Reconstruction Vs Reconstruction

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During the Reconstruction period, the North and the South had very different ideas on how to handle all of the new problems in America regarding the freed slaves. Though the North and the South had contradictory ideas that ranged from the basic needs of the freed slaves to establishing new state governments, the Reconstruction period strived to unify the North and the South. In the Reconstruction period, freedom was a new idea for many African Americans and they aimed to establish all of their new rights, even if they were unsure of their lives after the Civil War. The North and South, both having different ideas, had two different ways to meet the basic needs for food, service, and industry. Most of the Northerners believed that the freedmen …show more content…

The freedom in the new society led to more improvements and beliefs on how to make the changed society better. During the period of Reconstruction, three new amendments passed that had to do with the freedom and rights of freed African Americans. The 13th Amendment, passed in 1865, abolished slavery once and for all. Passed in 1866, the 14th Amendment gave everyone who was born in America full citizenship. Lastly, the 15th Amendment said that no citizen can be denied the right to vote because of your race, the color of your skin, or of previous conditions of enslavement. The Civil Rights Act of 1875 gave freedmen, and white men the same rights and legal protection, regardless of different laws. Though the bill said that blacks could serve on juries, the bill did not provide the means for enforcement. Although these acts were no longer enforced, they served as a model for the civil rights acts passed in the twentieth century. The South used different laws called black codes. These codes were like another type of slavery that would place whites higher than blacks, instead of everyone being equal. If a black man was not employed, he would be arrested and probably not be able to pay the fines. Even during this time, the whites struggled to see if the blacks should have the right to carry arms, but other codes told the African Americans that they could own property. During this time, a group was formed of former Confederate soldiers that met in secret. This group was called the Ku Klux Klan, and they were determined to place the whites above the blacks. The most targeted by the Ku Klux were the black businessmen and landowners who were unsuccessful. Having many prominent people in the Ku Klux Klan, this would give them even more power. More than 1,300 freedmen, in 1868, were hung without a fair trial. Finally, Congress passed the Force Act in 1870 and the Ku Klux Act 1871 which outlawed the use

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