African Americans in the Reconstruction Era

92. In 1865 an appointment was held between representatives of an African American community in Savannah, Georgia and Edwin Staunton, Secretary of War, and Major General Sherman concerning topics of the freedman in Georgia. Land was set aside, 40 acres, and a mule that could no longer be used by the Army to establish a community of their own.

Reconstruction was the time period following the Civil War, which lasted from 1865 to 1877, in which the United States began to rebuild. The term can also refer to the process the federal government used to readmit the defeated Confederate states to the Union. While all aspects of Reconstruction were not successful, the main goal of the time period was carried out, making Reconstruction over all successful. During this time, the Confederate states were readmitted to the Union, the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments were ratified, and African Americans were freed from slavery and able to start new lives.

Freedmen were just as free as a white person the same gender as them, their freedom was not equal to a white person. Opelousas, Louisianas’ Black Codes passed in 1865 stated that, negroes could go to church service. Freedmen were also free because after the 15th Amendment was passed in 1870 they could run for Congress, Senate, and House of Representatives just like a white man (Doc. D). African Americans were voted into the House of Representatives twenty-four times between the years of 1869 to 1877 and was elected into Senate twice (Doc. E). In 1866 Sidney Andrews said, “I often noticed that workers in stores and men working in warehouses, and cart drivers

At this, the federal government took control of the southern states not yet readmitted to the Union. In order for the states to get readmitted to the Union, they needed to agree to observe the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments. Amendment fourteen guaranteed all citizens the same rights without regard to color. Amendment fifteen made it illegal to discriminate against people based on race in voting rights. African Americans and northerners held a number of government positions during this time, and southern whites did not really accept these governments. Southern whites used legal and illegal means to fight the changes in the status of African Americans.(Royster 7,8)

The most notable of these were the 13th amendment, which officially banned slavery, and the 15th amendment, which gave black men the right to vote. These amendments were passed in 1865 and 1870, respectively. However, the 13th and 15th amendments

Noah Serna 1) The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo - was basically a treaty of peace and friendship between the United States of America and the Mexican Republic. It ended the Mexican-American War, which favored the U.S., and it was signed on February 2, 1848, in the Villa de Guadalupe Hidalgo. It was signed by major general Winfield Scott and it added 525,000 squares miles to the United States territory. It also resulted in Mexico giving up all claims to Texas and acknowledge the Rio Grande as the southern boundary of America. 2) Free-Soil Party - is a political party of anti-slavery men in the North during 1848-1854.

African Americans were not free after the Civil War ended.They were still treated like they were slaves. There are many specific details throughout the reconstruction phase proving this.

For example, the passing of the Civil Rights Bill and later the Fourteenth Amendment secured both citizenship and the basic rights (excluding suffrage) for the Freedmen and therefore tempering some of the worst features of the horrible Black Codes. In addition to this, the passing of the Fourteenth Amendment required that previous Confederate states ratify it in order to become part of the Union again, further securing and protecting an endangered race. In continuation of the Radicals plan to reinvigorate the South was the passing of the Fifteenth Amendment which not only guaranteed black suffrage but also ensured that any states who were still dismal would not be capable of amending their state constitutions to take away the ballot from blacks. Although this was rash in the eyes of the entering states, this allowed for the equality of races and created greater political opportunities for those of the black race to partake in government either as delegates or congressmen within their

In April of 1866, Congress enacted a Civil Rights Act in response to southern Black Codes. This Act granted new rights to native born blacks. They now had the right to testify in court, to sue, and to buy property. President Johnson vetoed the Act claiming it was an invasion of states' rights and would cause "discord among the races." Congress overrode the veto by a single vote. Which then marked the beginning of an escalating power struggle between the President and Congress that would eventually lead to impeachment. In June of 1866, Congress passed the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guaranteeing civil liberties for both native born and naturalized Americans and prohibiting any state from depriving citizens of life, liberty, or property, without due process. This Amendment granted the right to vote to all males who were twenty one and older. Johnson opposed the Amendment on the grounds it did not apply to southerners who were without any representation in Congress. Tennessee was the only southern state to ratify the Amendment.

