The North’s victory after four years of fighting in the Civil War in 1865 allowed the 13th amendment to pass, and eventually added the 14th and 15th amendment to the constitution. These abolished slavery and attempted to create equal rights among all people. The Reconstruction Act divided the South into separate military districts and formed governments based on male suffrage. The South and North had extremely different views on how to rebuild the South and how former slaves should be incorporated into the country as freed people. The process of the Reconstruction period of rebuilding the South proposed many new challenges. The efforts to ensure equal rights to the freedmen failed because of the acts that were passed to control the labor and …show more content…
In Document two, it explains the act passed called the “black codes” which were meant to preserve public order and keep the former slaves to have “comfortable and correct” behavior. It continued white supremacy and hierarchy following the 13th amendment and since the president at the time, Andrew Johnson, didn’t stop this, it was legal. The audience of this document is the South because these codes allowed people to have control over freedmen which benefited them since they didn’t have to pay them to do labor and could keep tight restrictions on them at all times. Document four is two photos showing whites having authority over African Americans. Under the photo it states, “Everything falls to democratic victory this fall.” This photo was in 1874 which was during Grant’s presidency which fuelled the growth of Democratic strength. It was also during the financial decline and global panic of the Republican party since there was a major decline of jobs and production in most parts of the country. Document seven portrays headlines and excerpts from front page news stories in November 1874 that are called “Democratic Victory” and “The Republican Defeat.” This shows the decline in the Republican party and the increase in the Democratic Party means there were …show more content…
In Document one, Congressman Benjamin Boyer, a Democrat who opposed the bill to allow African Americans the right to vote in the District of Columbia, said that blacks are not inferior to whites because of the color of their skin, but because they aren’t mentally equal to whites. Not only were African Americans not supported to participate in the Government, but women were not as well. The 15th amendment was supposed to grant universal manhood suffrage but since it was intentionally written very vaguely, there were many loopholes left that discluded the poor, women, and African Americans from voting and/or participating in the Government. Document five was a petition written to the United States Congress on March 25, 1871 from the colored citizens of Frankfort. In this petition, the people of Frankfort politely explain how even though they are law-abiding citizens that pay their taxes, they are not treated in this way. The purpose of this document is to tell Congress that as citizens of this country; they have the right to their life, liberty, and property being protected but the government has failed to do so. They simply asked for laws that would protect them and allow them to exercise the rights of citizens without experiencing terror and violence against their race. Document eight is a cartoon of a
Before the civil war had ended, many people were advocating for some kind of constitutional change to make the lives of blacks better. The Petition from American citizens of African descent(Doc C) is one case of this. During the civil war, many African Americans were fighting bravely for the side of the Union. Despite this, they were not treated with the basic rights that the white soldiers were. They were subjected to worse living standards at war, were paid less, and were treated poorly by most of their fellow white soldiers. Document C is advocating for some kind of constitutional change. The African American citizens feel like they should be granted better rights. Only a month later, Senator Lot Morrill(Doc D) argues that we are experiencing a change. He believes that since they are no longer slaves, there has already been a lot of change. They revolutionized the Constitution by freeing the slaves. Some of the most monumental constitutional changes were the passing of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendment. These amendments freed the slaves, granted them citizenship, and gave them the right to vote. The First Vote(Doc E) depicts the first black man who was now able to vote with the passing of the 15th amendment. Before the civil war, this man was, most likely, a slave, and now he is able to vote in an election. The purpose of this image is to show the change in
In 1861-1865, The Civil War started because of uncompromising differences between the free (northerners) and slave states (south) over the power of the government to end slavery in the places that had not yet become states. This is when in 1865, the United States defeated the North and abolished slavery nationwide. As the war was about to end, the southern states were re-admitted to the United States. The northern states added the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the Constitution. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery, the 14th Amendment give them rights to to be citizens, and the 15th Amendment gave the right to vote.
The north was divided on how to reconstruct, but they all favored reconstruction. Almost all of the north greatly disliked black codes because it would undermine their efforts to end slavery. The north celebrated the 13th amendment as the end of slavery, the 14th as equal rights, and the 15th as the right to vote for black men. The economy was somewhat depleted due
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; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” Being as though this amendment was created and now applied to all people African Americans began developing many new skills that whites didn’t possess. “President Ulysses S. Grant supported Radical Reconstruction and enforced the protection of African Americans in the South through the use of the Force Acts passed by Congress. Grant suppressed the Ku Klux Klan, but was unable to resolve the escalating tensions inside the Republican party between the Carpetbaggers and the Scalawags (native whites in the South).” African Americans started off with making sure all African Americans had an education so that they may be able to work job and make their own money and succeed on their own
There were many different opinions on how Reconstruction should have been handled. Johnson’s plan was extremely lenient towards the Southerners, while the Radical Republicans’ plan punished the South greatly. Lincoln’s plan was the middle ground of the spectrum. In my opinion, I believe that Lincoln’s plan would have been the most effective plan in bringing the Union back together in a stable and fair way.
