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The Underground Railroad part 2
The Underground Railroad was lead by many brave individuals who opposed slavery, known as Conductors. One of the most famous of these Conductors, who saved over 300 slaves and journeyed to the South after herself escaping it, was Harriet Tubman. The places used to hide slaves were known as stations which many of the Conductors owned or helped to acquire during their service. -
The Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad is believed to have begun in 1787. A Quaker by the name of Isaac T. Hopper initiated the organization when he set up a system to help slaves escape the South and to hide those who were making their way North. This system of routes out of the South and hiding spots for fugitive slaves came to be known as the Underground Railroad. -
The Underground Railroad part 3
This system towards African liberation from their Southern oppressors held great significance for the North. Not only did it free Southern slaves, but it assisted in spreading the message of Abolition to those who would accept and support it within the South.
Even after the enactment of the Fugitive Slave Act in the year 1850, the Underground Railroad continued to rescue slaves. -
Period: to
Civil War Timespan
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Cotton Gin
The Cotton Gin was invented by Eli Whitney. This was one of many notable inventions created during the Industrial Revolution. This invention was designed to take the cotton from its seed which was a job usually left to slaves to be done by hand in the South. Through a screen the cotton gin removed the cotton from the seed and increased the productivity of one working to gain cotton. -
Cotton Gin part 2
The cotton gin was an enormous catalyst for southern industry. It made the production of cotton simpler and less time consuming which meant less labor. The Cotton Gin did cause for the increase in demand for slave labor now that the South, which became known as King Cotton, had a faster way to produce cloth at a cheaper cost meaning for a higher profit margin. -
Cotton Gin part 3
This one invention helped to make cotton into one of the largest cash crops of the South. This powerful industry drove slavery to become even more entwined into Southern politics up until the civil war. -
Missouri Compromise
In 1819, the United States consisted of exactly 22 individual states, 11 free and 11 slave. This created a political balance between the two.
In that same year Missouri moved to become a state with New York Representative James Tallmadge proposing an amendment which would ban slavery within that state. 2,000 slaves already occupied Missouri, and the South had held its vital institution of slavery for nearly 200 years. This, along with the balance of political power allowing for the South to pu -
Wilmot Proviso
With their new president, and their separation from the Union, the Confederates were preparing for the inevitable, the Civil War. -
Wilmot Proviso part 2
Though it never passed, the Wilmot Proviso proved a powerful document. The Republican Party showed this through their position of slavery, one that helped to define the political group both prior to and after the Civil War. It also demonstrated to the United States just how far sectional divisions had formed due to the issue of Slavery. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin part 2
appearing upon shelves on June 5th, 1851 in the National Era, and anti-slavery newspaper. Soon after the installment gained publication so did the entire novel, as a two volume book in the year 1852.
The Novel tells of two slaves, Tom and Harry, and their family’s struggles to stay together while attempting to gain freedom from slavery. This powerful novel moved its readers and demonstrated the cruelty of the slave owners to their slaves, especially in the end as Tom is whipped violently for -
Uncle Tom's Cabin part 3
for refusing to give up the location of two young slave girls who ran from their owner and took to hiding until he finally dies.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin gave a face to slavery and to the cruelty behind it. This novel was a powerful tool towards the abolition movement to end slavery as a whole in the United States in the years to come. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe, a young southern white woman, learned a great deal about the true hideousness of slavery as she grew up. Her grandparents owned and beat slaves. And all around her she witnessed the beating, ill treatment, and starvation of the African population under the administration of Slavery.
