Unit 3
3.1 Did The Reconstruction Amendments Define Citizenship Or Help To
Create Limits On Citizenship?
Reconstruction and Black Politics
● During Reconstruction (1865-1877), the federal government sought to reintegrate
the former Confederate states and to establish and protect the rights of free and
formerly enslaved African Americans
○ Granting them citizenship, equal rights, and political representation in
American government
● The 13th Amendment (1865) officially abolished slavery, or involuntary servitude,
except as a punishment for a crime
● The 14th Amendment (1868) defined the principle of birthright citizenship in the
United States and granted equal protection to all people
○ Overturned the Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857) Supreme Court decision and
related state-level Black codes.
● The 15th Amendment (1870) prohibited the federal government and each state
from denying or abridging a citizen’s right to vote “on account of race, color, or
previous condition of servitude,” thereby granting voting rights to Black men
Required Source: Engraved Portrait
● Senator Hiram Revels - the first African American to serve in either house of the
U.S Congress
● James Rapier - founded Alabama’s first Black-owned newspaper and became
Alabama’s second Black representative
● Blanche K. Bruce - born enslaved, was the first African American elected to
serve a full term in the U.S Senate
● Joseph Rainey, born enslaved, was the first African American to serve in the
House of Representatives and to preside over a debate in the House, and the
longest-serving Black lawmaker in Congress during Reconstruction
● John Lynch - born enslaved - was elected as the first African American Speaker
of the Mississippi House of representatives, and he went on to be the only
African American in the following century to represent Mississippi in the House of
Representatives
13th Amendment - Ends Slavery
● Sharecropping enslaves blacks to the land
○ Debt Peonage (Debt Bondage) - by law person in debt becomes forced
labor
, ● Convict-Lease System - provides cheap slave labor for cotton planters, factories,
etc;
Video
● When was the 15th amendment ratified?
○ 1870
● What does the Amendment guarantee?
○ Gave black men the right to vote
○ Didn’t exactly guarantee all citizens the right to vote
● What was the immediate impact of the amendment?
○ Wasn’t specific enough to guarantee that all African Americans would
have the right to vote
■ States found ways to sidestep the 15th Amendment
● How did states suppress the black vote?
○ Grandfather clause
○ Poll taxes
● Why was the 1965 Voting Rights necessary?
○ It allowed for federal intervention in ensuring that black men were able to
vote
● What happened in 2013?
○ Supreme court ruling made it easier for states to restrict voting rights
without federal oversight
■ Was met with protests
3.2 How Was Black Love, Community, And Education Declared During
The Reconstruction Era?
Services of Freedmen’s Bureau
● Legalizing marriages
● Supplying necessities such as food and clothing
● Promoting education
● Witnessing labor contracts between the freedmen and plantation owners or other
employers
● Settling freedmen on abandoned or confiscated land
Reconstruction of the Black Family
● During the Reconstruction period of U.S History (1865-1877), many people who
had previously been enslaved tried to reunite with family members from whom
they had been separated by their enslavers. This collective search can be seen
as another kind of reconstruction - that of Black families.
● One federal agency that often assisted in this collective effort was the Bureau of
Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, commonly known as the
3.1 Did The Reconstruction Amendments Define Citizenship Or Help To
Create Limits On Citizenship?
Reconstruction and Black Politics
● During Reconstruction (1865-1877), the federal government sought to reintegrate
the former Confederate states and to establish and protect the rights of free and
formerly enslaved African Americans
○ Granting them citizenship, equal rights, and political representation in
American government
● The 13th Amendment (1865) officially abolished slavery, or involuntary servitude,
except as a punishment for a crime
● The 14th Amendment (1868) defined the principle of birthright citizenship in the
United States and granted equal protection to all people
○ Overturned the Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857) Supreme Court decision and
related state-level Black codes.
● The 15th Amendment (1870) prohibited the federal government and each state
from denying or abridging a citizen’s right to vote “on account of race, color, or
previous condition of servitude,” thereby granting voting rights to Black men
Required Source: Engraved Portrait
● Senator Hiram Revels - the first African American to serve in either house of the
U.S Congress
● James Rapier - founded Alabama’s first Black-owned newspaper and became
Alabama’s second Black representative
● Blanche K. Bruce - born enslaved, was the first African American elected to
serve a full term in the U.S Senate
● Joseph Rainey, born enslaved, was the first African American to serve in the
House of Representatives and to preside over a debate in the House, and the
longest-serving Black lawmaker in Congress during Reconstruction
● John Lynch - born enslaved - was elected as the first African American Speaker
of the Mississippi House of representatives, and he went on to be the only
African American in the following century to represent Mississippi in the House of
Representatives
13th Amendment - Ends Slavery
● Sharecropping enslaves blacks to the land
○ Debt Peonage (Debt Bondage) - by law person in debt becomes forced
labor
, ● Convict-Lease System - provides cheap slave labor for cotton planters, factories,
etc;
Video
● When was the 15th amendment ratified?
○ 1870
● What does the Amendment guarantee?
○ Gave black men the right to vote
○ Didn’t exactly guarantee all citizens the right to vote
● What was the immediate impact of the amendment?
○ Wasn’t specific enough to guarantee that all African Americans would
have the right to vote
■ States found ways to sidestep the 15th Amendment
● How did states suppress the black vote?
○ Grandfather clause
○ Poll taxes
● Why was the 1965 Voting Rights necessary?
○ It allowed for federal intervention in ensuring that black men were able to
vote
● What happened in 2013?
○ Supreme court ruling made it easier for states to restrict voting rights
without federal oversight
■ Was met with protests
3.2 How Was Black Love, Community, And Education Declared During
The Reconstruction Era?
Services of Freedmen’s Bureau
● Legalizing marriages
● Supplying necessities such as food and clothing
● Promoting education
● Witnessing labor contracts between the freedmen and plantation owners or other
employers
● Settling freedmen on abandoned or confiscated land
Reconstruction of the Black Family
● During the Reconstruction period of U.S History (1865-1877), many people who
had previously been enslaved tried to reunite with family members from whom
they had been separated by their enslavers. This collective search can be seen
as another kind of reconstruction - that of Black families.
● One federal agency that often assisted in this collective effort was the Bureau of
Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, commonly known as the
