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Reconstruction Dbq

1625 Words7 Pages

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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