During Reconstruction (1865-1877), Americans faced the daunting task of restoring order in the South, reunifying a war-torn nation, and extending equality to African Americans. The federal government passed a series of constitutional amendments aimed to extend rights and citizenship to emancipated slaves—the 13th Amendment (1865) outlawed slavery, the 14th Amendment (1868) extended citizenship to all persons born in the United States and reaffirmed equal protection of the laws to all citizens, and the 15th Amendment (1870) protected the suffrage of citizens regardless of race. Show
Although African Americans and their allies had made great strides in the years during which federal armies occupied the South, many of these accomplishments were reversed during the years after Reconstruction. The fate of African Americans was gradually turned over to individual states, many of which adopted restrictive 'Jim Crow' laws that enforced segregation based on race and imposed measures aimed at keeping African Americans from voting booths. White supremacist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan—who often had the cooperation of the courts and the police— used violence and terror to strip African Americans of their rights and dignity. Explore these articles on the Reconstruction Era to learn more. For a complete exploration of this topic, visit the NPS Reconstruction Era website. Last updated: August 17, 2018
If you're seeing this message, it means we're having trouble loading external resources on our website. If you're behind a web filter, please make sure that the domains *.kastatic.org and *.kasandbox.org are unblocked. One of the most important aspects of Reconstruction was the active participation of African Americans (including thousands of formerly enslaved people) in the political, economic and social life of the South. The era was to a great extent defined by their quest for autonomy and equal rights under the law, both as individuals and for the Black community as a whole. During Reconstruction, some 2,000 African Americans held public office, from the local level all the way up to the U.S. Senate, though they never achieved representation in government proportionate to their numbers. Rise of Black ActivismBefore the Civil War began, African Americans had only been able to vote in a few northern states, and there were virtually no Black officeholders. The months after the Union victory in April 1865 saw extensive mobilization within the Black community, with meetings, parades and petitions calling for legal and political rights, including the all-important right to vote. During the first two years of Reconstruction, Black people organized Equal Rights Leagues throughout the South and held state and local conventions to protest discriminatory treatment and demand suffrage, as well as equality before the law. These African American activists bitterly opposed the Reconstruction policies of President Andrew Johnson, which excluded Black people from southern politics and allowed state legislatures to pass restrictive “black codes” regulating the lives of the freed men and women. Fierce resistance to these discriminatory laws, as well as growing opposition to Johnson’s policies in the North, led to a Republican victory in the U.S. congressional elections of 1866 and to a new phase of Reconstruction that would give African Americans a more active role in the political, economic and social life of the South. A Radical ChangeDuring the decade known as Radical Reconstruction (1867-77), Congress granted African American men the status and rights of citizenship, including the right to vote, as guaranteed by the 14th and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Beginning in 1867, branches of the Union League, which encouraged the political activism of African Americans, spread throughout the South. During the state constitutional conventions held in 1867-69, Black and white Americans stood side by side for the first time in political life. Scroll to Continue Black citizens made up the overwhelming majority of southern Republican voters, forming a coalition with “carpetbaggers” and “scalawags” (derogatory terms referring to recent arrivals from the North and southern white Republicans, respectively). A total of 265 African-American delegates were elected, more than 100 of whom had been born into slavery. Almost half of the elected Black delegates served in South Carolina and Louisiana, where Black people had the longest history of political organization; in most other states, African Americans were underrepresented compared to their population. In all, 16 African Americans served in the U.S. Congress during Reconstruction; more than 600 more were elected to the state legislatures, and hundreds more held local offices across the South. READ MORE: When Did African Americans Get the Right to Vote? Background & Risk of LeadershipMany Black leaders during Reconstruction had gained their freedom before the Civil War (by self-purchase or through the will of a deceased owner), had worked as skilled artisans or had served in the Union Army. A large number of Black political leaders came from the church, having worked as ministers during slavery or in the early years of Reconstruction, when the church served as the center of the Black community. Hiram Revels, the first African American elected to the U.S. Senate (he took the Senate seat from Mississippi that had been vacated by Jefferson Davis in 1861) was born free in North Carolina and attended college in Illinois. He worked as a preacher in the Midwest in the 1850s and as a chaplain to a Black regiment in the Union Army before going to Mississippi in 1865 to work for the Freedmen’s Bureau. Blanche K. Bruce, elected to the Senate in 1875 from Mississippi, had been enslaved but received some education. The background of these men was typical of the leaders that emerged during Reconstruction, but differed greatly from that of the majority of the African American population. As the most radical aspect of the so-called Radical Reconstruction period, the political activism of the African American community also inspired the most hostility from Reconstruction’s opponents. Southern whites frustrated with policies giving formerly enslaved the right to vote and hold office increasingly turned to intimidation and violence as a means of reaffirming white supremacy. The Ku Klux Klan targeted local Republican leaders and Black citizens who challenged their white employers, and at least 35 Black officials were murdered by the Klan and other white supremacist organizations during the Reconstruction era. READ MORE: How the 1876 Election Effectively Ended Reconstruction What conditions did African Americans in the South face?Hundreds of thousands of African Americans in the South faced new difficulties: finding a way to forge an economically independent life in the face of hostile whites, little or no education, and few other resources, such as money.
What was the role of African Americans in the South during the Civil War?Black soldiers served in artillery and infantry and performed all noncombat support functions that sustain an army, as well. Black carpenters, chaplains, cooks, guards, laborers, nurses, scouts, spies, steamboat pilots, surgeons, and teamsters also contributed to the war cause.
How did the Civil War transform or change the lives of African Americans?As a result of the Union victory in the Civil War and the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution (1865), nearly four million slaves were freed. The Fourteenth Amendment (1868) granted African Americans citizenship, and the Fifteenth Amendment (1870) guaranteed their right to vote.
Which statement best describes how African Americans in the South contributed to the Union war effort?Which statement best describes how African Americans in the South contributed to the Union war effort? African Americans staged work slowdowns.
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Which of the following best describes the situation of African Americans in the South in the years immediately following the Civil War?
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