Discuss The Impact Of Reconstruction On African Americans

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Before 1865 African Americans were kept against their will and treated like animals. The Civil War was the start of the dispute between states in the United States. The United States were split into the North and South because the North began to realize how awful slavery really is. African Americans were stripped of their rights, but the South did not care because they wanted slaves for their hard labor. As African Americans were still continuing with no rights, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president, decided to save them by winning the Civil War and abolishing slavery. Lincoln tried to protect these rights by sending troops into the south to help the slaves with the angry southerners. Reconstruction began as another battle for political and social equality for all races. But as Reconstruction came to the end, many …show more content…
As the Northern troops were filing out of the south and the Reconstruction era came to an end, history shows that Reconstruction helped African Americans come closer to achieving the American Dream. African Americans gained many more rights politically before Reconstruction. As Abraham Lincoln won the war he argued for making more amendments to make sure equality was met. The 13th Amendment states that, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude...shall exist within the United States.” This states it is unconstitutional for slavery to happen within the United States and is one step closer for African Americans achieving the American Dream. Another amendment issued by the United States is the 14th amendment. This amendment states that all people born in the United States, or gained citizenship, have the same rights promised to every citizen. This means that whites can no longer argue that African Americans should be treated differently because they are black because the law

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