Elements Of Expansion Of Freedom And Equality During The Reconstruction Era

In response to the minimalist expansion of freedoms and equality during the Presidential Reconstruction period, the Republican controlled Congress exerted its own controls in a progressive attempt to protect and expand rights. Legislatively, Congress expanded federal oversight and protections, and passed a series of revolutionary rights laws to guarantee the rights of the recently freed slaves who faced oppression by reactionary forces. Through the passage and ratification of the 14th Amendment, Congress defined citizenship, established equal protections before the law for all people, and expanded the individual protections of the Constitution to the states. Additionally, the Republican Congress consistently overrode Presidential vetoes to

While society did remain very oppressive towards non-white people, the overall actions taken through Congressional Reconstruction emulate a vision of freedom and equality transcending into political, economic, and social life. By expanding and defending individual protections, Congress was able to quell the overt resurgence of a white supremacist order that had precipitated immediately following the Civil War. Despite the relatively successful expansion of freedom and equality achieved during the extensive federal oversight period that is considered Congressional Reconstruction, the conservative elements that had thrived in the pre-war period and during Presidential Reconstruction continued to actively work to restrict progressive actions. Even as Congress passed and ratified the 15th Amendment and expanded voting rights to all U.S. citizens, traditionalist en mass sought to restrict voting rights and implement new methods to disenfranchise African Americans. The political reforms sponsored by the progressive Republican Congress were themselves very limited as voting rights ceased to expand across the basis of gender. This minimalist vision of freedom and equality once again resurged across America in part with the

After a series of race related riots and bloody encounters in southern states, the Grant administration sent in federal troops to restore order, quell the “war of races” mentality, and protect the rights of all people. With the economic depression, the Grant administration gradually changed from a stance of federal intervention to “hands off” oversight. This change led to an incredibly violent 1875 election year as white league and Democrat institutions used terror, intimidation tactics, and illegal voting tactics to retake state governments. In an attempt to hold the lower north states in the upcoming Presidential election, the Grant administration took no direct action to suppress the violence resurgence of white supremacy. In following year’s election, three states returned with disputed voter results for the Presidency and left no clear winner. In exchange for the Presidency, the Republican party agreed to end federal Reconstruction and allowed for Democrats to take control of the three disputed states on a state government level. Subsequently, federal troops were pull out of the south, democrats filled republican seats as legislators fled, and the well-being and protection of African American rights and livelihood