Stowe decided to voice her opinion on slavery, to bring light to the evils she had witnessed, through publication. She wrote and published, Uncle Tom’s Cabin with its first installation -
Caning of Charles Sumner
Charles Sumner, a Republican from Massachusetts, gave to the Senate his speech “Crimes Against Kansas” in which he addressed two Senators as the principle culprits of this crime, slavery. He even declared the non-present, Andrew Butler to have taken slavery as his own mistress. One of those listening to this speech was none other than Andrew Butler’s own kinsmen, Preston Brooks. Brooks took great offence to Sumner’s words and so acted on his anger. -
Caning of Sumner part 2
Taking a cane, usually used in violence only to deal with unruly canines, Brooks went towards Sumner after the Senate had adjourned for the day. On that day, May 22nd, 1856, Sumner was beaten with the metal head of Brook’s cane. This ended after a few moments with Sumner being carried out to be taken care of, and Brook’s leaving the Senate house calmly. -
Caning of Charles Sumner part 3
This demonstrated how the politics of the sectionalized United States were falling into discourse like the nation itself. The Caning of Sumner was a foreshadowing to the Civil War yet to come. -
Lincoln-Douglass Debates
Stephen A. Douglass, a democrat, was running for the senate seat for Illinois in 1858. He had won the year before and was popular amongst the people. Douglass supported Popular Sovereignty and was responsible for the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
Abraham Lincoln was very much unknown before his political challenging of Douglass for the seat. Lincoln did not necessarily believe in popular sovereignty; he found that the Union would not stay unified if the states were split down the middle as slave and -
Lincoln-Douglass Debates part 2
There were seven separate debates in multiple towns. Out of them, the most famous was that known as the Freeport Doctrine in the town of Freeport Illinois on August 27th, 1858. This debate caused for 15,000 people to gather in a town that originally only held a third of that number. In the Freeport Doctrine Lincoln defined his position on slavery, explaining that it was the right of the people to separate themselves from slavery within the borders of their own state and that if the people who -
Lincoln-Douglass Debates part 3
owned slaves did wish to keep them then that too was their right.
Even though Lincoln was unsuccessful in his attempt at the senate seat due to his lose to Douglass, but this gained Lincoln recognition amongst the people which paid off when Lincoln ran against Douglass in the Presidential Election of 1860. -
Raid on Harper's Ferry part 2
In the summer of the year 1859, Brown and 19 men, including his sons invaded Harper’s Ferry and took multiple men prisoner including Lewis Washington, the great-grand-nephew of George Washington. The Raid had two key points which needed to land in Brown’s favor in order for him and his men to prove successful. He needed for word not to reach Washington D.C. before he and his men were able to escape with the weapons, and, Brown needed for the local slaves to rise up and become his army in order -
Raid on Harper's Ferry
John Brown was an abolitionist to such a point it proved to be extreme. The Raid on Harper’s Ferry demonstrated just how extreme this man’s drive towards abolition truly was. Before the actual Raid, Brown and his sons were on the run for three years after they had murdered five men for supporting slavery. During these three years Brown collected a great deal of money from wealthy abolisionists in order to begin a colony for runaway slaves. -
Raid on Harper's Ferry part 3
to defeat any local opposition.
Neither of these things happened. The people of Harper’s Ferry actually fought against Brown and surrounded him within the armory. Colonel Robert E. Lee was ordered to Harper’s Ferry by Washington and successfully captured Brown and his men. Due to Lee, Brown had been seriously wounded by a sword. He was not allowed to be given time to fully heal from his wounds before his trial on October 26th, 1859 at the Jefferson County Courthouse where he was tried and -
Raid on Haprer's Ferry part 4
then executed for his crimes.
John Brown’s execution became a symbol for the Abolitionists and their movement. He became their martyr and his death was a demonstration that the government supported slavery. -
Formation of Confederacy
After seceding from the Union, representatives from the seven states came together in Montgomery Alabama in February of 1861. These men met to form a new country, the Confederate States of America. The Confederate States’ Constitution proved similar to that of the Union’s. There were however a few differences: 6 year term for President, presidential veto item, cabinet officials were given a role in the debates of congress, and there were to be no protective tariffs or federal funding for -
Formation of Confederacy part 2
internal improvements.
The right to trade slaves within the Confederacy was not allowed by law, however the new government allowed for its people to maintain their rights to own slaves and use them.
Jefferson Davis was selected to become the President of the Confederacy.
