1) What role(s) did African Americans play in achieving the "rights" outlined in this document by the late 1870s? African Americans had an active participation during the Reconstruction era and worked hard to achieve rights that they deserved. African Americans acquired different roles, both as individuals and in groups to achieve their goals. One very important role of the African Americans was participation in voting during elections. After the 15Th amendment was passed in 1870 voting was not restricted by race. With this newfound voting power African Americans could control the future of their country. Thanks to this, other rights could now be gained through democratic election. Another role was the African American leaders that represented …show more content…
their people throughout the years. Frederick Douglass is an example of one of the many black leaders, who worked as a spokesperson and activists for freed people. Douglass had a major role in helping shape Lincoln’s emancipation act, which in part gave freedom to the slaves. Later on he was a major supporter of Grant during the election of 1868. President Grant then signed the Civil Rights act of 1871, which helped combat the attacks against black voters and to control the power of white supremacists. African Americans also worked in groups to achieve their rights. An example of this can be seen in the newspaper article entitled Address by a committee of Norfolk Blacks. In this document it is clear how African Americans worked together. In the document they talk how they deserved basic human rights. They talk about how they’ve been in America since it’s colonization and because of this they are entitled to representation. Also how, as mentioned previously, African Americans were part of the union army and they deserve as much privilege for this as any other soldier. They also mention how they should be able to own land and how if they pay taxes they should be able to vote. This quote further shows their desire to vote: “ All men having sufficient evidence of common interest with, and attachment to the community, have the right od suffrage and cannot be taxed or deprived of their property for public uses” (Address, p. 340) They appeal to white audiences to help them achieve this including their “Christian humanity” in an attempt to encompass a wider swath of readers. The final role of involvement was African American participation in government. The first African American to be in office was Hiram Rhodes who served in the U.S. Congress. Many blacks took power in the government, despite continuous struggles against white supremacists. The representation of African Americans in the government helped bring about equal rights and autonomy for this group of people. Sadly after the reconstruction’s end few African American’s were left in power in the government. 2) To the extent that the world of the late 1870s did not reflect the victory of these principles, why was that the case? The world of the late 1870’s did not reflect most of the principles talked about in the Declaration of Wrong and Rights.
Around 1871 and 1872 Reconstruction started to decline. The main change of ideologies was presented thanks to the unpopularity of the Republican Party and the fear present mainly by the white population. After the reconstruction acts; which represented an effort to crush anti-black sentiment and to assure black votes and the Federal Army was moved away southern whites feared the power that African Americans were acquiring and decided to act upon it. The fear can be seen in a quote General Gordon “Our people have always flet that if the white troops of the Federal Army could have been stationed in those negro belts we would have been safe” (Wish, p.162) During the reconstruction era, white supremacists groups such as the KKK came into play. They were dedicated to raising terror in black communities and challenged their political and social views as well as white people that supported the black cause; although many members of this organization believed they were acting as a “peace police”(Wish, p. 153). Later on, political power swayed towards political and social white supremacist views. This can be seen during the compromise of 1877. There was a great dispute during the presidential election of 1876. Republican Hayes and Democrat Tilden fought for the White House. Eventually they came to the agreement that Hayes would be president if he removed federal …show more content…
troops from the south. “The compromise of 1877 marked the end to any remaining federal effort to protect black citizens in the former Confederacy”(Egerton, p.316) This made many black people feel betrayed by the Republican Party and therefore started voting for the Democrats. He also had to appoint Democrats to his cabinet. New political leaders in the south gave new rules for the freedmen. Some of these rules or codes went against some of the main principles. An example was the Jim Crow laws that segregated blacks and whites from each other. This created an inferior treatment towards African Americans making racism and discrimination more common. Another main reason for the change was the Long Depression of 1873. This depression caused panic among the citizens of the United States. Fear rose among white and black people. The poverty caused some voters to turn against the Republican Party giving Democrats more control over the government. Furthermore the depression caused the Great Railroad Strike. Hayes sent federal troops to stop the strike, but this did not make him more popular. Also, the withdrawal of troops from the south gave rise to more aggression towards the black communities and their right to vote was affected as well. After all this blacks rights and equality showed little change or improvement from the years before the Reconstruction. White supremacists forces made sure that their political status was almost null as it was before. 3) A: Who reading this document in 1877, might have rejected some aspect(s) of its vision of equality, rights, or citizenship? Drawing on your knowledge of the era, explain both 1) why that person would not agree with this aspect of the document, and 2) why it nevertheless made sense to the authors. A group that would have rejected some of the aspects of the vision of equality rights and citizenship would have been Native Americans for several reasons.
