The Aftermath
Date: Adopted in 1865-1870. Still in effect.
Intent: To ensure that the emancipated Slaves would be granted freedom. In addition, bring the Confederate states back into the Union.
Following the Civil War, many Blacks were freed by Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. In addition, male African American were made into citizens through the 14th Amendment and granted the right to participate in politics by the 15th Amendment.
Result: African Americans were freed and males granted voting rights. In addition, the Union was taking steps to gradually readmit the Confederate States in a way so that they would not be able to bring back Slavery in the United States. This effort is led by the Radical Republicans. However, as for the freedemn, their lives didn't immediately turn for the better. Local legislation created Black Codes to limit African Americans. In addition, the practice of Sharecropping made it so that Blacks became basically slaves with meager pay that depends on the land owner. As for the African Americans' right to vote, the South also set policies to prevent them from voting such as property or literacy requirements. They knew that most of the freedmen were too poor to own property or educated enough to read. So this allowed them to pevent most African Americans from voting. In addition, there were also extremist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan that terrorized Blacks if they wanted to vote.
This event helped shape the American identity as it made it into law that slavery was no longer accepted in the United States and that people of a different race is able to become a citizen.
Even though women did not attain voting rights and that African Americans were still being discriminated, it is a major step for the United States as it moved towards greater equality and freedom with it the idea of Human Rights for all.
