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Reconstruction and Westward Expansion

The Basics - The following content has appeared on most New York examinations

• The Reconstruction Period (1865 - 1894) was the period follow the Civil War where the United States government was attempting to rebuild the country, both physically and mentally, from the damage caused by the Civil War. The South did not trust the North and all, and the U.S. Congress, led by Radical Republicans in the House of Representatives, sought to punish the South for the war and to bring African American issues to the forefront.

• The Radical Republicans in Congress banned Southerners from taking their seats in Congress. As a result, they were able to pass several laws and amendments that on one hand were designed to assist the freedmen (freed slaves) and on the other punish southern whites for their role in the Civil War. The 13 Amendment freed all slaves in the United States. The 14th Amendment stated that blacks were entitiled to the same rights as whites. The 15th Amendment gauranteed black males over 21 the right to vote.

• White southerners did everything they could to stop freedmen from gaining equality in society. Southern local governments created poll taxes, literacy tests, and grandfather clauses to rig elections. The also passed Jim Crow laws - rules that separated the races in public places. For example, blacks were not permitted to attend white restaurants and theatres. Another method used to keep blacks from gaining their rights was to create a secret group called the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), which sought to intimidate blacks and those who supported them. The KKK burned Freedmen's Bureau schools, black churches, and beat blacks who attempted to vote in elections.

• Plessy v. Ferguson (1894) - Blacks felt that Jim Crow laws violated their rights and looked to the courts to have them thrown out. Homer Plessy, a man of mixed race, took Jim Crow to court when he was forced to sit in a black section of a train. However, Supreme Court ruled that "separate but equal" was legal, and therefore, Jim Crow laws could stand. The court felt that equal meant that both blacks and whites had access to something, not that they had to be of equal quality. Thus, blacks are forced to use inferior schools, public facilities, and public transportation for years to come. Plessy v. Feguson is overruled by the Brown v. Board of Education case in 1954.

• The transcontinental railroad allowed for much faster cross country travel. Raw materials from the west were shipped to factories in the east, who, in return, sent finshed goods to people in the west. People began to move west in larger and larger numbers. However, this hurt the Native Americans living in the Great Plains. As all of the train traffic increased, the Buffalo population dropped dramatically. In addition, Plains Indians were forced to live on reservations inconsistent with their lifestyle and culture.