American Civil War: Aftermath
Even after the Civil War ended and the Confederacy surrendered to the Union, the South did not give up their prejudices and beliefs toward the war and its reason. In fact, as soon as the war ended, one Confederate supporter assassinated our very own former president, President Lincoln during a theatre production he and his wife had gone to see. Following the death of the great president, the vice president Andrew Johnson took office. Johnson was also on the Confederate side in spirit and did whatever he could to stop the Republicans who wanted to give the African Americans rights and have them get treated fairly. Also, lots of Southern states hastily made state laws about returning ex slaves to their masters or having African Americans become enslaved to owners by taking away their rights to travel and move away from their masters. Since President Johnson didn't take any action to protect the African Americans who were being abused by Southerners, so Congress decided to do something. Congress passed a series of bills, amendments, and laws such as the Reconstruction Act of 1867 and Amendments 13-15. The Reconstruction Act of 1867 stated that schools and military protection be mounted every where around the South for African Americans and also stated that to be readmitted into the Union the Confederate states would have to approve the state constitutions that Congress made for them which included approving. The Amendments 13-15 banished slavery and gave every race American citizenship and the right to vote. Reconstruction started out as a success, but when it was time for the election of the 19th President, the voting turned out as a tie and Congress was left to the decision. Rutherford B. Hayes became the 19th President of the United States due to agreeing to terms set by Congress, which included releasing troops protecting the rights and safety of African Americans from where they were mounted. After becoming President, Hayes did just that and the African Americans' last hope of progressing in the economy and society dashed. The next few generations were worse in their prejudice and racism which leads to the 1960s in which Martin Luther King Jr. begins another Civil Rights Revolution for African Americans.