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Reconstruction Dbq

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Reconstruction, one of the most controversial eras in the history of the United States, focused on rebuilding and reuniting the United States after the Civil War; a war that decided the fate of slavery. One key part in doing so was to free the slaves and make their lives better. After rejecting the Reconstruction plan of President Andrew Johnson, the Republican Congress enacted laws and Constitutional Amendments that empowered the federal government to enforce the principle of equal rights. They also gave black Southerners the right to vote and hold office. However, groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and state laws in the South confronted Reconstruction. Although Congress attempted to improve the lives of African Americans by passing new legislation …show more content…

Although it was meant to stop the oppression in this South, it endured and Southern States began to pass so-called Jim Crow laws. These laws “legally enforced racial segregation by forcing blacks to separate and substandard schools, denying them access to restaurants, and requiring them to use separate entrances to public buildings, among many other measures”(Riggs). This was the same case for The Civil Rights Act of 1875 due to the different branches of government disagreeing with each other. The Civil Rights Act of 1875 explicitly granted and protected the rights of African Americans and gave the federal government to intervene in state affairs (OpenStax). However, the Supreme Court did not agree as the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Civil Rights Act of 1875 as unconstitutional for the reason that the Constitution only can protect acts of private discrimination, and not state discrimination (Riggs). If the different branches of government do not agree with different laws that were being made, it would be a serious problem as the government is not doing its job. Finally, although the Freedman’s Bureau did a lot to help support the African Americans, it positioned itself and its effects to be temporary. A major weakness was that it had the …show more content…

This campaign of terror against the former slaves and other supporting them was able to enforce white supremacy. The members of the Klan were cloaked in robes and hoods to disguise their identity. Their disguise made them able to approach the former slaves without noticing and they threatened, beat, and killed numerous African Americans (“Ku Klux Klan”). They also singled out those who supported the African Americans. They threatened school teachers, ministers, and anyone else who might be in a position to encourage former slaves (“Ku Klux Klan”). With the lack of support, the African Americans were forced back into their old ecosystem of lack of care and support as well as similar extreme conditions. There were many other effects from the attacks from the Ku Klux Klan that also made their lives even worse. When the violence peaked around the election of 1870, they terrorized black Republicans to keep them from polls, and continued for several months after the election to punish those who had voted. From the fear that the clan imposed, they also no longer ran for office as they were threatened to be killed by them (“Ku Klux Klan”). By intimidating the African Americans into refraining from voting, the South was able to fully uphold the Democratic Party and

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During the reconstruction era the Civil Rights Act of 1875 protected all Americans, regardless of their race, equal treatment in public accommodations, public transportation, and to prohibit exclusion from jury service, however it was not enforced and the supreme court declared it unconstitutional in 1883. The Court ruled that the 14th Amendment prohibited states, but not citizens, from discriminating. This civil rights reversal was devastating for African

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In the South, there was a group called the Ku Klux Klan, or the KKK. They would run rampant killing whoever they pleased, and no one would stop them. The KKK would kill political figures who supported Reconstruction or freedman. In a testimony to the Senate, Abram Colby states, “On the 29th of October 1869, [the Klansmen] broke my door open , took me out of my bed, took me to the woods and whipped me three hours or more and left me for dead” (Colby 513). The KKK targeted African Americans and tortured them to death.

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William Edward Burghardt Du Bois once said, “the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color-line.” He refers “color” as race and how race is a social category used to assign human worth and social status using whites as the superior race and the minorities as the inferior. That’s what America is facing during Reconstruction. When the Reconstruction Era transitioned into the New South Era, the lives of Freedmen changed socially, economically, and politically for the worse. Although southern whites were still unpleasant to African Americans during Reconstruction, it got more severe socially in the New South Era.

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The goals of reconstruction were to rebuild America, and to have white and black men live alongside each other peacefully. Only days after the north won the Civil War, president Lincoln was shot and killed. The new president, Andrew Johnson, because he was a democrat, pitied the South and refused to punish them. While in presidency, his biggest opponents were the radical republicans, who wanted to punish the South, and wanted equal rights for freedmen. In the 1860's the 14th amendment which rules that states can't deny rights or privileges to any U.S. citizens, including black men.

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According to the FindLaw argued that Despite, with all these new laws passed by President Abraham Lincoln 's, African-American and ethnic minorities, did not get any equal right under the law. In fact, in 1896, we have the Supreme Court of the United States argued that, the state government have the power to separate different races as long as the separation were equal. This “Separate but Equal” The Supreme Court policy stayed there until 1954. In that same years the Supreme Court walk back to their decision in 1896, “Separate but Equal” because of the cases which involved schools’ discriminations in Kansas, South Carolina, Virginia, and Delaware. Also in the 1890, African-American did not have the right to vote, because of the “poll Taxes”,

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The answer can be found when the founded of the KKK, Gernal Nathen Bedford Forest gathered with a group of Confederate veterans in Pulaski, Tennessee’s, 1865 (Schaefer, R. (1971); Subuk, H. (2014); Rebecca E. (2010). With the hopes of maintain the white supremacy in the South and fight against the Republicanism. Due to the Klan numbers grow as many within the south agreed with the racial ideals of the group. As the Klan grew with number the once small ‘social group’ turned into a full blown ‘paramilitary force’ that was not afraid to violently kill African-American to stop the Civil Rights Movement. As the Klan grew so did the power and influences the Klan possessed included; influencing voters towards the Democratic Party, targeting black people and white Republican through; employing, destroying property, assault and murder (Schaefer, R. (1971); Subuk, H. (2014); Rebecca E. (2010).

