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Reconstruction of the South
The Reconstruction plan was a strategy to bring the South back into the Union as quickly and easily as possible, President Abraham Lincoln took a moderate position on Reconstruction of the South and proposed the “10 Percent Plan".
But the Congress was divided, some Republicans feared that the African Americans would be forced back into slavery. -
End of the Civil War
Lee surrenders to Grant at the Appomatox Court House, ending the Civil War. -
President Abraham Lincoln is deadly shot
On April 14th, president Abraham Lincoln is shot by a supporter of slavery who was tied to the south and shortly dies. -
The Thirteen Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
Ratified on December 6 of 1865, the Thirteen Amendment abolished slavery on the United States of America almost overnight. It provides that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.". -
The freedom that was defined for African Americans was inadequate
During the 1866's Americans felt that the Union and the Presidential's reconstructions failed to bring healing and justice for African Americans -
The Reconstruction Acts
The Reconstruction Acts, better known as Radical Reconstruction, divided the south into five military districts for as long as they failed to write acceptable states constitutions approved by Congress. These measures also included that all the male citizens were allowed to vote, regardless their race, except for former Confederate leaders; and that these stated ratified the Fourth Amendment to be readmitted in the Union -
The Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
The Fourteenth Amendment granted citizenship and equal civil and legal rights to African Americans and slaves who had been emancipated after the American Civil War. -
Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
The Fifteenth Amendment stated that the right to vote could not be denied based on “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”
This was key because the Southern states could no longer keep their African American citizens from voting. -
Civil Rights Act
This was the last major reform that came from Reconstruction. This granted African Americans equal treatment in public accommodations and transportation and service on juries. It allowed all citizens equal treatment before the law and penalized discrimination.
It also became the first law to ever become such despite a president's veto. -
The end of the Reconstruction
The Reconstruction period ended with the 1877's presidential elections.