Throughout the Reconstruction period in the United States after the Civil War, African American’s were given many new rights, such as citizenship and the right to vote. One of these new rights was enacted in 1869, the Fifteenth Amendment, which gave African American men the right to vote. Many southern states, however, did not approve of this new amendment and sought ways to prevent African Americans from voting. Post-confederate, Democratic states found ways to disenfranchise the African American community. Preventive actions ranged in severity from murder and lynching, to fraudulent actions at the ballots, and even enforcing new state laws to prevent African American votes. The newly created Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendment were supposed

After the northern voters rejected Johnson’s policies in the congressional elections, Republicans in Congress took firm hold of Reconstruction in the South. Congress passed the Reconstruction Act later, it temporarily divided the South in five districts and outlined how governments based on universal (male) suffrage were to be organized. This law also required the states in the South to ratify the 14th amendment. The definition of citizenship was expanded by granting all of the slaves “equal protection” of the Constitution before the slaves could join the Union. By 1870, all of the slave states had been welcomed to the Union. In this period the african-americans won the election against the southern governments and even the U.S. Congress.

After the Reconstruction act of 1867, this gave African Americans the ability to serve in the government in positions such as congressmen to state and local officials (Reconstruction Government in the South, para. 1 & 8). With extensive research, it can be assumed that the geographical location where African Americans served in government and had enough power in those states are in Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Florida, and Louisiana. At this time, representatives were of a vast majority in government positions in these states, including and more noted, Senator Hiram Revels of Mississippi (Reconstruction Government in the South, para. 11-13). Regarding the party, African Americans made up a majority of southern Republican voters,

The Civil War was worth the costs of lives and suffering. Unfortunately, 618,000 Americans had died, but the war did preserve the Union and prevented it from separating into two countries. The Union's victory allowed freedom from slavery for the blacks. Congress recognized the Freedman's Bureau which distributed food to former slaves, established schools, and allowed blacks to settle on lands of their own. Later on in 1866, Congress passed the Fourteenth Amendment that granted citizenship to all born in the United States and those who were naturalized citizens. In addition, the Fifteenth Amendment forbade states from denying suffrage (the right to vote) to any citizen according to their race and previous slave status. Newly established policies

Union political leaders sought to strengthen their victory, immediately following the end of the Civil War, with the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments. The new amendments legally abolished slavery, protected the legal equality of ex-slaves and the voting rights of male ex-slaves and each Confederate Southern state was required to incorporate these requirements into their constitutions. Unfortunately, despite the legality of these written promises almost a century of activism and legal action would be needed to bring about the consistent federal enforcement of these rights in the former states of the Confederacy. Congress also failed to secure any land for blacks, which gave southern whites economic control over blacks.

Post Civil-War life was never easy for any particular group of people, but for African Americans, some could say reconstruction was the “turn of the tide”, or so was it? To understand reconstructions impact on the lives of Freedmen, it is crucial for one to have knowledge of the African Americans during the Reconstruction Era. The key factors to reconstruction's direct impact, was the introduction of African Americans to the American government, along with the constitutional amendment following the civil war. Additionally the basic or daily life improvements, which weren’t provided by slaveowners before. The last factor to reconstruction’s impact, is a slave’s self-understanding, that they were free in the United States, but unfortunately not equal. Included in the article, “The Promise of Freedom”, the desire for African American freedom and equality are voiced, “...as African Americans adjusted not only to the strange reality of freedom but to the hopes and plans that freedom had awakened. For the next fifteen years or so, some of these hopes and plans would be realized, while others would be crushed”(The Promise 3-4). These reasons collectively provide the details necessary to answer if the reconstruction effectively impacted the lives of Freedmen. During the Reconstruction, the lives of Freedmen were improved as a people and as Americans.