Introduction
Despite the reconstruction efforts to help African Americans, their rights were obstructed because of Southern social groups’ oppression and unintentional Northern government involvement.
Reconstruction, from 1865-1877, was an attempt to unify the United States, incorporate the freedmen, and re-integrate the Southern states. The Freedmen’s Bureau, created in March 1865, attempted to establish a working free labor system (Foner, 554). Even so, there were still laws and organizations that deterred all of the attempts to help the Blacks. The Black Codes seemed to “help” the African Americans, but instead it restricted their civil rights.In the same year, President Andrew Johnson “radically” changed the political and economical efforts of the Reconstruction (Foner, 554). After the Freedmen’s Bureau rented land to African Americans, Johnson “ordered nearly all land in federal hands returned to its former owners” (Foner, 555). Needless to say, Johnson’s“…army forcibly evicted blacks who had settled on ‘Sherman land’” (Foner, 555). Confederate Veterans established the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) in 1866, terrorized blacks .The 14th Amendment was approved in June 1866; it prohibited “the states from abridging the “privileges and immunities” of citizens or denying them the “’equal protection of the law’” (Foner, 565). Because “Grant barely won the election of 1868,” it caused discomfort for many Republicans. Thus, the Republicans passed the 15th Amendment, which “prohibited the federal and state governments to from denying any citizen the right to vote because of race” (Foner, 567). In 1873, Slaughterhouse cases centered on butchers “claiming that their right to equality before the law guaranteed by the fourteenth amendment had been violated” (Foner, 580). The butcher’s claims were rejected because the amendment did not change traditional federalism and most of the citizens’ rights stayed under state control (Foner, 580). There were also civil rights that guaranteed the rights of citizenship to former slaves, which outlawed racial discrimination. There was the Plessy vs. Ferguson case in 1896 where Plessy decided to ride a whites only train since he was only one-eighth black and looked like a white man. After having known that he had African American background, they arrested him and took him to court because he violated the Louisiana Separate Car Act of 1890.
Source:
Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty!: An American History. Third ed. Vol. 2. New York: W. W. Norton &, n.d. Print.
Konkoly, Toni. PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 03 Oct. 2013.
Photo:
"As yet, I have found no difficulty in standing upon my own platform". 1866. Political Cartoon. Library of CongressPrint.
Photo Collage:
Dielman, F. Celebration of the Abolition of Slavery in the District of Columbia By the Colored People in Washington, April 19, 1866. 1866. Engraving. Library of CongressWeb. 03 October 2013.
Ku Klux Klan Rally in Webster County. 1880. 03 October 2013.
Nast, Thomas. Andrew Johnson's Reconstruction And How It Works. 1866. Political Cartoon. Library of CongressWeb. 3 Oct 2013.
Taylor, James E. Glimpses at the Freedmen's Union Industrial School, Richmond, Virginia. 1866. Engraving. Library of Congress. Print. 03 October 2013.
Waud, Alfred R. (Alfred Rudolph), 1828-1891. Freedmen's Bureau. 03 October 2013.
Reconstruction, from 1865-1877, was an attempt to unify the United States, incorporate the freedmen, and re-integrate the Southern states. The Freedmen’s Bureau, created in March 1865, attempted to establish a working free labor system (Foner, 554). Even so, there were still laws and organizations that deterred all of the attempts to help the Blacks. The Black Codes seemed to “help” the African Americans, but instead it restricted their civil rights.In the same year, President Andrew Johnson “radically” changed the political and economical efforts of the Reconstruction (Foner, 554). After the Freedmen’s Bureau rented land to African Americans, Johnson “ordered nearly all land in federal hands returned to its former owners” (Foner, 555). Needless to say, Johnson’s“…army forcibly evicted blacks who had settled on ‘Sherman land’” (Foner, 555). Confederate Veterans established the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) in 1866, terrorized blacks .The 14th Amendment was approved in June 1866; it prohibited “the states from abridging the “privileges and immunities” of citizens or denying them the “’equal protection of the law’” (Foner, 565). Because “Grant barely won the election of 1868,” it caused discomfort for many Republicans. Thus, the Republicans passed the 15th Amendment, which “prohibited the federal and state governments to from denying any citizen the right to vote because of race” (Foner, 567). In 1873, Slaughterhouse cases centered on butchers “claiming that their right to equality before the law guaranteed by the fourteenth amendment had been violated” (Foner, 580). The butcher’s claims were rejected because the amendment did not change traditional federalism and most of the citizens’ rights stayed under state control (Foner, 580). There were also civil rights that guaranteed the rights of citizenship to former slaves, which outlawed racial discrimination. There was the Plessy vs. Ferguson case in 1896 where Plessy decided to ride a whites only train since he was only one-eighth black and looked like a white man. After having known that he had African American background, they arrested him and took him to court because he violated the Louisiana Separate Car Act of 1890.
Source:
Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty!: An American History. Third ed. Vol. 2. New York: W. W. Norton &, n.d. Print.
Konkoly, Toni. PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 03 Oct. 2013.
Photo:
"As yet, I have found no difficulty in standing upon my own platform". 1866. Political Cartoon. Library of CongressPrint.
Photo Collage:
Dielman, F. Celebration of the Abolition of Slavery in the District of Columbia By the Colored People in Washington, April 19, 1866. 1866. Engraving. Library of CongressWeb. 03 October 2013.
Ku Klux Klan Rally in Webster County. 1880. 03 October 2013.
Nast, Thomas. Andrew Johnson's Reconstruction And How It Works. 1866. Political Cartoon. Library of CongressWeb. 3 Oct 2013.
Taylor, James E. Glimpses at the Freedmen's Union Industrial School, Richmond, Virginia. 1866. Engraving. Library of Congress. Print. 03 October 2013.
Waud, Alfred R. (Alfred Rudolph), 1828-1891. Freedmen's Bureau. 03 October 2013.