How Did Reconstruction Affect The Reconstruction Era

　　　　Slavery was at the root of the case of Dred Scott v. Sandford. Dred Scott sued his master to obtain freedom for himself and his family. His argument was that he had lived in a territory where slavery was illegal; therefore he should be considered a free man. Dred Scott was born a slave in Virginia around 1800. Scott and his family were slaves owned by Peter Blow and his family. He moved to St. Louis with them in 1830 and was sold to John Emerson, a military doctor. They went to Illinois and the Wisconsin territory where the Missouri Compromise of 1820 prohibited slavery. Dred Scott married and had two

In the article “Black Codes” it states many restrictions for African Americans living in the town such as “No public meetings of negroes or freedmen shall be allowed within the town” and “ Every negro is to be in the service of (work for) some white person, or former owner.”

To start off, in the 1857 case Dred Scott V Sanford rights were violated. In the case Dred Scott vs Sanford, Dred Scott was a slave that was freed by his master, but then was forced to go back to a slave state. Dred Scott thought he deserved to be free. Dred Scott wanted to sue. He was already freed by his master so he shouldn't have had to go back to slave state. Dred Scott's master guarantee him of his freedom, because of that, when it was taken away Dred Scott didn't agree with that resolution and wanted him and his wife to be free. Due to that, the case was taken to court, the judge found that once Dred Scott was freed he was to remain free. (Dred Scott v. John F.A. Sanford)

According to the thirteenth amendment, “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” The purpose of the thirteenth amendment was to end slavery or any form of involuntary servitude everywhere among the United States. There was new hope for African Americans throughout the country but unfortunately their freedom had a limit and coincidentally, President Lincoln was assassinated shortly after. Jim Crow laws were established among the states and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the southern states of the United States up until 1965. This is how white southerners

In 1866 the U.S. congress passed The civil rights act which allowed all black males the same citizenship no matter if they were a former slave or not as the white citizens of America. By passing this law it created tension in the south because African Americans had the same constitutional rights that white americans had. Some white people of the south resorted to lynching freed African Americans accused of crimes. Lynching is when a person would be murdered mainly by hanging and without the accused having the due process of the law. The victims did not receive a fair trial and their rights were not upheld what these people were doing was unconstitutional.

On June 19th 1862 the US Congress prohibits slavery in the United States territories nullifying the Dred Scott

The events that led to the time where compromise no longer seemed possible, starting the American Civil War, involved intense augmentation of sectionalism, dispute of states’ over federal rights, and the dispute of slavery. The North and the South’s differentiation in

Originally the Civil War was over states’ rights and limiting federal authority. Since the North won, the attempt to restrict the power of the government failed, leading the power of the federal government to be more powerful than ever. In the Merryman case, Abraham Lincoln suspended the habeas corpus (Doc 1) a writ in which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment before a court. This is an example of Lincoln expanding presidential power. This led to tension within the three branches and ceased to be an issue again until the issue of who would control the Reconstruction plan appeared. This issue led to the ratification of the 13th Amendment, 14th Amendment, and 15th Amendment to the Constitution. (Doc 4) These amendments addressed citizenship rights and equal protection of the laws and granted equal, civil, and legal rights for black people. This was much to the dismay of the former Confederate states, who in turn put black codes into place to limit the rights granted to black

At the beginning of the Civil war in 1861, President Lincoln was reluctant to move against slavery. He believed that the solution to slavery and the long term race problem in the United States was to support the compensated emancipation of slaves followed by their colonization outside the country. Lincoln also wanted to eliminate slavery with the Border States in order to stop those states from joining the confederacy and achieving those States loyalty. He also wanted the Border States to accept compensation because rejecting the proposal meant the risk of getting nothing. (Chapter 11 pg. 238-239)

One of the main issues as to why there was a such a big debate over slavery was the Declaration of Independence. As written in the Declaration of Independence, “All men are free.” However, the North interpreted this as both white and black men are created equal while the south interpreted this

Subordinate to the whites. It was on the premise that the Confederacy was founded on. The

The infamous Dred Scott ruling of the Supreme Court, decided slaves were not free men but otherwise property and not entitled to citizenship. Seven out of the nine justices were from the South and former slave owners, the only two justices that voted for Scott were from the North. After the court’s decision, division between North and South had never been so apparent.

the need for more slaves. At the time, Lincoln was elected and against slavery and

freedom to slaves in the Confederate States. This would only happen if the Union won the war.

One of the ways Southerners defended slavery was through legal means. Although the economic and religious aspects of slavery helped to directly support the moral argument of pro-slavery Southerners, the legal aspects of slavery served as visible victories and defending events in Southern philosophy. In 1831-1832, Virginia legislature debated and eventually defeated various emancipation proposals. This legislation was a turning point in the pro-slavery fight. An example of is is the Dred Scott Decision. An excellent example of the legal side to the Southern arguments and the Southern definition of popular sovereignty. With the Dred Scott Decision, the courts declared that the whole African American race had no legal standing as persons in courts also that all blacks were seen as property, and the Constitution protected property rights of the people, which includes slave owners. Moreover, pro-slavery Southerners