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The impact of the civil war
Effects of the civil war in the united states
The impact of the civil war
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Racism After the Civil War After the Civil War conditions were bad for both Southern blacks and Southern whites. There were 4 million black men and women emerging from bondage. They began forming all black communities, freeing themselves from white control. But in 1865, Southern state legislatures began enacting sets of laws called Black Codes. These laws authorized local officials to apprehend unemployed blacks, fine them for vagrancy and hire them out to private employers to satisfy their fine. Some codes allowed blacks to only take jobs as plantation workers or servants. The South found a way to go back to slavery without breaking the new laws. In 1866, Congress passed the first Civil Rights Act, which declared blacks as citizens of the United States which allowed the federal government to intervene in state affairs when necessary to protect the rights of the citizens. Then in June of 1866, Congress approved the 14th Amendment which states that everyone born in the United States, and everyone naturalized was automatically a citizen and entitled to equal protection by both state and national government. Even though slavery was abolished and blacks were, at least by law, free and considered equal, they still did not have the same rights and opportunities as white people. In February of 1869, Congress passed the 15th Amendment. The Amendment attempts to ensure black voting rights by stipulating that voting rights cannot be denied on the basis of race, color, or previous servitude. But yet it did nothing to allow the Southern whites to prevent blacks from voting. Since blacks were not educated and did not own property or have the money to pay poll taxes it made it almost impossible for blacks to vote. There was a dramatic improvement in southern education. By 1870 reformers established 4,000 schools for former slaves. Efforts to integrate schools were a failure. All black schools were open to all races but whites chose to stay away. Most blacks did not own land. By 1865 the Freedman’s Bureau distributed land from abandoned plantations to 10,000 black families, but when the original white owners returned they wanted their land back and most of it was returned. Even though blacks were working, most of them still remained in poverty. They worked shorter days and women and children were less likely to work like they did in the past as slaves.
Groups of people soon received new rights. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act. It gave black Americans full citizenship and guaranteed them equal treatment. Also, it passed the Fourteenth Amendment to make sure that the Supreme Court couldn’t declare the Civil Rights Act unconstitutional. The amendment made blacks citizens of the United States and the states in which they lived. Also, states were forbidden to deprive blacks of life, liberty, or property without due process. Additionally, blacks could not be discriminated by the law. If a state would deprive blacks of their rights as citizens, it’s number of congressional representatives would be reduced. The Civil Rights Act as well as the Fourteenth Amendment affected both the North and the South.
...dom and right to vote established by the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, blacks were still oppressed by strong black codes and Jim Crow laws. The federal government created strong legislation for blacks to be helped and educated, but it was ineffective due to strong opposition. Although blacks cried out to agencies, such as the Freemen's Bureau, declaring that they were "in a more unpleasant condition than our former" (Document E), their cries were often overshadowed by violence.
In a like manner, the spirit of slavery still existed in southern states. In Henry Adams’ statement to the Senate, concerning his first few days of freedom (Doc C), he emphasizes his slave-like treatment with a reference to his travels to Shreveport where he was beaten for saying that he belonged to no one. Likewise, Black Codes (Doc B) passed in Southern states restricted the actions of black Americans within a town or state. Although these would eventually be overturned by the 14th Amendment in 1868 (Doc A), it further demonstrates the lack of freedom that free slaves had during Reconstruction. Conversely, black Americans were granted all the rights of a white citizen. The 14th and 15th amendment to the United States Constitution(Doc A) states that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States… are citizens of the United States… no state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens...the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged…” This meant that black Americans now had freedom of speech, freedom to bear arms, and freedom to
In 1863 to 1877 Reconstruction brought an end to slavery, it paved the way for the former slaves to become citizens. The African Americans wanted complete freedom. However, that right became a setback and were seen as second class citizens. Before the end of the Reconstruction, a legislation was passed called the Jim Crow law. The law enforced the segregation of people of African descent. The legislation was a system to ensure the exclusion of racial groups in the Southern States. For example, separate transportation law, school division, different waiting rooms both at the bus terminals and hospitals, separate accommodations, marriage law and voting rights. The Jim Crow law was supposed to help in racial segregation in the South. Instead,
1865 saw the creation of the freedman bureau to provide food, shelter and medical aid and land to ex- slaves. The passing of the 1866 freedman bureau act over President Johnson’s veto meant an extension of work of the bureau. It also included the right of military courts in the south to hear racial discrimination cases. Despite the fact the freedman’s bureau was poorly resourced with limited financing, it played a fundamental role in the creation of African American schools and was aided by charity workers in the north and with African Americans. In 1965 95% of black slaves were illiterate, but this number had fallen by 14% by 1870. Furthermore, there were increased opportunities for Black Americans to continue with higher education due to the development of higher education institutions0 such as Howard University and Fisk University 1866-7.
