Reconstruction Dbq

Reconstruction DBQ

After the divisive, destructive Civil War, Abraham Lincoln had a plan to reconcile the country and make it whole again. Then he got shot, Andrew Johnson took over, and the disagreements between Johnson and Congress ensured that Reconstruction would fail. Reconstruction did extend some political, social, and economic freedom upon African Americans in the post-war South, but not nearly to the extent it was planned to be. Whenever the government did something to try to push reconstruction along, the deeply rooted racism of the white southerners drove them to try and counteract the government’s actions.

Three Constitutional amendments were made during the reconstruction era and were vital to give African Americans more equal civil rights, the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments. The 13th amendment stated that “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude… shall exist within the United States,”(doc G). Though many slaves had been declared free by President Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation, their post-war status was uncertain. So in 1865 the 13th amendment solved that and officially freed all the rest of the slaves. Unfortunately, the southerners responded to this with the implementation of Black Codes. Black Codes were basically just legal codes where they replaced the word slave with negro, effectively restricting the newly freed African Americans(doc C). The 14th amendment was ratified in 1868 and stated that everyone was guaranteed equal protection under the law and extended the rights of the Bill of Rights to all the states. The confederate states were forced to ratify the 14th amendment into their governments in order to be let back into the United States. In 1870 Because the republicans anticipated a resurgence of democratic power in the house, they wanted to get black voters on their side, so they ratified the 15th Amendment. The 15th Amendment stated that 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.”(doc D). This made it harder to deny ballot access to African Americans.

In 1866 the Freedman’s Bill was proposed by the Senate, which would create “a bureau for the relief of freedmen and refugees,”(doc F). It passed the two Houses of Congress but was vetoed by Andrew Johnson who stated it was unconstitutional. That same year the Civil Rights Act of 1866 was passed by the two houses, and again Andrew Johnson vetoed it. But this time for the first time in American history a presidential veto was overridden by a two-thirds majority in both houses. As Senator Lot Morrill of Maine stated, “are we not in the midst of a revolution?”(doc I). Reasoning that if there is a time for radical change, it is now.

On the economic side of things the newly freed slaves weren't exactly free. Owning no land or money to make it on their own, most freed slaves ended up working