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African Americans during Reconstruction 1865-1877 - Coggle Diagram
African Americans during Reconstruction 1865-1877
Background
African Americans represented 20% of American population
The South grew dependent on slave labour due to the expansion and success of its cotton based economy
In the North the morality of slavery was increasingly disputed
In 1865, just days before the end of the war in April, slavery was ablosihed with the passage of the Thirtieth Amendment
There were 3.5 million former slaves
What was Reconstruction 1865-1877?
This was the period that followed the Civil War, as the North aimed to reconstruct the Union
it has traditionally been seen as a period that ended in failure, and a period in which African Americans seemed to briefly have rights and power. But that then disappeared in the face of white resistance, violence and northern betrayal - Reconstruction failed to guarantee A-A civil rights
1866 - Civil Rights Act: this excluded native Americans, but asserted all the races including A-A were citizens of the US
All these acts and amendments were all pasessed by Congress which was due to the radical wing od Republican Party and men like Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner
1866 - the Freedman’s Bureau Act: established a body to provide support to newly freeded slaves
The 13th Amendment - abolished slavery
The 14th Amendment - ratified in 1868, gave A-A citizenship and equal protection under the law
The 15th Amendment - ratified in 1870, forbade the denial of the right to vote on the basis of colour or previous servitude
During Reconstruction the southern states found themselves under military rule until they were prepared to accept the conditions laid sown for re-joining the union.
Political position of African Amercians during Reconstruction
During Reconstruction over 700,000 former slaves resigerted to vote
This allowed them to elect members to the conventions that created the new state constitutions in the south, to elect govenors, and possess real political power in southern governments.
African Americans were becoming more representative
22 Afrcian Americans elected to congress in the 1870s, including 2 senators for Mississippi
There seemed to be a similar situation in the North. African Americans represented less than 5% of the northern population at this time and many of the rights they had were more theoretical than real
Social and economic position of African Americans during Reconstruction
The social and economic position was not good.
African Americans may have been free but the majority were homeless and unemployed in the South.
In 1890, 65% of African Americans were illiterate, compared to only 15% white
The economic situation worsened for freed slaves as they had a lack of land
As a result, the majority became itinerant labourers or sharecroppers
Sharecropping was an unfair system in which A-A rented land and gave half their crop to the landlord. African Americans felt cheated and remianed at the bottom of the economic pile
Education opportunites for Afrcian Americans were also limited and employment in industry was discouraged
However, Industrial production in the South was still limited
As a result, A-A found that freedom had in fact done very little to improve their condition. They were also ill equipped to deal with southern resentment and violence.