The Reconstruction Era

For class today, we were assigned a video on the reconstruction era.

Interestingly enough, when the union won the civil war, they viewed it as a victory of morality, whereas the confederacy only considered the win to be over gun power. This made reunifying the nation, restoring order to the south, and giving blacks proper equality all the more challenging.

After the civil war ended and slavery was outlawed, it would be foolish to think that former slaves would be able to immediately begin a “normal” life. Those who were raised in a culture where the African American race is inferior, would not suddenly wake up one day and see them as equals.

Furthermore, former slaves suddenly had no money and no form of income. They were basically forced to work for minimal pay as these were the only jobs willing to hire.

Beyond the workforce, former slaves had a difficult time protecting their political and civil rights. Some states implemented 'Jim Crow' laws which enforced racial to keep African Americans from voting. White supremacist groups were also formed, such as the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), which sought violence as a means to strip African Americans of their rights and dignity.

Segregation

The KKK

The government passed three laws to attempt to protect these rights:

-       13th Amendment (passed in 1865): outlawed slavery

-       14th Amendment (passed in 1868): reaffirmed equal protection of the laws to all citizens and granted citizenship to everyone born in the US

-       15th Amendment (passed in 1870): protected the suffrage of citizens regardless of race

The reconstruction era is critical to our nation’s history. Without it, the 14th amendment, as critical as it is, may never have been passed.