The reconstruction period was a period in which people of the Southern regions were victims of discrimination and injustice.
Several groups of the population were targeted and treated unfairly.
Those groups included: The Freemen, Southern citizens, soldiers who fought for the confederacy, and political leaders.
After the civil war ended the south became virtually non-existent politically and economically. The North treated the Southern citizens and the Freemen total unfairly. Their rights were taken advantage of, in addition, they were not provided any formal education nor training, there were no laws, and their towns were completely destroyed. They were not given white collar jobs, and were not allowed to enjoy the privileges that the North had. In 1865, the
…show more content…
Further more, in 1865
President Johnson excluded African Americans from southern politics and allowed state legislatures to pass restrictive “black codes” regulating the lives of the freed men and women.
This caused an increase mobilization within the black community, with meetings, parades, and petitions calling for legal and political rights, including the all-important right to vote.
In 1867 during the Radical Reconstruction, Congress granted African American men the status and rights of citizenship, including the right to vote, as guaranteed by the 14th and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
Blacks made up the overwhelming majority of southern Republican voters, forming a coalition with “carpetbaggers” and “scalawags”.
A total of 265 African-American delegates were elected, more than 100 of whom had been born into slavery.
In all, 16 African Americans served in the U.S. Congress during Reconstruction; more than 600 more were elected to the state legislatures, and hundreds more held local offices across the South.
In conclusion, the reconstruction era brought about the 13th, 14th, and 15