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In the first few years after the Civil War, not only was the South economically shattered, but it now had a large population of freed slaves to account for. Many Southerners were still opposed to African-Americans having equal rights, and they lasted out in violent ways without punishment. The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was a group born out of hate and resentment towards African Americans. They were able to conduct a reign of terror over the South with impunity because they had justifications for their actions, making their atrocities seem less gruesome and terrible than it actually was, and many white Southerners still saw African-Americans as inferior which often bled into all aspects of their lives. Started in 1865 and originally a club for ex-Confederate soldiers1, the KKK grew into a massive terrorist organization with the mission “…in urging upon Americans the duty and necessity of preserving America’s precious race heritage2.”

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In conclusion, the KKK terrorized freedmen after the Civil War and were never brought to justice because of government and police officials who were in the klan. The KKK killed and wounded more than 2,000 black Republicans during the presidential election of November 1868 hunting and chasing them through the woods. After these deaths, pressure from many white southerners, and a lack of funding, the Freedmen 's bureau had dismantled. This explains the reason a majority of the crimes the KKK committed were not tried in court or arrested.

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914 Words | 4 Pages

The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was a terrorist group that would terrorize, kidnap, kill, and torture African Americans. Reconstruction was an act of getting the United State's back to normal after the Civil War, and the Ku Klux Klan made this difficult. The Klu Klux Klan harassed African Americans. The Ku Klux Klan contributed to the failure of reconstruction by harassing African Americans in order to make the African Americans fear the Klansmen, they would try to increase their public appeal to gain more followers, increase their racism towards African Americans, leading towards the republican party failing, and harass and kill off the African americans to scare them into not voting or participating, bringing back white supremacy.

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1296 Words | 6 Pages

Named after the "comical" minstrel show character who was white, but black-faced to show and mock the African-American/Negro race of America that were shipped to America to be used as slaves, these laws thoroughly enforced segregation of public places, such as park benches, eating areas and restaurants, toilets and convenience stores all around America. Segregation refers to the policy of keeping black and white Americans separate from one another. In 1875, the Enforcement Act, or the Civil Rights Act of 1875 was passed by 'Radical Republicans' in an effort to end Jim Crow Laws, However, it was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court within a few

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Ethan Giangrande Ms. Rourke English 10A 12 May, 2023 How the Ku Klux Klan terrorized America and changed American culture From the start , the Ku Klux Klan characterized the entire African-American community as a threat to America. The primary threat was the belief that blacks would take away jobs which gave the Klan reasons to force their version of justice upon them. This allowed the Klan to become themselves as vigilantes, who protected the land of America from minorities. The Klan then disguises the recruitment of the very minorities which they hunt, soon to be the next generation of Klansmen.

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After the civil war, the struggle between African American freedom and white dominance were at its strongest. These struggles are what would lay the foundation for the lives of the African Americans for many years after. The plan for reconstruction started after the civil war ended and was the major attempt at trying to create an interracial democracy and fix society, as well as physical rebuilding the country. The ways of the society also were changing very much.

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Racism’s Impact on Reconstruction While the issue of slavery evidently contributed to the divide that resulted in the American Civil War, it is debated whether prevailing ideals of racism caused the failure of the era following the war known as Reconstruction. With the abolishment of slavery, many of the southern states had to reassemble the social, economic, and political systems instilled in their societies. The Reconstruction Era was originally led by a radical republican government that pushed to raise taxes, establish coalition governments, and deprive former confederates of superiority they might have once held. However, during this time common views were obtained that the South could recover independently and that African Americans

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In the battle to decide the constitutionality of segregation, the Supreme Court famously ruled “separate but equal” was indeed legal (Hayes 1/31/18). This ruling allowed for further discrimination and racism to grow as a result: “It cemented the imposition of…segregation of public facilities, and political disfranchisement that was enforced with terror and violence” (Rosenzweig 145). This segregation spread all over the south and was only made illegal until half a century later. However this was not the worst thing that befell on African Americans during this horrible

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It protected all Americans, regardless of race, in their access to public places and buildings such as restaurants, stores and public transportation. This act also protected the right to serve on juries. However, the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional in 1883.” On 15 October 1883 Justice Joseph Bradley wrote the majority opinion of the Supreme Court, which held that the Civil Rights Act of 1875 was unconstitutional” (encyclopedia.com). In 1965, the Voting Rights Act is passed, permitting federal involvement to enable blacks to vote.”

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