7.5 - Supporting Question 5
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Compelling Questions: How would NC be different if it had stayed with the Union? |
Supporting Question 5: Why and how did Reconstruction end? |
Introduction
After the Civil War, the US Congress enacted military reconstruction, whereby the US Army occupied former Confederate states until they met the requirements for readmission into the Union, including abolishing slavery and ratifying the 13th Amendment. Congress also established the Freedman’s Bureau to advocate for rights and services for the formerly enslaved peoples of the American South. Between 1870-1876, in North Carolina, 30 African American legislators held political office. However, opponents of Reconstruction worked to reverse the political order and a series of Black Codes were eventually established to limit the new Constitutional rights of African Americans to equal protection under the law (14th Amendment) and the right to vote (15th Amendment). In this section of the module, students will study the discourse of Reconstruction and the failure of the political leadership of the state to resist white supremacy.
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