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Black Codes
It was laws passed throughout the South to restrict the rights of emancipated blacks, particularly with respect to negotiating labor contracts. Increased Northerners’ criticisms of President Andrew Johnson’s lenient Reconstruction policies. -
14th & 15th Amendments
The 14th Amendment was passed by Congress in 1866 and was adopted on July 28th, 1868. The 14th Amendment stated "All persons born or naturalized in the United States.. , are citizens of the United States..". The 15th Amendment was ratified in 1870. It stated "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." These Amendments are very important. -
Reconstruction Act
The Reconstruction Act of 1867 passed by the Republican majority Congress divided the South into 5 military districts. gave the Southern states a way back into the Union. Reconstruction ends in 1877. -
Tenure of Office Act
Required the President to seek approval from the Senate before removing appointees. When Andrew Johnson removed his secretary of war in violation of the act, he was impeached by the house but remained in office when the Senate fell one vote short of removing him. -
Civil Right Act of 1875
The Civil Rights Act of 1875 reiterated the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. "To protect all citizens in their civil and legal rights"., gave blacks equal treatment in public and participation in jury service etc. Benefited the blacks but not for long. In 1883 The Supreme Court called it unconstitutional. -
Plessy vs. Ferguson
I was an 1896 Supreme Court case that upheld the constitutionality of segregation laws, saying that as long as blacks were provided with “separate but equal” facilities, these laws did not violate the 14th Amendment. The decision provided legal justification for the Jim Crow system until the 1950s.
