Reconstruction

 Reconstruction was a turbulent time in American history, where people were unsure about almost everything, The question was, now that the north had won, what was going to happen to the south. 

And that question was first answered by the man that had won the war for the north Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln came up with a plan that would in essence bring the south in with open arms, let the people of the south rebuild their cities and homes and allow them to rejoin the union. 

All of this was going to change when Lincoln was assassinated. Lincoln left behind a house and a senate that was all about punishing the south and making them pay for leaving the union. The south was broken up into 5 districts and was monitored and governed by military leaders from the north. Each state would be forced to ratify the 13th and 14th amendments and they would all have to create new state constitutions, that the people of the state would vote on and ratify. This would be for the first time, African Americans were given the ability to vote. 

The differences in ideas would change once more when President Johnson came up with a plan himself, He was the middle ground between lincoln and the radical Republicans in the other branches of our federal government. Johnson wanted to give some freedoms back to the people of the south and this included giving them land back that was seized by the government, and this is also part of the reason why we saw laws like the Jim Crowe laws. Johnson did not believe in protecting African Americans' rights, and it was evident in the actions were taken in the south to move around the 14th and 15th Amendments.