Reconstruction Dbq

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It was a period of reform following the Civil War. After the surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, the United States began to piece itself back together through new changes to their policies in the Reconstruction Era. The radical republicans wanted to punish the south for the damages caused by the war while the conservative republicans wanted to restore the nation as quickly as possible. Once Lincoln was assassinated, the ideas of the radical republicans took effect with the institution of the bayonet rule, which was the military occupation of the south, and the passage of the reconstruction amendments. The 14th and 15th amendments were passed in order to help ensure equality for the newly freed African Americans. US policy and society changed …show more content…

Prior to the passage of the amendments, the African American slaves were discriminated against because of their race because the white men believed that they were superior to them due to the idea of Social Darwinism. In this policy, the white men thought that they were more evolved than the African Americans. The discrimination continued after the ratification in the institution of Jim Crow laws (legalized with Plessy v Ferguson) in the south which advocated for separate but “equal” treatment for the freedmen. The freedmen also were faced with racial violence through the actions of the newly formed Ku Klux Klan who tried to further their racist goals through intimidation. Racial discrimination did not end following the ratification of the new …show more content…

The changes brought by the ratification of the 14th and 15th amendments is similar to the ratification of the 19th amendment in 1920 which finally granted women suffrage. This changed the politics of the US by increasing the number of voters in presidential elections. It also changed the society of the US by giving women more power and influence in the country. The addition of the 19th amendment is similar to the ratification of the 14th and 15th amendments because they all greatly changed the society and politics of their times by expanding voting

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