After the Civil War, with the protection of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution and the Civil Rights Act of 1866, African Americans enjoyed a period when they were allowed to vote, actively participate in the political process, acquire the land of former owners, seek their own employment, and use public accommodations. Opponents of this progress, however, soon rallied against the former slaves' freedom and began to find means for eroding the gains for which many had shed their blood.
The amendment stated “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude” (15th amendment, Section I). Shortly after white's came up with a law that you couldn't vote unless you were literate, but they would cheat and say whites could read or understand even if they couldn't. Russell Brooker stated that in the early 1900s “White officials usually claimed that whites could understand what was read. They said blacks could not understand it, even if they could” (Russell Brooker). This quote shows how whites were trying to stop freedmen from voting anyway possible. During this time period since black got the right to vote some joined congress but freedmen stopped voting because they were threatened by whites and didn’t want to be harmed or get their families. Russell Brooker also said “Blacks who tried to vote were threatened, beaten, and killed. Their families were also harmed. Sometimes their homes were burned down. Often, they lost their jobs or were thrown off their farms” (Russell Brooker). this quote also shows how hateful whites could be to keep freedmen oppressed like they were during
Aside from the presidential reconstruction, the Congressional Reconstruction was also taking place. The Congressman disagreed with both Lincoln and Johnson’s plans for Reconstruction. Their main two goals was to integrate African Americans into society by granting them citizenship and the right to vote, and the second goal was to destroy the political powers that former slaveholders had in the South. They first implemented these ideas by passing the Civil Rights Act of 1866. The Civil Rights Act of 1866 gave African Americans citizenship and forbade states from passing discriminatory laws. Although the black codes came about and Andrew Johnson vetoed the bill, Congress had the power to override his veto. This shows that even though the President is the leader of the nation, the Constitution guarantees that Congress has some measure of influence over the President and may chose to block his procedures, Check and Balances. With success, Congress passed the Fourteenth Amendment, which states that all persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens of the country. All citizens were entitled to equal protection under law and be given their rights. The Congress agreed that if the Confederate states ratified the Fourteenth Amendment they could come back into the Union. Having not followed the Congress request, Congressed passed the Reconstruction Act of 1867. This forced the Confederate states to undergo Reconstruction as the Congress wanted. To ensure that Southerners could not change their state constitution in the future, they passed the Fifteenth Amendment and the last congressional Reconstruction law, another Civil Rights
Though the issue of slavery was solved, racism continues and Southerners that stayed after the war passed Black Codes which subverted the ideas of freedom including the actions of state legislatures (Hakim 19). Black Codes were a set of laws that discriminated blacks and limited their freedom (Jordan 388). Such restrictions included: “No negro shall be permitted to rent or keep a house within said parish...No public meetings or congregations of negroes shall be allowed within said parish after sunset…” (Louisiana Black Codes 1865). A solution to this was the 14th Amendment. It meant now all people born in America were citizens and it “Prohibited states from revoking one’s life, liberty, or property without due process of law.” This meant all states had to...
