Reconstruction brought about the ratification of the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments by congress, which abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, and supported civil rights and equal opportunity for freed slaves. The emancipation brought hope, economical, political, and social equality as well as liberty and freedom for many African American slaves. Nevertheless, they incessantly had to fight for their rights as American citizens. Reconstruction failed to secure permanent citizenship rights for African Americans because of the opposition from the Ku Klux Klan, the Supreme Court ruling, and the Compromise of 1877. The Ku Klux Klan was a Terrorist group formed in the south by a group of white supremacist during Reconstruction. They opposed …show more content…
In his testimony to congress, Hill explained how Klan members came to brutalize him and his family derogatorily in their home at midnight, just because they were concerned about Hill’s affiliation to the Republican Party, his teaching, preaching and reading of the Republican news papers. According to Hill “they caught my leg and pulled me over the yard, and then left me there, knowing I could not walk nor crawl…I was chilled with the cold lying in the yard at that time of the night near 1 o’clock… they beat me until half an hour had passed since they first arrived”. The Klan had urged him to stop and to also renounce republicanism, or else he will be killed (Hill, 15-17). The Klan frequently committed atrocious crimes against African Americans, particularly against persons running for office or a supporter of the Republican Party in the …show more content…
The civil rights law was passed by Congress during Reconstruction, aimed to protect all citizens, especially African American from civil and legal rights violations. However, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government cannot go after the Klan members, individuals or an organization in an attempt to protect black rights, they federal government can only intervene if it found out that a state is discriminating against African Americans. The court also ruled that if the federal government wants to fight racism, it has to be done at a state level, only if it can prove that the state is involved. The court ruling drastically weakened the ability of the federal government to defend African Americans’