be located in the North, it was not always welcoming to the former slaves—even though they had fought against slavery in the war. The struggles of freed slaves in the North were not as great as in the South, but obstacles to successfully assimilating into society still abounded: they had freedom, but they did not have equality.
In addition to northern migration, many former slaves also went west. Many freed slaves found the West and Southwest more tolerant, as vaqueros (Mexican cowboys) and ranchers were far more accepting of the abilities of the freed slaves and less occupied with their skin color.
However, many freed people—who had little to no skill other than as laborers, were unable to read or write, and had families dispersed throughout the Eastern coast—chose to stay. While the process of Reconstruction began after the war, the majority of freed slaves were freed in name only. Unscrupulous former slave owners found ways to circumvent the intent of Reconstruction legislation and force former slaves to stay bondage. The Southern states created the Black Codes, which controlled the labor opportunities of former slaves.
However, the codes outraged the Federal Government, who viewed them as a violation of the agreement to end the Civil War. This resulted in the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution, which gave more authority to the federal government to enforce regulations and provide former slaves legal recourse to pursue equal rights. When Reconstruction came to an end, former slaves and a new generation born outside of the institution of slavery began the slow progress of agitating for equal protection and equal rights, though this would take almost two centuries to actualize.
Slowly, the status of former slaves began to improve. The generations removed from the disenfranchisement of a race of people continued to litigate battles from the Civil War. No longer fought on a battlefield, the new battles were legal and for the moral conscience of a nation.
http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/freedom/1609-1865/essays/aafamilies.htm

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jun/16/slavery-starvation-civil-war