Right After The Civil War

For the greater part of the nineteenth century, black people were slaves for white men. The Fourteenth Amendment was placed into effect to protect the rights of the black community after emancipation. It stated that, “all persons born or naturalized in the United States” would be supported under the doctrine. However, this article failed to uphold the rights of the newly freed slaves. The blacks, ridiculed and scorned by the public, were greatly suppressed by the white backlash. The states put into effect laws that would suppress the blacks even further, even though they were protected under the Amendment. The states made stipulations on rights the African Americans were granted, like the right to own land, vote, and even hold certain jobs. Voting was a major controversy for the newly freed slaves, they wanted the chance to be heard through politics. Nevertheless, they were still denied the simple right to vote in many of the states if they could not meet the prerequisites for reading or could not pay a voting tax. They made contracts for them to work for white men, just as if they were slaves and nothing changed. Black people were still waiting for their salvation under this new piece of legislation, but were unable to grasp it through the government. African Americans stood for their newly given rights under the Constitution and were denied by the people who put

For centuries Africa American’s have been stripped from their freedom, their history, and their human rights due to racism and white supremacy. However, in 1868 there was a light at the end of the tunnel, African Americans thought there was an end to racism and the beginning of equality when the 14th Amendment was created. The 14th Amendment stated, “All persons born in the United States are citizens of the United States… no state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law”(The Founding Fathers) With the privilege of being a citizen a person is entitled to universal freedom (Walton, Smith). Even though the 14th amendment enforced that the state shall not deny privileges to citizens, it never brought about equality for African-Americans because of racism. The Amendment was intended to create equality, however its meaning was misinterpreted and ultimately benefit white males. Because of this, it denied them of their right to freedom from barriers created to keep African Americans inferior such as Jim Crow Laws, Gorilla Warfare for Voting, and Institutional Racism.

The Compromise of 1876 marked the end of Reconstruction. In this compromise, Rutherford B. Hayes agreed to accept Democratic control over the entire South, in return for the presidency, and Democrats in Congress agreed to his

After the civil war, the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments were created. Which abolished slavery and granted african americans citizenship, and the right to vote. But it didn't come that easy to them. African

“It forbade all the states to deny the vote to anyone “on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” This was the final blow to the southern states, which quickly ratified the amendment. By March 1870 the Fifteenth Amendment became apart of the Constitution. Now taking into consideration the hell that southern blacks were enduring, this short period of time consisted of three Amendments being passed that shed a light on the black population that most blacks at the time had given up on. Congress gave the opportunity for blacks to step out of slavery, accept citizenship, and take the power to vote and change the way the south had been ran. “The Radicals had at last succeeded in imposing their will on the South, Throughout the region former slaved had real political influence; they voted, held office, and exercised the “privileges” and enjoyed the “immunities” guarantied them by the Fourteenth Amendment…The spectacle of blacks not five years removed from slavery in positions of power and responsibility attracted much attention at the time and has since been examined exhaustively by historians.”

During the early 1860's the discussions over states v. Union rights had reached its breaking point and outraged the South seceded from the union. The following years would see not only one of the nations bloodiest wars, but the period of reconstruction that was to follow. Freed slaves now had to find their place within a nation that was less that ready to except them. The battle between legislature passed down by the government and the social ideologies of the past began both during and after the period of reconstruction as it was made evident that changing the minds of the current generation would not be easy. While the years 1860-1877 brought major constitutional changes regarding the rights of African Americans following the civil war,

The second was the 14th Amendment (ratified in 1868), which gave African Americans their citizenship and this entitled them to all of the rights of a citizen. Finally, the third was the 15th Amendment (ratified in 1870), which gave African Americans suffrage (the right to vote). Each of these three helped give African Americans their civil rights by law, but there was still extreme discrimination (particularly by certain groups that expressed discrimination, often by violent

After the Civil War the people of the nation especially the government wanted to help the newly freed African-Americans however something caused the ever-growing wave of equality to cave in on itself and retract. In the beginning many people were supportive of reconstruction. Laws like the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments were passed ensuring African-American citizenship and their civil rights. Schools and churches were quickly built for them and the former slaves were even gaining positions in the government. It all seemed great until the election of 1876 when Ruther B. Hayes a republican and Samuel J. Tilden a democrat ran for the presidency.