First of all, they would not agree with the ownership of land section, as Native Americans believed that land could not belong to individuals in the first place. The African Americans in the Declaration of Wrongs and Rights also say “as natives of American soil” when in reality, the true natives of the land were the Native Americans. Also, the document continues to talk about how African Americans claim the right to remain in said lands. Native Americans were moved from their native lands several times. The Homestead Act in 1862 could be seen as an example, new settlers were encouraged to take “free soil” but at the same time move over Native American settlers. Another example of this can be seen with the Osage who already lived on a reserve, they had already been removed and deported. Railroad companies wanted to use their land and were willing to pay for it. Then another railroad company saw the same opportunity and tried to convince them to move. The Osage refused to move and then the government intervened with the 1870’s removal law, which moved the Osage and sold their land for 1.25 dollars an acre. Eventually the situation got better for the Osage since there was oil in their new lands. Another example of this would be the concentration attempts of the Lakota. It nevertheless made sense to the authors since African
Americans arrived almost at the same time, if not at the very same time as the Colonial American settlers and had the same right to be there as any other American. Also, because they worked the land they had to have some kind of ownership after working it for so long. Another point that the Native American would not agree would be to claim the rights of other citizens. Native Americans were not seen as citizens. They couldn’t be citizens until they gave up their uncivilized way of life. A shining example of this is the Lakota who were concentrated and critiqued for their decentralized way of living. These ideas can be clearly seen in “The Reconstruction Policy of Congress” which shows Native Americans as inferior to both Chinese Americans and African Americans (The reconstruction, 1867). In this cartoon, it is clear that the Native American people are not respected or cared for by other citizens of the United States. It made sense to the authors because the comparison of this document is between the African American and Caucasian people rather than comparing other races that were not seen as citizens.
This led to the passing of the civil rights act and the voting act in the 1964 and 1965. This allowed for the African Americans to have the right to vote.
...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.
Reconstruction(1865-1877) was the time period in which the US rebuilt after the Civil War. During this time, the question the rights of freed slaves in the United States were highly debated. Freedom, in my terms, is the privilege of doing as you please without restriction as long as it stays within the law. However, in this sense, black Americans during the Reconstruction period were not truly free despite Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. While legally free, black Americans were still viewed through the lens of racism and deeply-rooted social biases/stigmas that prevented them from exercising their legal rights as citizens of the United States. For example, black Americans were unable to wholly participate in the government as a
...nd stated that every person born in the United States was a citizen and had the right to the pursuit of happiness. The Freedman's Bureau was renewed in 1866 and continued to assist freedmen as they made a life for themselves. In 1866 The Fifteenth Amendment was passed by Congress and it granted suffrage to African Americans. Although equality was long coming, these laws laid the foundation of what America would become.
America has gone through many hardships and struggles since coming together as a nation involving war and changes in the political system. Many highly regarded leaders in America have come bestowing their own ideas and foundation to provide a better life for “Americans”, but no other war or political change is more infamous than the civil war and reconstruction. Reconstruction started in 1865 and ended in 1877 and still to date one of the most debated issues in American history on whether reconstruction was a failure or success as well as a contest over the memory, meaning, and ending of the war. According to, “Major Problems in American History” David W. Blight of Yale University and Steven Hahn of the University of Pennsylvania take different stances on the meaning of reconstruction, and what caused its demise. David W. Blight argues that reconstruction was a conflict between two solely significant, but incompatible objectives that “vied” for attention both reconciliation and emancipation. On the other hand Steven Hahn argues that former slaves and confederates were willing and prepared to fight for what they believed in “reflecting a long tradition of southern violence that had previously undergirded slavery” Hahn also believes that reconstruction ended when the North grew tired of the 16 year freedom conflict. Although many people are unsure, Hahn’s arguments presents a more favorable appeal from support from his argument oppose to Blight. The inevitable end of reconstruction was the North pulling federal troops from the south allowing white rule to reign again and proving time travel exist as freed Africans in the south again had their civil, political, and economical position oppressed.