Following the Civil war, President Johnson announced his plans for reconstruction. He had a firm belief in state’s rights. In his view the southern states never given up their rights, and the government shouldn’t control state’s rights. As a result of Johnson’s plans, southern states enacted “black codes” which made
During the years of 1873-1923 was the worse for African American history. After 1877, blacks’ political rights were taken away through many occasions such as: fraud, intimidation, and murder. In 1890, legislators in Mississippi called a constitutional convention, implementing poll taxes, literacy requirements, and banned voting for people convicted of theft, perjury, arson, bribery, and burglary. Whites thought if they could put a limit to the educational achievements of Negroes, they could also stop their aspirations for Negro advancement.
The government officials and the white community hold all the power in all areas in life in these documents. The “freedmen, the Negroes, and the mulattoes,” had absolutely no power what so ever. The amount of injustice in these documents is appalling. It is understood that in this time period these laws were normal, but looking back it is unbelievable that these laws were in place in the U.S.
Looking back on Reconstruction, there were many moments when it seemed like my life was going to take a turn for the worst. However, I will focus on the larger details, choosing to discuss what I believe to be the root of our problems: the Radical Republicans. As soon as Radical Republicans started to gain power, Reconstruction shifted from unification to reformation. I, among many others, believe that the South had “nobility, Christian virtues, leadership, [and] loyalty to its men” before and during the Civil War (“Reconstruction”). In other words, we, the South, did not need reforming, but the North and the Radicals proceeded to do so anyways.
These codes were eventually fought off by the 14 and 15th amendments (as well as the Military Reconstruction Act that helped ratify them) which provided protection to the civil rights of African Americans in the constitution. It was after this time that African Americans fought for equality in their freedom by demanding full rights as citizens through ways such as public meetings and protests. It was not too long before a vast majority of them had the right to vote, and held over 2,000 positions in public
In this week's reading, the author explains that the Civil War (1861-1865) destroyed in the South, the empire of the masters and freed the slaves, particularly by the Thirteenth, fourth and fifteenth amendments that granted them equality and the right to vote. However, blacks barter their status as slaves to that of exploited workers, dominated with low-income and no beneficial contract. In addition, Southern whites, humiliated by their descent into hell, impose on blacks a discrimination in all areas: education, housing, transport, hospitals, cemeteries, etc. In 1896, the Supreme Court justifies this discrimination on behalf of equality in the separation. The right to vote is practically annihilated by discriminatory clauses, including reading
As much as people try to deny the truth, historical documentation will provide the evidence that needs to be shown to open the eyes of the blind. Because institutions are run by "the new people," matters of race in this country are not taken the way it should be the only care for the advantage of their own. When it comes to an issue regarding the minority, justice is often times never to be seen. There is, indeed, a correlation between the documents and racial disparities in wealth, incarceration, education, and/or health because in terms of education an act prohibiting the teaching of slave to read stated that "to keep slaves in hand, it was necessary to keep them innocent of the printed page" (488). By prohibiting the slaves from the use of the printed page their education is taken away, and conviction at the discretion of the court is given to anyone that tried to help slaves with reading and writing. Yet again race played a factor in this because punishment depended on whether or not the person that was helping the slaves was a white person or a free person of
Ballerinas can tell a story like no other. They are known for being graceful, having such beauty, and poise in the way they care themselves. When given a part or role they commit to it, because they are great storytellers it is easy to draw or paint them with a raw and emotional background. A ballerina is known for having pain inflicted lives. Everything a dancer does is shown through through their body. A dancer’s body is well formed, toned, and defined, but more importantly it’s in their eyes and in their performance. The painting that I am analyzing show’s exactly how dark a dancer’s can get.
The Civil War was the defining moment in the US history, while the Reconstruction period has finished the accomplishments of the Civil War and changes propelled by the war. In the meantime, the results of the Civil War and Reconstruction were frustrating the United states was fighting against their self. Separated itself over the argument of slavery, leading up to brutal moments of violence. The question upon the Americans is what events cause this war to erupt and separated the in two? The most critical events leading to the Civil War were Nat turner’s, The Elijah love joy, Bleeding Kansas, and John Browns Raid.
(DOC 1) Document 1 is the fourteenth amendment. The fourteenth amendment was ratified in 1868 and is “ defining national citizenship and forbidding the states to restrict the basic rights of citizens and other persons.” This amendment granted citizenship to everyone born in the United states, including former slaves who were freed after the Civil War. (DOC 2) The Louisiana Black Codes were “laws passed by Democrat-controlled Southern states in 1865/1866.” These laws were created to restrict African-Americans freedom, and made them work for low income. The fourteenth amendment was used to “