Reconstruction Act Definition

For slavery, there was a necessity for a law to be in place that eliminated slavery nationwide. To deal with the queries of liberty and equality, three amendments generally discussed to as the Reconstruction amendments were passed. The 13th amendment was passed and backed in 1865 and it required to completely eliminate slavery in the United States. All the southern states that had been portion of the Confederacy were mandatory to back this amendment before they could be readmitted to the union. The 14th amendment was passed in 1866 and backed in 1868.

After the passing of the Civil Rights Bill over presidential veto in 1866, Congress proceeded to adopt its own plan of Reconstruction and in June of the same year it approved the Fourteenth Amendment.

After the Civil War, the United States had many problems to solve. The country had to figure out how to integrate newly freed slaves into society and bring the former Confederate states back into the Union. Reconstruction was period of time after the civil war in which the United States addressed these problems. Reconstruction had two different phases: Presidential Reconstruction took place from 1865 to 1867, and Congressional Reconstruction took place from 1867 to 1877. Presidential Reconstruction began with Abraham Lincoln, who proposed the Proclamation of Amnesty and the ten percent oath plan. Lincoln was focused on leniency and forgiveness; under his plan southerners would take an oath of loyalty to the Union, and after only ten percent of a state’s voters had taken this oath, the state could be readmitted. After Lincoln’s assassination, Andrew Johnson took over Reconstruction. Johnson wanted to punish landowners, but liberally handed out pardons, as he greatly enjoyed the power that he had over southerners. Under Johnson, former confederates were re-elected, and southern states discriminated blacks. Eventually, Congress took over Reconstruction. During Congressional Reconstruction, the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments were passed, and the freedman’s bureau was created. Overall, the failures of Reconstruction outweighed the failures because it took a very long time for it to achieve its goals, and the South was still able to

Congress comes in to play in December 1865. The Congress was made up mostly of Republicans and they refused to let past Confederates to take their seats in Congress at this time. This marked the beginning of Radical Reconstruction or sometimes known as Congressional Reconstruction. The president and the congress did not agree on many issues. Congress overrode President Johnson on the Civil Rights Act of 1866, The Fourteenth Amendment, and the Freedmen’s Bureau Bill. The Fourteenth Amendment spelled out rights of both black and white citizens as equal. It prolonged Federal powers for the enforcement of civil rights. States that approved the Fourteenth Amendment were considered reconstructed, and Tennessee did so. President Johnson advised other southern states to oppose doing this. Congress passed many laws to limit President Johnson’s powers. They passed the Reconstruction Acts of 1867 which set new

After the war has ended the Reconstruction period began in 1863, a new era where enhancement and change is witnessed. A stronger nation was forming. The plan was first announced by president Abraham Lincoln in purpose of unifying the South and resolving issues such as slavery. However throughout this period only certain aspects were successful in restoring peace and contentment in the states. To begin with, the Thirteenth Amendment approved and released by Lincoln in February 1865 officially abolished slavery and founded its final solution. Yet the discrimination against African Americans did not end here. Following the president’s assassination, Andrew Johnson took position and introduced the period of Presidential Reconstruction . His first great accomplishment was the establishment of Freedmen’s Bureau passed in 1865. The program provided aid to 4 million newly freed slaves in the South and to poor whites also. It built hospitals and gave medical care to millions of freedmen.

Reconstruction was like ice cream on a hot day because it is cold and refreshing . Similarly, from 1865 to 1870 the United States passed three Amendments, the 13th, 14th and 15th, to help end slavery. As stated in the 13th 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.” Then, three years later, the government passed the fourteenth amendment which said, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction

Reconstruction (1867-1877) under Congress was a fast tightening of a noose in the South. Congress no longer trusted Andrew Johnson’s loose plan for Reconstruction, so they began closing in on their plans. Radical Republicans made many lasting impacts in this period. Under Congress, the 14th and 15th Amendment was created, guaranteeing rights to African Americans. A newly created Freedmen’s Bureau help create many schools and colleges, lasting up to modern times. African Americans held power in office, although they were quickly brought down by the Ku Klux Klan’s terrorism. The main path Reconstruction took was based on the government’s plans. There

The 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution officially abolished and prohibits slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime.The 14th Amendment provides the citizenship, due process and equal protection clauses. The 13th amendment was adopted on December 6, 1865. It was preceded by the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, which freed all slaves from the Confederate states during the Civil War. Most of these states were in the South below the Mason-Dixon line.The 14th Amendment was adopted on July 9, 1868, and it is the longest of all the Reconstruction Amendments, having five separate sections. The amendment also covers citizen's' right to hold public office, suffrage, compensation for emancipation and debts of war.

