Ch 3, Reconstruction and the African American Experience

After this Amendment's ratification, the government was tasked with helping former slaves, or freedmen, transition into a life without slavery. Although there were many challenges, this Amendment did open the door for African-Americans to be elected to government office for the first time in U.S. history.

• 13th Amendment

• 14th Amendment

• 12th Amendment

• 15th Amendment

Congress ratified this amendment to the U.S. Constitution in an effort to protect freedmen in the south, after southerners attempted to deny them their rights by passing the black codes. With these new rights and protections African Americans felt a new sense of freedom in the south, and began to exercise those rights in favor of Congress and the republicans.

• 12th Amendment

• 13th Amendment

• 14th Amendment

• 15th Amendment

This amendment allowed the federal government to legislate qualifications for voting, a right formerly left to the states. Despite the amendment, by the late 1870s discriminatory practices were used to prevent African Americans from exercising their right to vote, especially in the South.

• 13th Amendment

• 15th Amendment

• 12th Amendment

• 14th Amendment

These limited the civil rights and freedom of movement of the freedmen, and preserved the structure of Southern society, despite the abolition of slavery. Freedmen were forced to stay on plantations as workers, were prevented from voting, serving on juries, testifying in court against whites, holding office, serving on the state militia, marrying or entering a labor contract with a white person.

• Jim Crow Laws

• Black Codes

• Civil Rights Act of 1866

• Wade Davis Bill

This man was a former slave who was able to gain an educations and trade upon receiving his freedom. Later in life he became a politician, where he represented Mississippi as a Republican in the United States Senate from 1875 to 1881. When Reconstruction and his term ended no other African American was elected in the U.S. Senate for almost 100 years.

• Thaddeus Stevens

• Robert Smalls

• Hiram Rhodes Revels

• Blanche K. Bruce

This act was one of Congress’ first major legislations to protect freedmen in the south by defining citizenship and affirming that all citizens are equally protected by the law.

• The Civil Rights Act of 1866

• Wade Davis Bill

• Black Codes

• Jim Crow Law

This compromise marked the official end of active support from the Republican party in the South, pulling federal troops out of the South leaving the southern states to deal with African Americans without interference. The lack of support and supervision from the Republican Party opened up what would be referred to as The Nadir of Race Relations. It also created an environment where African Americans were subject to racially charged violence and discrimination in the form of legal segregation.

• Compromise of 1850

• Compromise of 1877

• Missouri Compromise

• Compromise of 1776

System of controlled labor where African Americans would rent land and tools from southern land holders and agree to pay off their debt with a portion of the profits from their crops. They would often find themselves unable to repay their debt.

• Debt Collection

• Reconstruction

• Debt Peonage

• Favorable Servitude

Congress passed these laws in an effort to protect freedmen in the south and allow them to exercise their rights without fear of intimidation or harm. Protecting freedmen’s rights was a chief goal of congress during reconstruction. They felt that if freedmen’s rights were protected they would then use those rights to vote republican.

• Military Reconstruction Act

• Reconstruction Acts

• Wade Davis Bill

• The Enforcement Acts

Name given to a former slave who was now free thanks to the ratification of the 13th Amendment. With the abolition of slavery came additional freedoms, such as citizenship and voting rights. Freed slaves were now able to actively participate in state and local governments for the first time in U.S. history.

• Carpetbagger

• Scalawag

• Freedmen

• Emancipated Man