This formation of a new nation altogether, along with the initial seceding of the states which caused for the Confederacy’s creation in the first place created the “line in the sand” for the civil war. -
Formation of Confederacy part 3
With their new president, and their separation from the Union, the Confederates were preparing for the inevitable, the Civil War. -
First Battle of Bull Run
Issues long argued. Feuds fueled by years of sectionalism. All of these issues, slavery one of the most prominent amongst them, came together in one great struggle of the two halves of the United States, the Civil War. And the first battle of this war proved to be the Battle of Bull Run.
Many believed no actual battle would occur when the two armies came to meet beside the small river. 35,000 federal troops marched from Washington, and 20,000 Confederacy troops came to meet them.
It was on th -
Battle of Bull Run Part 3
This battle was the first of many for the bloody Civil War. It demonstrated to the Union that there were some true battles to be one and that they could not take their enemies lightly. This was the beginning to a violent ends. -
Battle of Bull Run Part 2
It was on this day, July 21st, 1861 that the two opposing forces meet for the first time, and it was here that the first bullet flew in the Civil War.
After a day of vigorous battle the federal forces were driven back to Washington D.C. This loss surprised the Union, for it believed that with by holding the majority of troops they would prove successful, but the Confederacy showed them otherwise.
This battle was the first of many for the bloody Civil War. It demonstrated to the Union that th -
Battle of Antietam part 3
Even though it was considered to be a draw between the two, the Union claimed it as a victory, and Lincoln used this win to assist in his deployment of the Emancipation Proclamation. -
Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam was part of the Maryland Campaign of 1862. The battle began on September 16th of that year. Robert E. Lee led his confederate troops against General George B. McClellan and his Union soldiers.
The two armies fought fiercely in what was known as one of the bloodiest skirmishes between the two forces. Robert E. Lee, being a brilliant general and tactician was able to fight off the Union forces even though the numbers against him came to be that of two-to-one. -
Battle of Antietam part 2
One of his greatest assets was Stonewall Jackson, and his forces who were able to hold off the barrage of Union forces for the entire morning of September 17th.
After the 18th, Lee was forced to retreat with his men down the Potomac. The Union forces did not continue attacking once the men were driven from the state of Maryland due to the orders of Abraham Lincoln. Even though it was considered to be a draw between the two, the Union claimed it as a victory, and Lincoln used this win to -
Emancipation Proclomation
Issued on January 1, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation was the political declaration of the end of slavery made by President Abraham Lincoln. This document began the official end to the use of slaves and the “property” status given to the people of African descent within the United States after the Civil War. The document only addressed the states “in rebellion to the federal government”, meaning the states of the Confederacy, which Lincoln refused to give credit as a separate nation. -
Emancipation Proclamation part 2
In doing so he would have divided the Union he so wished to protect.
The Emancipation Proclamation was long planned by the President, and tested on September of the year 1862 after the battle of Antietam. During his attempts to create and enact the Proclamation Lincoln learned of many flaws such a document would hold. One such flaw was as long as the war persisted there were little ways to enforce it. The use of Martial Law came into play. Lincoln was able to use all “property” gained from the -
Emancipation Proclamation part 3
to the Southern dictation that all slaves were the property of their owners.
The Proclamation also ended any notion of recognition from foreign powers of the Confederacy.
After the war, under the defined terms of the Proclamation, slavery began to end and Lincoln was able to abolish the use of slaves without every truly becoming an Abolitionist. -
Siege of Vicksburg part 3
desperately hoping for reinforcements from General Joseph Johnson and his army of 30,000 men and growing. The perspective of such a large army coming in from the rear did move General Grant along in his siege. He decided it was better not to risk waiting for the men of Vicksburg to starve themselves into surrender, but to create trenches, tunnels, and use bombs to force the surrender. -
Siege of Vicksburg
Vicksburg was a powerfully defended Confederate stronghold that came under siege of General Ulysses S. Grant and his Union forces of 40,000 men. On May 19th, 1863 Grant ordered his men to charge Vicksburg in an immediate assault, and although his men were repulsed by the Confederate troops within the stronghold, Grant still deemed himself to hold the upper hand. The Union forces under Grant had been following these very soldiers for a great deal of time, and had engaged in two devastating battle -
Siege of Vicksburg part 2
with them, the battle of Champion’s Hill on the 16th of May, and the battle of the Big Black River on the 17th of May. The Confederate men within the stronghold were weak and low on provisions, so General Grant ordered his men to surround Vicksburg and begin the siege.