It also allowed black men to join the Union Army and Navy, “enabling the liberated to become liberators.” (The Emancipation Proclamation) The big change in slavery and the fight for equality did not come until the Thirteenth Amendment was passed by Congress on January 31, 1865 and ratified by the states on December 6, 1865. With this event, it was declared that “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.” (13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution) Although this Amendment did give slaves their freedom, it did not guarantee them the same rights nor the same treatment that other citizens of the United States had and took for granted. This was especially seen in the states that “enacted ‘black codes’ that were intended to limit the civil rights of the newly free slaves.” (Civil Rights) These “black codes” and the obvious difference in treatment were a large issue, and they were later addressed in the Constitution with the introduction of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendment. The Fourteenth Amendment was ratified on July 9, 1868 and it made large changes for black individuals. This Amendment “granted citizenship to ‘all persons born or naturalized in the United States,’ which included former slaves recently freed.” (14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution) It also “forbids states from denying

However, it had been used to grant all the personal liberties and rights conveyed in the Bill of Rights. Among other things, this prohibited ex-Confederate leaders from holding political office, and also gave the freedmen their citizenship. The rejection of the 14th Amendment paved the way for the Reconstruction Act of 1867; this dismantled all Southern governments and launched military control over the South. The Reconstruction Act guaranteed freedmen the right to vote under new state constitutions and required the Southern states to approve the 14th A With the addition of African American votes in the southern elections and the help of "Carpet Baggers" and "Scalawags," the Republican Party gained almost complete control over the South.

During the Civil War, the president Lincoln promulgated the Emancipation Proclamation(Colling 5/22/17), this document helped the union win the Civil War.By the end of the war, the Thirteenth Amendment(Colling 5/22/17) of the Constitution was implemented. This amendment brought the freedom to the slave and it made Emancipation Proclamation permanent validity. The south returned to the union and started to reestablish. At first glance, the Reconstruction seemed all right and it fulfilled the promise of America. Nevertheless, a multitude of problems were still not addressed. Although the slave regained freedom again, but they can not integrate into society. In order to deal with this situation, the 14th Amendment and 15th Amendment(Colling 5/22/17) were implemented

In 1867, Congress passed a new Reconstruction Act, that threw out the state governments of states that refused to ratify the 14th amendment. The 15th amendment was ratified in 1870, providing a constitutional guarantee of voting rights for African American males.

Congress’s plan for Reconstruction included several restrictions placed on the South and those involved in the Confederacy. One of these demands was that each state must write a new constitution that accepts the 14th amendment, which states that the black slaves are now free people. This meant that blacks could take part in things they never used to do before like marry,

To the Radical Republicans, Johnson's plan seemed no better than Lincoln's because it failed to address the needs of former slaves in three prominent areas: land, voting rights, and protection under the law. Confederates states, however, readily committed to the conditions put forth in the Presidential Reconstruction plan, and were readmitted to the Union. A few years later, the Reconstruction Act of 1867 was passed, which did not recognize the governments formed under Lincoln and Johnson's plans. Through the Reconstruction Act, Tennessee was the only former Confederate State recognized as having been readmitted to the Union because it had ratified the Fourteenth Amendment. In order for the rest of the former Confederate states to be readmitted to the Union through the Reconstruction Act, each state had to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment, also. The Republicans introduced the Fifteenth Amendment after the election of 1868 because they feared that Pro-Confederate Southern whites might try to place limits on black suffrage. In order to prevent this, the Fifteenth Amendment states that no one can be kept from voting because of "race, color, or previous condition of servitude." Through the different plans that were proposed by the three different Presidents in office during the Reconstruction period, the Thirteenth,

The First Reconstruction Act, also known as the Military Reconstruction Act, passed into law on March 2, 1867 over the veto of President Andrew Johnson. The act applied to all the ex-Confederate states in the South, except Tennessee who had already ratified the Fourteenth Amendment. The failure of Reconstruction brought social and economic equality of opportunity to the former slaves in 1865-1877. Due to the after effects of the Reconstruction, America was weak and as time passed, riots and violence occurred in place.