Since women now had the right to vote, they wanted to expand the ideas of democracy by wanting a direct vote to select members of congress. Theodore Roosevelt supported the idea that members of congress should be selected by a direct vote. As a response to that, congress ratified the 17th amendment which would allow the people to select members of congress by the popular vote. (Doc D). Southerners would try and prevent African American males from voting in these elections. Southern states would allow Jim Crow laws which helped segregate African Americans. The supreme court case of Plessy v. Ferguson supported these Jim Crow laws by stating that African Americans should be segregated but viewed equal. There were many African American individuals who wanted to get better treatment in society such as Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Dubois. These individuals wanted the same thing but had different methods of receiving those things. Booker T. Washington wanted to take things slow and have peaceful strikes but W.E.B. Dubois
To the African American community the 15th amendment was the most important amendment to the constitution. The 15th Amendment was made to provide every man, no matter what color he was, the right to vote. This made every man equal, although not all were treated that way. The 15th Amendment was very significant to many Americans of different races. This Amendment changed their lives forever by allowing them to vote.
Mark LaCroix Miss Emily Gross and Miss Karissa Sywulka 24 November 2014 English III and US History Reconstruction Paper The greatest triumphs of the reconstruction era were the ratification of the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth amendments. The most critical shortcomings of the reconstruction era were the black codes, the widespread popularity of, “Jim Crow” entertainment, and the lack of action from the United States government concerning peonage. Ratifying the thirteenth amendment was the pinnacle of the reconstruction era, and would change the United States for the rest of history.
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
The Civil War is often thought of as white northerners and southerners fighting over the freedom of African American’s. African American soldiers would fight on both sides of the war. The eventual acceptance of African American’s and their contributions to the Union Army would be pivotal in the Unions success. African Americans were banned from joining the Union Army in the early part of the Civil War. President Lincoln feared that African Americans in the Army would persuade certain states, such as Missouri, to join the Confederacy. Once African American soldiers could join the Union Army they would contribute to almost every major battle of the Civil War. 180,000 African Americans served in the Union Army in 163 different units, and 9,000 served as seamen in the Union Navy.1 President Lincoln stated, “Without the military help of the black freedmen, the war against the South could not have been won.”2
Prior to the Civil War, African Americans were treated as second class individuals. They lacked the freedom and equality they sought for. To the African Americans, the Civil War was a war of liberation. Contrary to what African Americans perceived, Southerners viewed the war as an episode of their journey to salvation. Southern lands may have been destroyed and depleted, but the South was persistent that their racial order would not be disrupted. To most, the goals of the Reconstruction era were to fully restore the Union, and to some, grant emancipation and liberty to former slaves. Although the newly freedmen gained various rights and liberties, their naïve dreams of complete equality and liberation collapsed due to the immense resistance of the South.
In 1860, blacks were enslaved in the south. By 1877, blacks were legally allowed to vote and have all the rights afforded to any white man. The first major change to blacks’ rights was made by the thirteenth amendment. It abolished slavery in the United States; however it left blacks in a limbo between slaves and citizens. Some government officials, such as Gideon Welles, disagreed with the federal government dealing with civil rights. Contrary to their wishes, the next change came from the fourteenth amendment, which established blacks as full citizens. This was much to the delight of blacks who fought for the Un...
Last of all, when it came to the economy of the North and the South,the era had the south in ruins while the north on the other hand was stable. It was clear that during Reconstruction, whites disliked blacks and nothing would have satisfied the whites more than to have coloreds/blacks seen as slaves, deprived of their rights and freedom and the white population would have stopped at nothing to prevent blacks having the same rights as them. The Ku Klux Klan was the whites answer to scaring blacks out of voting and eliminating opponents that blacks would vote for. The main aim behind the organization of this anti-black group was to intimidate blacks through severe violence that usually included deaths of blacks being caused by murders and rigorous beatings. The Klan was the most feared group by the blacks during the reconstruction era as the group's action was extreme when they intimidated blacks, they would burn homes and meeting places and they sexually assaulted women.
Race was perhaps one of the biggest issues if not the biggest issue during the pre- 1865 era and it definitely proved a long road for African Americans. Slavery was the controversial issue inside of race that served as a driving force for change. Blacks or African Americans didn’t have a say in much of anything as most of not all of them were enslaved by white people in the North and in the South. The development of African Americans becoming recognized as citizens became a symbol for signs of the Reconstruction Era coming into full effect. The fight for citizenship from African Americans was important because it made others want to fight for equal rights as well. Even though African Americans were putting themselves out there to get more rights but whites still wanted restrict them as much as possible even if they would be considered freed people. (Brundage, N/A)
Reconstruction failed to bring justice, social and economic equality to freed Blacks. Reconstruction may have bought freedom to slave but it only caused more horror in their life. Many of the trauma caused by reconstruction is shown in documents D, E, and F. Reconstruction was not all a failure to the African-American community it cause them to gain some type of equality in the American society. Example’s of the positive effect of the reconstruction is shown in documents A, B, and C. Reconstruction had both a negative and positive effect on the social class of African-American in the United States.