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The U.S. Supreme Court declared that African Americans, whether enslaved or free, lacked the right to sue in federal court and could not be citizens of the United States. This choice predicted the difficulties of Reconstruction and heightened national tensions over slavery. (Foner 20).
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The Freedmen's Bureau was created by Congress to help freedmen by offering them homes, food, legal assistance, and education. In the early years of Reconstruction, the Bureau emerged as a vital instrument. (Foner 76).
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Slavery was officially outlawed in the US by the 13th Amendment. The civil rights and reconstruction movements saw a sea change with this historic amendment. (Foner, 102).
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All males born in the United States, regardless of color, were awarded citizenship and equal rights by the Civil Rights Act of 1866. It was the first federal law to uphold African Americans' civil rights. (Foner, 132).
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Memphis, Tennessee, had violent riots as a result of tensions between newly emancipated African Americans and white citizens. Homes and schools were set on fire, and dozens of African Americans lost their lives. (Guelzo, 46). The severe racial violence that hampered Reconstruction efforts is highlighted by this incident.
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This law mandated that states create new constitutions that guaranteed voting rights to African American men and split the South into five military districts. (Guelzo, 67).
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The 15th Amendment forbade discrimination against people on the grounds of race, color, or history of slavery. During Reconstruction, it sought to safeguard African Americans' right to vote. (Foner 188).
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The fall of the banking company Jay Cooke Company, which set off a financial crisis. National focus was diverted from Reconstruction by the ensuing economic depression. (Guelzo, 102).Shows how Reconstruction efforts were hampered by economic concerns.
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More than 100 African Americans were killed in Colfax, Louisiana, by white supremacist attacks. One of the bloodiest incidents of the Reconstruction era was this one. (Foner, 250). illustrates the fierce opposition against government authority and Reconstruction.
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An unofficial agreement to remove federal troops from the South ended the 1876 presidential election deadlock and essentially put an end to Reconstruction. (Foner, 322).