The two forces clashed repeatedly and repeatedly the men of the Union were forced back, although the Confederates were growing ever weaker and their supplies ever lower. Pemberton, the leader of the men of Vicksburg was desperat -
Siege of Vicksburg part 4
The bombs did not prove necessary for on the morning of July 3rd, 1863 General Pemberton, after anonymously being threatened that his army would leave him if the siege were allowed to continue, and instructed by his superior officers that the men were not physically capable of attempting a full force engagement to break the Union lines, raised the white flags of surrender and met with Grant that night to discuss the terms of surrender. The siege officially ended the next day, on July 4th. -
Siege of Vicksburg 1863
This single siege devastated the moral of not only the men defeated, but of the south as a whole, whilst invigorating the soldiers of the north. This also proved the stepping stone towards supreme command General Grant needed within the Union, for now all eyes were upon him. Lincoln turned to Grant to change the tides of battle, and soon gave onto him the role of command over Union armed forces. -
Battle of Gettysburg part 2
In this one battle nearly 85,000 troops fought on the side of the Union and 75,000 fought for the Confederacy. The Union was lead by General George G. Meade and the Confederate troops fell under General Robert E. Lee.
The Battle consisted of three days of land engagement in Adam’s County. Reinforcements arrived on the first night, but even so the Confederacy gained little ground and could not pull off its flanking maneuver of the second day. -
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg took place over three days. On July 1, 2, and 3 of the year 1863 during the Civil War more men died during engagement than in any other battle of the entire war. This single battle was the largest of all the approximate 2,000 land based battles of the war. It was also the battle which demonstrated to both sides of the ultimate victory of the North over the South. -
Battle of Gettysburg part 3
On the third and final day of the fight Robert E. Lee commanded his men to charge straight into the enemy’s forces, piercing their lines. Even with this small tactical victory the Southern troops were forced to retreat due to heavy casualties of nearly 28,000 men.
On July 4th the Confederacy officially retreated and the remaining troops marched behind their general forming a line of wounded and defeated men nearly 14 miles long. -
Gettysburg Address
Believed to be the greatest speech given by President Abraham Lincoln, The Gettysburg Address was a speech meant to address the 8,000 men who died in the Battle of Gettysburg. Lincoln wrote his speech while traveling by train to the town of Gettysburg, which is uncommon for usually such a speech would have been written days in advance. He spook in a cemetery to a group of townspeople, telling them about more than just the men who died. -
Gettysburg Address
Lincoln reminded the people of the cause behind the sacrifice. That the men who died in Gettysburg did so not for just a war, but for a country. Lincoln never abandoned his belief that the country could not truly be split in two, even by an issue as complicated as slavery, but that this truly was a war to test the nation’s ideals. He explained that the United States of America was built on the ideal of equality and unity, and that was the reason the men of the Battle of Gettysburg lost their -
Gettysburg Address
lives. He described the war as a test; that the war was a test to see if a country and a people built and brought together by the idealism of equality could stand and prosper.
This speech put the war into perspective, allowing those who heard and read it to see exactly what they were fighting for, exactly what they were trying so hard to protect. It was short, but to the point, a point which rang out to the people of the Union, and still rings in our ears today. -
Siege of Richmond
Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy, was a long sought after prize for the Union. Many believed that with its fall so too would fall the Confederacy itself. Ulysses S. Grant lead the Union forces in the incredibly long siege against Richmond, Virginia. The Siege began in June of 1864, with a defeat due to General Robert E. Lee of the Confederacy and his men stationed in the Confederate Capital. -
Siege of Richmond part 2
After his defeat, Grant changed his plan and slowly moved his men westward into Petersburg. As they moved the men would attack and claim all railways and outposts cutting off ties with Richmond and all outside assistance. Grant began to starve out Lee and weaken his men through time. The year became 1865 before any true actions were taken besides one battle after the other. -
Siege of Richmond Part 3
On April 3rd of 1865 Lee officially evacuated his men from Richmond, leaving it for the Union forces and losing the capital of the Confederacy.
