Reconstruction
1865-1877, rebuilding and readmitting the southern states
Federal Actions Affecting Reconstruction
13th, 14th, and 15th, Force Acts (1870-1871), and Radicals
14th amendment (1868) - dual citizenship, due process, equal protection
15th amendment (1870) - suffrage for former slaves, male
The Enforcement Acts (Force Acts) - 1870-1871, " ...were criminal codes which protected African-Americans’ right to vote, to hold office, to serve on juries, and receive equal protection of laws. The laws also allowed the federal government to intervene when states did not act." (Wikipedia)
Radical Republicans opposed the reconstruction plans of both President Lincoln and later President Johnson. Lincoln introduced a 10% for Reconstruction that would allow states to be readmitted when 10% of a state's eligible electorate agreed not to rebel. Lincoln pushed for a quick return to normalcy, "with charity for all and malice toward none".
The Radicals wanted a 50% iron clad oath stating that no aid had ever been given to the Confederacy, an impossibility throughout the former Confederate states. Radicals proposed this in the Wade-Davis Bill (1864), but Lincoln pocket vetoed it.
Animosity between Radical in Congress and President Johnson ran high with Johnson vetoing the Freedman's Bureau and Civil Rights Act of 1866 and campaigning against ratification of the 14th amendment.
The Radicals in congress eventfully impeached and nearly removed Johnson from office, ostensibly for violating the Tenure of Office Act.
Freedman's Bureau (1865), Civil Rights Act of 1866, Reconstruction Acts of 1867
The Civil Rights Act of 1866 was passed over President Johnson's veto and reauthorized in 1870. Although made significantly unenforced by groups like the KKK, the Civil Rights Act provided for the following,
"All persons within the jurisdiction of the United States shall have the same right in every State and Territory to make and enforce contracts, to sue, be parties, give
evidence, and to the full and equal benefit of all laws
and proceedings for the security of persons and
property as is enjoyed by white citizens, and shall be
subject to like punishment, pains, penalties, taxes,
licenses, and actions of every kind, and to no other."
The Reconstruction Acts of 1867 split the south, excepting Tennessee that had already ratified the 14th amendment, into five military districts run by military governor. Ratification of the 14th amendment was a condition necessary for re-admittance.
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), Civil Rights Cases (1883)
In Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) the Supreme Court ordered that separate facilities that were equal did not violate the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment. Thus was codified segregation throughout the south.
In Civil Rights Cases (1883) the court interpreted the meaning of the phrase that "no state shall discriminate" from the 14th amendment. The decision stated that,
"The Court, in an 8-1 decision by Justice Joseph P.
Bradley, held that the language of the 14th
Amendment, which prohibited denial of equal
protection by a state, did not give Congress power to
regulate these private acts, because it was the result of
conduct by private individuals, not state law or action,
that blacks were suffering."
That is, the court could not stop individuals or businesses from discriminating.
Reactions Against Reconstruction
Carpet Baggers, Scalawags, Literacy Tests, and Poll Taxes
Scalawags were southerners were southerners who attempted to take advantage of some wasteful spending during Reconstruction.
Literacy tests "...refers to state government practices of administering tests to prospective voters purportedly to test their literacy in order to vote. In practice, these tests were intended to disenfranchise African-Americans." (Wikipedia)
Poll taxes "...emerged in the late 19th century as part of the Jim Crow laws. After the right to vote was extended to all races by the enactment of the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, a number of states enacted poll tax laws as a device for restricting voting rights. The laws often included a grandfather clause, which allowed any adult male whose father or grandfather had voted in a specific year prior to the abolition of slavery to vote without paying the tax. These laws, along with unfairly implemented literacy tests and extra-legal intimidation,[1] achieved the desired effect of disenfranchising African-American and Native American voters, as well as poor whites." (Wikipedia)
KKK
Black Codes and Jim Crow
"These black codes were modeled after the slave codes that were placed before the civil war. These codes not only restricted the lives of many African Americans, but also created a physical separation between blacks and whites that had not existed before the war. Although African Americans were now legally free, this freedom meant nothing with the black codes in law." (Wikipedia)
Jim Crow laws, "... were racial segregation state and local laws enacted after the Reconstruction period in Southern United States that continued in force until 1965 mandating de jure racial segregation in all public facilities in Southern U.S. states (of the former Confederacy), starting in 1890 with a "separate but equal" status for African Americans. Conditions for African Americans were consistently inferior and underfunded compared to those provided for white Americans." (Wikipedia)
The Compromise of 1877
Through the Compromise of 1877 all troops were removed form the south allowing widespread discrimination against former slaves and, in return, the Republican candidate was given the presidency.
This compromise signaled by the end of reconstruction and the failure of reconstruction.