During the Reconstruction period of 1865–1877, federal laws provided civil rights protection in the U.S. South for freedmen, the African Americans who had formerly been slaves. During Reconstruction, the government implemented the 14th amendment along with the Freedmen's Bureau to ensure that Freedman in the south were protected. Due to the measures being taken during this time period, there were different reactions with each so called class of individuals. The black southerners typically favored Reconstruction as it gave them a great increase in rights and equality, along with white southerners who disapproved secession in the first place. Conversely, there was a great majority of white southerners who had ill feelings towards Reconstruction

Freedmen’s lives were changing politically in many ways due to the 15th amendment and because they were allowed to become citizens. According to Document E, there was an amendment made called the 15th amendment that was allowing african americans to get to vote. Also in Document A it is showing a African American Freedmen voting, they made up most of the population that was voting. This started to change the Freedmen's life because they were getting the right to have a say in voting for who they wanted in charge of their country. Another way African Americans lives were changing politically was, they were getting a right to run for congress. As shown is Document B there were

These amendments were the first attempts at giving African Americans the rights they deserved. The 13th Amendment freed all slaves. The 14th Amendment granted all persons born or naturalized in the United States citizenship (Doc 1) The 15th Amendment guaranteed that no one could be denied the right to vote because of their race, color, or previous condition of servitude. This amendment gave all African Americans the right to vote. African Americans considered having the right to vote as the most basic thing to prove they were citizens (Doc 7).

These developments included the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments. During the Civil War African Americans were allowed to fight for the union and were paid; however, they were not paid as much as the white soldiers. This lead to the Emancipation Proclamation, which caused the 13th amendment to fall into place. The thirteenth amendment stated that slaves were now free. It is true that African Americans were considered to be free but because of elements such as, sharecropping, they were stuck in this economic slavery. The fourteenth and fifteenth amendments were ratified together. The fourteenth amendment stated that former slaves or African Americans were now considered to be citizens. The issue of African Americans being citizens could be traced back to the Dred Scott vs. Sandford trial in 1857. This case directly involved, the requirements for being a citizen. While it is true that African Americans were technically citizens, they were still not treated as if they were. However it is not completely true that they had citizenship because, “the courts will not receive negro testimony…. Is this the fruit of freedom, and the reward of our services in the field? …" as stated in a Petition from American citizens of African descent to the Union convention of Tennessee. The fifteenth amendment stated that African Americans could now vote. This played out nicely compared to the

The reconstruction era ended, with the compromise of 1877 where republican candidate Rutherford B. Hayes, needed southern electoral college votes .in doing so, he abandoned reconstruction and allowed white supremacists to seize control of the democratic party, thus allowing a new ‘dark age’ for African Americans in the South.

The main complaints against the Presidential Reconstruction were the Radical Republicans of Congress. New political forces in the South gave way for new changes. During reconstruction, African Americans made huge political gains. They voted in large numbers and were also elected to political office. African Americans were elected as sheriffs, mayors, legislators, Congressmen, and Senators. Even thought their participation was significant, it was exaggerated by white southerners angry at the Black Republicans governments.

The Reconstruction era was put into effect by Congress in 1866 and lasted until 1877. Reconstruction was aimed at reorganizing the Southern states after the Civil War. The reconstruction plan granted the means for readmitting the southern states into the Union, and tried to come up with the methods by which whites and blacks could live together in a non-slave society. America's position as a country was established on principles of freedom but those beliefs were weakened by slavery. At the end of the Civil War, many blacks felt that they were entitled to start collecting the benefits that had been denied for so many years. Being able to vote, own land and have a voice in political affairs were all goals that they believed were reachable.