Reconstruction In The 1800's

Reconstruction in the 1800’s can have a lot of different meanings. For some the reconstruction was the rejoining of the two sides that fought in the civil war, the North and the South. For others in government it was the presidential reconstruction after the death of Lincoln. Most importantly for some reconstruction mean finally being a free man with right and who could vote and provide for his family. The African Americans were a big part of reconstruction, just being freed by the passing of the thirteenth amendment which was adopted on December 6, 1865. This new law stated “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, nor
Most of these African Americans didn’t know how to be free and adapting to this new life was extremely difficult. These Freeman had to now face the difficult task of not only dealing with the racism of the white southerners living around then but also needed to get jobs. The freedman bureau was then created to try and help newly freed slaves get on their feet. The freedman bureau created March 3, 1865 main focus was to” provide food and medical care, to help the freedmen to resettle, to ensure justice for the freedmen, to manage abandoned or confiscated property, to regulate labor, and to establish schools.” Now that it was legal for these newly freed men to learn, establishing school in which they could learn was very important. These schools would help them learn trades and skills to help them get jobs. While the freedman’s bureau did not establish schools itself, it coordinated and helped to finance the activities of northern societies committed to black education. It is stated in the Voices of Freedom book written by Eric Foner that by the year 1969 only four years after the thirteenth amendment was passed nearly 3000 schools were established in the south. More impressive than that, these schools have more than 150000 pupils.
This amendment was the “heart” of Congress’ reaction to Johnson’s reconstruction plan and said that all people born in the United States are citizens. This upturned the 1857 Supreme Court decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford. In this case it stated that persons of African descent were not citizens and therefore not entitled to constitutional rights. On top of that it also prohibited states from revoking “life, liberty or property” without due process of law. Finally it required states to guarantee equal protection under the law. All states were required to ratify it. It was of course to get some of the southern states to ratify a law like this that on top of giving freedom to African Americans would also give them civil