Mrs. Ruland's U.S. History Class Project
African American Rights during Reconstruction
During the Reconstruction there were many shifts in African American Rights and social status. The Reconstruction officially began in 1867 with the passing of the Reconstruction Acts. The Freedman’s Bureau was created to try to help African Americans exercise and settle with their newly acquired liberties. When African Americans were freed, past slave owners and other southerners established Black Codes. Black Codes imposed many unfair restrictions on the newly freed African Americans; often times stripping them of all the new freedoms they have gained. In 1867 African Americans were granted citizenship for the United States with the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment. In 1870 the Fifteenth Amendment was ratified in the benefit of African Americans in the United States. The Amendment guaranteed African Americans the right to vote. In 1875 African Americans were given the right to all public facilities with the approval of the Civil Rights Act. Even with all these new regulations and laws to help African Americans gain equality there was still plenty of resistance from white communities. The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was set on terrorizing the African Americans and placing intense fear within them when they tried to use their new rights. At the end of Reconstruction the Jim Crow Laws were past to suppress the newfound freedoms of African Americans. The laws set unfair segregation between whites and blacks in the United States. Reconstruction was a slow start towards African American liberation.
Reconstruction:
The web site talks about the repression African Americans faced because of the Jim Crow Laws. It discuss' the history of Jim Crow laws and why they were passed. This web site is very informing and was created for education purposes.
This web site gives a brief overview of Reconstruction. It also states the steps taken to give and protect African American rights during Reconstruction. It describes all of the problems African Americans faced.
Reconstruction: Radical Reconstruction
This web site describes the efforts put forth for and against African Americans during the Reconstruction. It describes policies, black codes, political protection and advances, and goes a little into the repression of African Americans new liberties. This web site is informative but short
America's Reconstruction: People and Politics After the Civil War
This web site explains the freedoms African Americans gained during the Reconstruction. It is also a great web site discussing African American political role. The web site is very educational and has detailed information about African Americans during Reconstruction.
Reconstruction: Change and Continuity in Daily Life
This web site is a great source about the daily on goings of African Americans lives during the Reconstruction. The new lives of African Americans after they gained their new freedoms changed quite a lot, yet it still had major drawbacks. The Reconstruction web site is very informative.
Reconstruction: America first attempt to integrate
This source discuss’ the policies of integration that had just begun during the Reconstruction. Attempts to integrate African Americans into the educational and the political spectrum are big themes of the web site It also goes into the unfair opposition like black codes that tried to suppress African Americans new liberties.
Jim Crow Laws:
The web site talks about the repression African Americans faced because of the Jim Crow Laws. It discusses the history of Jim Crow laws and why they were passed. This web site is very informing and was created for education purposes.
This web site gives a detailed timeline of the different historical events that happened during the time that the Jim Crow laws were in place It also shares different stories, videos, and photographs of what people faced during the Jim Crow laws. This source was very informative, giving a lot of information about the Jim Crow laws.
Black Codes:
This web site on Black Codes is good to use when learning about the policies and advancements of the codes. Also, you can find information on the expansion of the codes into the Civil Rights Bill and people's personal reactions and experiences with the codes.
This web site was very informative because it included the creation of the Black Codes and what the Black Codes restricted. It includes how African Americans were restricted to agricultural labor and domestic labor. This site did not contain an author, and therefore information on this source should be compared to a more reliable source.
Ku Klux Klan:
This source describes how the Klan was discovered and how it grew to become a large organization. Also, the web site tells the methods of violence the Klansmen used. This is a PBS source, with a known author and therefore a very reliable source to use.
The Ku Klux Klan During Reconstruction
This web site goes into detail about the Ku Klux Klan and their struggles and aims during the reconstruction. Also, you can learn about the relationship the Klansmen had with the republicans. This site represents the Alabama Department of Archives and History, a professional, reliable source.
The Freedman's Bureau:
This web site describes how the Freedmen’s Bureau was run and the members of the Bureau. It is good for learning about the discrimination towards African Americans. The site also describes major accomplishments of the Bureau and how Howard University came to be.
Freedman's Bureau: Brief Overview
This source goes into further detail concerning the start of the Bureau and how it came together. In addition, the web site is very good at explaining what the Bureau did to better the lives of the African Americans they set out to help.
Last updated March 28, 2008
© Marcella Ruland 1998-2008, All rights reserved
