From 1861 to 1865, the United States of America went through a civil war. At the beginning of the war the main goal was to reunite the nation but later on in the war ending slavery was also added. So after the war, reconstruction began. Reconstruction was the period following the Civil War in which Congress passed laws designed to rebuild the country, bring the southern states back into the Union, and grant African Americans equal rights. Even though Reconstruction granted political equality to African Americans, overall it failed to grant them social and economic equality. Because of the 15th Amendment, African Americans have political equality. One of the goals of Radical Republicans was to give African Americans equality in government. …show more content…
Document I shows a drawn picture of the KKK. It shows an eagle with words under it that says "This is a white man's government” and a symbol that has a black family cowering on their knees. while in the background a schoolhouse is being robbed and a man being lynched (hanged) on a tree. There are many groups like the KKK that took hundreds of black people's lives, which should have been protected by their natural rights. These groups only took people of color's lives instead of also taking white people's to ensure that people of color do not have equality. Despite the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, reconstruction failed to give African Americans economic rights. Black Codes were not only used to restrict African-American social rights but also their economic rights. In the state of Louisiana at that time, African Americans were not allowed to sell or trade any form of merchandise without the permission in writing from their employer (Document H). However, there is a law that states, “Every Freeman is to be in service of some white person or former owner”( Document H). These laws only show how African Americans are not