This victory by Grant led to the final victory of the Union over the Confederacy in the Civil War six days after Lee’s evacuation on April 9th of 1865. -
Election of 1864
For almost thirty years no president had won a secondary term at office since Andrew Jackson. Lincoln hoped to be the first to break that chain. His Emancipation Proclamation proved to go against him for it did not set well with the more conservative people of the North who feared its future effects on society.
The Democrates choose George B. McClellan who simply pledged to conduct the war more skillfully than Lincoln had proven to during his previous four years as President. -
Election of 1864 part 2
This took hold of those who had become disappointment with the war’s status.
The Republicans choose two candidates. The first was chosen to be John C. Fremont, an enemy of Lincoln’s who was discharged from military command twice by the President during the few years fought so far in the Civil War. The Regular Republican Party, under the name the National Unity Party, elected Lincoln in Baltimore to run in the race. -
Election of 1864 part 3
During the race for Presidency Fremont gave up his place for he wished not to allow the Democrats to win due a splitting of the Republican votes between himself and Lincoln. Even though McClellan did win an impressive 45% of the popular vote, he lost in both the popular vote and electoral vote to Lincoln. Lincoln ended the race with 212 electoral votes compared to that of McClellan’s 21, with 80 undecided.
This election allowed for Lincoln to finish leading the Union towards the end of the Civ -
Sherman's "March to the Sea"
Union forces leader William Tecumseh Sherman led approximately 60,000 troops on a march from Atlanta to Savannah Georgia, nearly 285 miles. The point of Sherman’s march was to frighten the civilians of Georgia to leave the confederate cause. There were actually some 120,000 men following General Sherman before they reached Georgia, but he separated the men into two groups, one to meet the Confederates in Nashville and one to march through Georgia. -
Sherman's "March to the Sea" part 2
The South attempted one large battle against Sherman and his forces which ended in terrible defeat. The confederacy suffered 650 casualties compared to the 62 men of the Union who were killed. This drove the Southern troops to turn tail and run ahead of the Union soldiers, wrecking havoc as they went trying to escape the Union army. Sherman did not completely destroy the cities he and his men passed through, but they did take from them. Some of the homes were burned. Food and goods were taken -
Sherman's "March to the Sea" part 3
and livestock were killed.
This march gained the Union Savannah Georgia, which Sherman presented to the president, Abraham Lincoln, as a “Christmas Present”. This single campaign struck a severe blow to the very heart of the Confederacy, demonstrating the overwhelming power of the Union, and it was a foreshadowing of the Union’s impending victory over the Confederacy. -
13th Amendment part 3
The proposals against slavery prior to the war had all been silenced and ignored in order to allow the South their continued enterprise.
The amendment passed on February 1st 1865 and with it ended slavery throughout the United States of America. -
13th Amendment
The 13th amendment to the United States Constitution ended the practice of slavery throughout the country as a whole. Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, the precursor to this amendment, was meant to do the same and with the assistance of state governments after the Civil War, did in fact end slavery in all states but two, Delaware and Kentucky. The Government worried that the people would think the Emancipation Proclamation was only a document of war and so after the South rejoined -
13th Amendment part 2
the Union it would no longer hold power.
A great deal about this amendment proved rather unorthodox. Not only had another amendment not been added in almost sixty years since that of the twelfth in 1804, but this amendment was also ending the practice of slavery after so many compromises had been made in order to allow for the continuing and spreading of slavery into new states. The proposals against slavery prior to the war had all been silenced and ignored in order to allow the South their -
Dred Scott Decision
The Case of Scott vs. Sanford, otherwise known as the Dred Scott Decision, was one of the largest cases to be tried in the United States.
