To a large extent, reconstruction can be seen as a turning point for African Americans. This is particularly evident through examining the role of the congress element of federal government, to which they passed the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments, which allowed freedom of slaves, US citizenship of African Americans and gave African Americans the vote. This therefore allowed African Americans to have basic rights to live in American society in the eyes of the law. Similarly, the government created the ‘Enforcement Acts(1870)’ which banned terrorist groups such as the KKK, therefore socially making life better for African Americans as the fear of being lynched was significantly reduced. The government set up the ‘Freedman’s bureau(1865) which
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This can evidently be seen through President Johnson who was able to veto laws and give pardons to help uphold segregation and white supremacy. This was seen in Louisiana when he was able to pardon 100 white men once arrested, insinuating that he thought white men were superior to blacks, thus allowing them to be set free. Also, the role of the Supreme Court is shown as a significant hindrance through cases such as ‘US v Reese(1876)’ were able to legalise the use of voting qualification such as the grandfather clause and literacy tests to prevent black people from voting. Because of this, the 700,000 African American electorate in Louisiana fell to 5,300 by 1900, which emphasises the effect the voting qualifications had upon the African American electorate that lasted until the 1960s. As well as this, the compromise can also be seen to hinder the civil rights of African Americans. In 1877, the democrats accepted Hayes as president in return for the withdrawal of troops in the south. This meant that there was more likely to be discrimination in the south due to the loss of protection that the troops originally …show more content…
Although organisations hadn’t been set up, African Americans helped themselves such as setting up education boards and buildings through the freedman’s bureau and setting up African American churches in 1865. This therefore can be shown to portray sense of unity because it shows African Americans working together to improve their lives, even if it wasn’t too drastic. Also, it can be seen that some African Americans decided to exercise their political rights such as Blanche K Bruce, who became senator of Mississippi for 6years, therefore insinuating that blacks could hold high political positions, even if their rights had been limited. Also, it shows evidence that African Americans are exercising their rights given from the 15th amendment, that can be seen as especially significant in Mississippi which was one of the most discriminatory states in the US at that time. Furthermore, it can be seen that unity wasn’t particularly strong during the time of reconstruction, therefore meaning there was little impact on their lives through self-help organisations. This is perhaps because there was no one to protest about the diminishing protections afforded to African Americans by the end of the
This can evidently be seen through President Johnson who was able to veto laws and give pardons to help uphold segregation and white supremacy. This was seen in Louisiana when he was able to pardon 100 white men once arrested, insinuating that he thought white men were superior to blacks, thus allowing them to be set free. Also, the role of the Supreme Court is shown as a significant hindrance through cases such as ‘US v Reese(1876)’ were able to legalise the use of voting qualification such as the grandfather clause and literacy tests to prevent black people from voting. Because of this, the 700,000 African American electorate in Louisiana fell to 5,300 by 1900, which emphasises the effect the voting qualifications had upon the African American electorate that lasted until the 1960s. As well as this, the compromise can also be seen to hinder the civil rights of African Americans. In 1877, the democrats accepted Hayes as president in return for the withdrawal of troops in the south. This meant that there was more likely to be discrimination in the south due to the loss of protection that the troops originally …show more content…
Although organisations hadn’t been set up, African Americans helped themselves such as setting up education boards and buildings through the freedman’s bureau and setting up African American churches in 1865. This therefore can be shown to portray sense of unity because it shows African Americans working together to improve their lives, even if it wasn’t too drastic. Also, it can be seen that some African Americans decided to exercise their political rights such as Blanche K Bruce, who became senator of Mississippi for 6years, therefore insinuating that blacks could hold high political positions, even if their rights had been limited. Also, it shows evidence that African Americans are exercising their rights given from the 15th amendment, that can be seen as especially significant in Mississippi which was one of the most discriminatory states in the US at that time. Furthermore, it can be seen that unity wasn’t particularly strong during the time of reconstruction, therefore meaning there was little impact on their lives through self-help organisations. This is perhaps because there was no one to protest about the diminishing protections afforded to African Americans by the end of the