Ultimately, in a post Civil War world, the Reconstruction Era was a time period to fully define what freedom meant in the United States. This meant that this era was filled with three main characteristics of transformation being political, social, and economic. All of these transformations and focuses had a direct connection to freedom as it was perceived in this time period for different factions. For many of those freed through the civil war, the uplifting of people of color to positions of power from the local to national level was a major stepping stone in the correct direction. Many states held a black majority, which led to many black leaders having their voices raised onto the national stage and establishing a freedom that was not present before the civil war. This loss of power from the Southern White demographic was seen as a loss of freedom, as their positions of power within the federal government were no longer seen as their own. This led to political movements within the south to try to circumvent people of color’s new rights and to suppress them. In the years of Reconstruction, violence would be frequent and targeted. The federal government attempted to intervene by passing acts in 1870 and 1871 which directly shifted power away from states to the federal government to properly punish “crimes that aimed to deprive citizens of their civil and political rights.” In the modern age, I cannot help but see parallels to this time period today. In the modern age, tactics such as vigilante voter-fraud reporting and heavy-handed voter rejections have become an enormous threat to the civil liberties of all citizens, but particularly are targeted towards minorities and people of color throughout the United states on a local level. This has had a tremendous effect on the freedoms of all Americans.
Returning to Reconstruction, Congress’ attempts at protecting people of color through legislation was met with a wave of different responses. Organized militia of disgruntled white Democrats continued to inflict fear and violence onto people of color as well as their political enemies. The Supreme Court continued to rule against Congress’ movements citing that their laws only had effects on states and not on that of private individuals. They first ruled this way in regards to the Colfax Massacre, and then again to the Civil Rights Acts of 1875. Ultimately, this had a direct impact in moving the United States further into segregation.
Returning to Reconstruction, Congress’ attempts at protecting people of color through legislation was met with a wave of different responses. Organized militia of disgruntled white Democrats continued to inflict fear and violence onto people of color as well as their political enemies. The Supreme Court continued to rule against Congress’ movements citing that their laws only had effects on states and not on that of private individuals. They first ruled this way in regards to the Colfax Massacre, and then again to the Civil Rights Acts of 1875. Ultimately, this had a direct impact in moving the United States further into segregation.