After being purchased by a Dr. John Emerson, Dred Scott was taken to multiple states as the Dr.’s slave, including such states as Illinois and Wisconsin where slavery had been prohibited under the Missouri Compromise of 1820. Scott believed that his inhabiting these free states and that the law applied to him as a resident within them, he was given the same -
Dred Scott Decision part 2
freedom as those who also inhabited the land affected by the Compromise. On April 6th, 1846, he sued his master after living for nine years in free states for the freedom of himself and his family.
Due to the laws of the year 1846, even thought the Scott family was entitled to their freedom that did not come to matter to the courts as much as the property rights of the owner being sued. Few people considered the fact that the Scott family were not in actuality property, but people given the -
Dred Scott Decision part 3
title in an attempt to suppress them.
The decision made on March 6th, 1857 by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney decided against Scott, that even though he had passed beyond the Missouri Compromise designated line for the disadministration of slavery. The ruling found it so that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional. This single case made it so the issue of slavery, already controversial, was even more heated than before, and assisted in hastening the increasing hostilities between the dividi -
Siege of Richmond
Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy, was a long sought after prize for the Union. Many believed that with its fall so too would fall the Confederacy itself. Ulysses S. Grant lead the Union forces in the incredibly long siege against Richmond, Virginia. The Siege began in June of 1864, with a defeat due to General Robert E. Lee of the Confederacy and his men stationed in the Confederate Capital. -
Siege of Richmond part 2
After his defeat, Grant changed his plan and slowly moved his men westward into Petersburg. As they moved the men would attack and claim all railways and outposts cutting off ties with Richmond and all outside assistance. Grant began to starve out Lee and weaken his men through time. The year became 1865 before any true actions were taken besides one battle after the other. On April 3rd of 1865 Lee officially evacuated his men from Richmond, leaving it for the Union forces and losing the capital -
Siege of Richmond part 3
This victory by Grant led to the final victory of the Union over the Confederacy in the Civil War six days after Lee’s evacuation on April 9th of 1865. -
Appomattox Courthouse part 2
General Robert E. Lee arrived in Appomattox County on April 8th, 1865 with his wounded army of troops from Northern Virginia. As they marched the Union followed only a day behind them, forcing the men to move with great haste. Only to the south, at Appomattox Station lay trains full of supplies awaiting the wounded soldiers. -
Appomattox Courthouse part 3
in charge of the Union forces, dictated that Lee must surrender all his arms, artillery and supplies to the Union soldiers. The men of the army under Robert E. Lee would all sign a legalized parole which forced them to no longer engage in battle against the Union troops or anyone supporting the Union cause, but it did allow for all men to return home and that the commanding officers would not be forced to turn over their personal side arms, horses, or baggage as was traditionally the case under -
Appomattox Courthouse part 4
This battle ended the use of one of the Confederacy’s strongest armies creating a large and devastating blow to the South. -
Appomattox Courthouse
Before Lee and his men could reach the trains, Federal forces had already arrived and were fighting one of Lee’s supporting Generals who had ridden ahead to secure the trains for the confederate forces. This lead to a battle the next morning which lasted up until 11 a.m.
Later that day, on April 9th, 1865, both generals meet in the house of Wilmer McLean to discuss Lee’s surrender. The meeting took place for over two hours with both generals sitting in McLean’s living room. Grant, the general -
Assassination of Lincoln
Lincoln, like all presidents, was unliked by some and received throughout his Presidency multiple threats upon his life. With the war ended Lincoln and his family traveled to Richmond. Upon his arrival it was reported that Lincoln and his young son were followed in a large crowd by a great number of freed blacks singing his praises. One man felt no such need for praise. -
Assassination of Lincoln part 3
He had found his chance to gain revenge for his defeated Confederacy.
That night, as he sat in the President’s box of Ford’s Theater, Abraham Lincoln was shot in the head. The following morning, April 15th, 1865, Abraham Lincoln. Booth had disappeared into hiding and remained uncaught for only two weeks before being hung.
