The Reconstruction Era lasted from 1865 to 1877, and it followed the American Civil War.
“Attempts were made to redress the inequities of slavery and its political, social, and economic legacy and to solve the problems arising from the readmission to the Union of the 11 states that had seceded at or before the outbreak of war.”
“Reconstruction witnessed far-reaching changes in America’s political life.” “Nationally, new laws and amendments altered the federal system and definition of American citizenship.” These amendments blazed the trail for more freedom for African Americans.
“In the South, a politically mobilized Black community joined with white allies to bring the Republican Party to power, and with it a redefinition of the responsibilities of government.”
Reconstruction as a whole had many ups and downs. There are also different pieces and groups that made reconstruction what it is known as today.
Following President Lincoln’s assassination, Andrew Johnson became president, and “inaugurated the period of Presidential Reconstruction (1865–67).”
“Johnson offered a pardon to all Southern whites except Confederate leaders and wealthy planters, restoring their political rights and all property except slaves.”
With this pardon, there were also other requirements. They had to abolish slavery, refuse to accept secession, and annul the Confederate debt. Apart from these requirements, they were “granted a free hand in managing their affairs.” They used this and created the Black codes.
The Black Codes were “laws that required African Americans to sign yearly labor contracts and in other ways sought to limit the freedmen’s economic options and reestablish plantation discipline.” African Americans strongly resisted the implementation of these rules.
“When Congress assembled in December 1865, Radical Republicans called for the establishment of new Southern governments based on equality before the law and universal male suffrage.”
“Congress refused to seat the representatives and senators elected from the Southern states and in early 1866 passed the Freedmen’s Bureau and Civil Rights Bills.” These bills helped shape what African Americans were working towards.
Some personal reasons and biases led President Andrew Johnson to reject the bills. This left a big rift between Johnson and Congress.
“The Civil Rights Act became the first significant legislation in American history to become law over a president’s veto.” This was one of the biggest leaps for African Americans at the time.
Radical Reconstruction was Congress’s way of starting anew. “The Reconstruction Acts of 1867 divided the South into five military districts and outlined how new governments, based on manhood suffrage without regard to race, were to be established.”
By 1870, nearly all Confederate states were a part of the Union again, and most were controlled by the Republican Party.
Different groups made up the Republicans,“ Carpetbaggers, or recent arrivals from the North, were former Union soldiers, teachers, Freedmen’s Bureau agents, and businessmen.
The second large group, scalawags, or native-born white Republicans, included some businessmen and planters, but most were nonslaveholding small farmers from the Southern up-country.”
African Americans held the majority in every state, for Southern Republican voters. “Sixteen African Americans served in Congress during Reconstruction, more than 600 in state legislatures, and hundreds more in local offices from sheriff to justice of the peace scattered across the South.” These men helped change many Black family's lives.
Even though by the end of Reconstruction a new racial system was put into place in the South; all of the amendments made were kept in the Constitution.
It was “not until the 1960s, in the civil rights movement, sometimes called the ‘second reconstruction,’ would the country again attempt to fulfill the political and social agenda of Reconstruction.”
Links:
https://www.britannica.com/event/Reconstruction-United-States-history
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