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Black Codes
Black codes were created to control the the newly freed slaves. These codes included that African Americans could not own or rent farms. They could also have been miss treated by there bosses and still not protected by law. Black Codes allowed police to fine or arrest blacks who didnt have jobs. -
Civil Rights Act of 1866
The civil rights act of 1866 ruled that African Americans were citizens of the United States. It also alowed the US government to protect the African Americans by getting involved in state affairs. The radical republicans created this law to go against the black codes. The new President johnson vetoed the bill because he thought that federal government would have too much power.
The republicans than overcame the veto and got the bill passed. -
The first and second Reconstruction Acts
The first reconsruction act required that the 10 states that had not ratified the 14th Amendment had to form new states governments. If they did not do that, the state would be separated into 5 military districts and those disricts would be goveerned by an army. The armies would leave once a new government was formed. The second reconstruction act empowered the militatry to get the men in each state to vote. -
14th Amendment
The fourteenth amendment had many parts to it. The first stated that if you were born in the United States, you were a citizen. The second part says that if the state does not allow an adult male from voting, one of the representtives in congress for that state would have to leave. The third section says that the state cannot take of the citizens rights away without going to court. -
The Fifteenth Amendment
The fifteenth amendment basically stated that any man could vote if they wanted to. The law states that if a man wants to vote, the government in that state can not deny him because of race, color or involvement in war. After this amendment passed, the republicans felt that they had fufilled their part in the reconsruction.
