Legacy Of Reconstruction Essay

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Reconstruction was the rebuilding after the war. The Reconstruction period lasted from 1865-1877. Reconstruction was not only the physical rebuilding but also the “political, economic, and social changes” (Berkin, Cherny, Gormly, Miller, 2013, 417). The stages of Reconstruction were the Presidential Reconstruction, Freedom and the Legacy of Slavery, Congressional Reconstruction and Black Reconstruction. Reconstruction started off as a success. It united the United States. States that succeeded from the union had made new constitutions and accepted the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments. During the Presidential Reconstruction President Lincoln started the conversion to make the nation all free. Slaves were affected by …show more content…

“The Civil Rights Act of 1866 defined all persons born in the United States as citizens and listed certain rights of all citizens, including the right to testify in court, own property, make contracts, bring lawsuits, and enjoy full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of person and property” (Berkin, Cherny, Gormly, Miller, 2013, 430). To forever protect the freed people’s rights as citizens the Fourteenth Amendment was created. The Fourteenth Amendment was still flawed. Woman’s rights supporters Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony “complained that the amendment, for the first time, introduced the word male into the constitution in connection with voting and rights” (Berkin, Cherny, Gormly, Miller, 2013, 431). After much Congressional debate in February 1869 Congress approved the Fifteenth Amendment. It “prohibited both federal and state governments from restricting a person’s right to vote because of race, color, or previous condition of servitude” (Berkin, Cherny, Gormly, Miller, 2013, 435). Stanton and Anthony were against this amendment too because it “ignored restrictions based on sex” (Berkin, Cherny, Gormly, Miller, 2013, 435). The amendment still didn’t lessen the

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