To What Degree was Reconstruction after the Civil War successful
Reconstruction was successful politically in its attempts to solve the problems of how to deal with the newly freed slaves and how to bring the seceded states back into the Union after the Civil War; however, many of these methods were unsuccessful or had no effect socially or economically. Some solutions determined by Reconstruction included: the passage of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments; the Freedmen's Bureau; the Reconstruction Act of 1837, the Civil Rights Act, and the Enforcement Act of 1870. In 1865, Congress ratified the Thirteenth Amendment, which stated that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States." Simply put, the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery. The passage of this amendment was successful politically; however, many states did not readily enforce this law. Many even passed discriminatory laws known as black codes. These laws were seen by Republicans as the driving vehicle for the reconstitution of the Democratic Party in the South. The black codes placed numerous restrictions on African-Americans including the prohibition of blacks to carry weapons, serve on
In the face of violence from groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments provided no protection for the African-American citizen. These amendments were unquestionably positive, but they were not necessarily enacted. The South still found ways to keep blacks from exercising their civil rights, which included the above mentioned black codes and racist groups like the Ku Klux Klan. Because of the acutely enforced Thirteenth Amendment, Congress later passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the Fourteenth Amendment. The Civil Rights Act extended citizenship to "all persons born in the United States and not subject to any foreign power...of every race and color, without regard to any previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude." It also forbade states from passing discriminatory laws like the black codes. The Fourteenth Amendment, passed to reinforce and reiterate the Thirteenth Amendment, made "all persons born or naturalized in the United States" citizens of the country. Everyone, regardless of color, was entitled to equal protection of the law and the states were enjoined from violating the rights of citizens to life, liberty, property, and equal protection of laws. juries, testify against whites, marry whit
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 851
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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