This assassination ended the life of a powerful leader, and made it so Lincoln would not be able to lead his people into the Reconstruction of the Union. -
Assassination of Lincoln part 2
John Wilkes Booth, an actor in Virginia, was a support of the confederacy cause and a sympathizer to its defeat. He was a part of numerous conspiracy groups wishing to kidnap the President and force him to give into the Confederacy during the war. But due to Robert E. Lee’s surrender at the Appomattox Courthouse the war ended and all plans for Confederate victory were no longer needed. On April 14th, 1865 Booth learned of the President’s arrival and wish to enjoy a night at the Ford’s Theater. -
14th Amendment
The fourteenth amendment created a broadened definition of the rights of citizens. Prior to this amendment the Bill of Rights was the only federal documentation added to the Constitution which defended and defined the rights of the citizens of the United States. The Bill of Rights only defined the rights of the citizens when dealing with the federal government itself. There was no other form of protection for the people except the individual constitutions of the states. -
14th Amendment part 2
The fourteenth amendment did what the Bill or Rights did not. It made it so all people were given equal protection under the law, not only those defined as citizens within the jurisdiction of those states. It overturned the Decision of the Dred Scott Case which excluded blacks. This Amendment ended legal segregation. And, due to the Due Process Clause, issues were able to be legally fought for such as abortion, and privacy rights of individual citizens. -
14th Amendment
This Amendment forever allowed the people of the United States to fight for their individual rights, both against the federal government and the individual state governments. Ratified July 9th, 1868 -
15th Amendment
The 15th Amendment, ratified on April 30th 1869, was the last of the trio of Reconstruction Amendments. This amendment was more specific than the rest. The 15th Amendment made it so under law, no citizen can be denied their right to vote due to the color of their skin, their race, or any previous service in the name of their country, such as if a man who had fought for the confederacy that wished to vote, even though the confederates lost they were all fully encouraged by law to continue voting -
15th Amendment part 2
for political leaders both republican and democrat.
Even with this Amendment many organizations and groups, such as the infamous Ku Klux Klan, attempted to intimidate African American citizens out of their right to vote, and even work. The interracial government of New Orleans during the Grant Administration was attacked by an all white mob. President Grant sent in Federal troops to deal with the usurpation of political power and restore the order to the government voted upon by the people. -
15th Amendment part 3
Once Hayes became president in the next election many actions and laws against blacks were allowed to be passed and overlooked. By 1890 multiple Southern states created incredibly strict voting qualification laws.
Even with such difficulties the passing of this amendment did create an explosion of black political activity. Because of this amendment, voters now are of all racers, candidates now are selected more for their political positions and promises then for their color. -
15th Amendment part 4
This amendment did more than create the right to vote, it created for people of every race to come into a country and have a political voice, to have power, in what is being done around and for them. -
Election of 1876 part 3
The Republican Party would have chosen James G. Blaine, but due to his involvement in questionable dealing before the presidential campaign began, they chose Rutherford B. Hayes. Hayes was a governor from Ohio.
The voting was close throughout the race and even though the general public believed that Tilden had won the majority of the public votes, they were unsure as to the pending results of the electoral votes. -
Election of 1876
Since the end of the Civil War it seemed political corruption became a fade amongst the leaders of the United States. This caused for both major political parties, the Democrats and the Republicans to turn towards candidates they believed would be perceived as trustworthy to the public. -
Election of 1876 part 2
The Democrats decided upon Samuel J. Tilden. Tilden held position as the governor of New York. He gained a great deal of support from the voters of the South for his political position on the removal of federal troops from their occupation of the former Confederate states. -
Election of 1876 part 4
Tilden had actually gained 184 electoral votes, only one away from the number needed to gain him the presidency. Hayes held 165 votes and with 20 votes still undecided from four states the race had yet to be decided.
The constitution had no way to deal with the electoral disputes and so Congress used an impartial group known as the Electoral Commission to end the dispute over the votes. Finally an agreement known as the Compromise of 1877, convinced the Democratic Party that they must accept -
Election of 1876 part 5
that they must accept the Commission’s vote of 8 to 7 in favors of Hayes, making the Republican candidate the new president.