In the latter half of the 18th century, freed slaves possessed the right to vote in all but three states. It was not until the 19th century that states began to pass laws to disenfranchise the black population. In 1850, only 6 out of the 31 states allowed blacks to vote. 1Following the civil war, three reconstruction amendments were passed. The first and second sought to end slavery and guarantee equal rights. The third, the 15th amendment, granted suffrage regardless of color, race, or previous position of servitude.2 The 15th Amendment monumentally changed the structure of American politics as it was no longer the privileged whites who could vote. For some it was as though hell had arrived on earth, but for others, it was freedom singing. However, the song was short lived. While many political cartoons from the period show the freedom that ex-slaves have for voting because of the 15th Amendment, they often neglect to include the fact that many African Americans were coerced into voting a certain way or simply had their rights stripped from them.
If these states were accepted into the Union once again they must have political and social reform for the “protection of African Americans and the survival of the Republican Party in the South” (210). During this same time the Civil Rights act was then passed even though President Johnson vetoed it on April 10th, of 1866. The Civil Rights act gave all citizens of the Union full citizenship to all those born in the United States regardless of skin color, which would also give them the same rights as white men such as, the ownership of property and equal rights. To keep these laws into place Congress rushed to pass a new Freedmen’s Bureau bill and to make sure it would stand against Presidents Johnsons veto in July of 1866. These new polices were then quickly included into the Fourteenth
It had finally led to an end of the illegal barriers under the 15th Amendment and allowed African Americans to vote without any knowledge or character test. Johnson stated, “For years and years they had been tried and tried and tried and they had failed and failed and failed. And the time for failure is gone” (Johnson). The statistics showed a large increase of African Americans in each state in the South in 1966. By 1970, over a million African Americans had registered to vote by (Quoted in “Victory for Voters”). The Voting Rights Act not only allowed African Americans to vote, but it also opened up many new opportunities for them. After all, Lyndon Johnson had successfully achieved his main goal to get many supporters from the south and it changed the nation towards a positive direction after the
The fight on racism in the Untied States was in full swing during the 1960s. The protests for integration were just as prominent as those for segregation. Mississippians were the worst offenders in fighting civil rights, even forming Citizen’s Councils to preserve “states rights and racial integrity” after the Brown v. Board of Education ruling (Sperry and Westmoreland). In the Yazoo City chapter of the council, names of African Americans who were bold enough to sign a petition for the city to integrate schools were published in the Yazoo City Herald newspaper. Many retracted their signatures in fear that they and their families would be targeted by the Ku Klux Klan or other white supremacists, while others remained confident and did not waver. This perseverance among African Americans during this time pushed America toward having racial equality. America is now a different place. Racism is highly frowned upon, and in 2008 the first black president, Barack Obama, was elected. Because of how far African Americans have come, some people believe that racism has ended. On Rosa Parks Day,...
The passage of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States gave African-Americans recognized rights under the law. However, a national commitment to the civil and political rights of all U.S. citizens without regard to matters of race was destined to last less then a decade.4
African Americans were emancipated via the Thirteenth Amendment and were then given the right to vote. However, states, especially southern states, gave an impossible literacy test for African Americans to take and pass in order to be eligible to vote (Hevron, 2015). If the national government passed a legislation to allow African Americans regardless of truly being literate or illiterate, African Americans probably would have been more eligible to vote depending on policy given compared to each individual state’s policy. Another reason is how the Supreme Court, in 1883, overturned the 1875 Civil Rights Act and argued, “the Fourteenth Amendment did not give Congress the power to regulate private conduct,” (Bianco and Canon, 2015). It had only affected the conduct of state governments and left the national government with no power to stop the southern states from implementing state and local laws that headed to the segregation of whites and blacks in the South, which is also known as the Jim Crow Laws, and had denied the numerous basic rights that the African Americans