The period between 1863 and 1866 gave hope to American society, especially members of the African American community. From the Emancipation Proclamation to the Thirteenth Amendment, the formerly enslaved Blacks were granted an opportunity to experience the freedom provided for in the US Constitution. These tremendous strides were a platform for blacks to reclaim their rightful place in American society. The Reconstruction redefined the citizen value for the African Americans as they could contest in elections, exercise their voting rights, and establish meaningful development projects. Members of the Black society thus utilized the opportunity provided by the Reconstruction to redefine their economic, social, and political position in the society.
Reconstruction gave the black the first major mass democratic participation. In 1860, the blacks were only allowed to vote equally as the whites 1 . However, after Congress in 1867 forced the southern states to eradicate racial discrimination, African Americans began to win elections across the southern region. It is from this precedence that the South was gradually transformed from a white-dominated and proslavery region to an African American led region. The different congressional Reconstruction Acts provided an opportunity for many black men to vote, and in 1868 many black delegates participated in constitutional conventions 2 . During these conventions, African Americans were able to advance their agendas for equal development. The foundation established by Reconstruction allowed blacks to establish public schools, hospitals, orphanages, and mental asylums. Also, African Americans were able to serve at different levels of government during this era. For example, Hiram Revels and Blanche K. Bruce were elected as the US Senators, while over ten men served in the House of Representatives 3 4 . With such strides, the African Americans had cemented several pillars of equality in American society.
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Therefore, it is apposite to conclude that the Reconstruction era allowed blacks to redefine the foundation for their freedom. This they accomplished by taking deliberate actions such as agitating for equal voting rights and establishing several progressive development endeavors in the states where they were the majority.
Footnotes
Abernathy, C., Bauer, J., Caires, M., Crabtree, M., Hayashida-Knight, C., & Kinslow, K. et al. (2018). 15. Reconstruction . Americanyawp.com. Retrieved 2 September 2020, from www.americanyawp.com/text/15-reconstruction/ .
Library of Congress, (n.d.). Reconstruction and its Aftermath, a part of the African American Odyssey exhibition, is about the difficulty free blacks faced during the reconstruction period. Memory.loc.gov. Retrieved 2 September 2020, from memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/exhibit/aopart5.html.
Puckett, J. (2020). Cultivating Spaces for American Citizenship in Pauline Hopkins’s Contending Forces.
1 Abernathy C., Bauer J. Caires, M. Crabtree, M., Hayashida-Knight, C., & Kinslow, K. et al. (2018). 15. Reconstruction . Americanyawp.com. Retrieved 2 September 2020, from www.americanyawp.com/text/15-reconstruction/ .
2 Abernathy C., Bauer, J., Caires, M., Crabtree, M., Hayashida-Knight, C., & Kinslow, K. et al. (2018). 15. .
3 Puckett, J. (2020). Cultivating Spaces for American Citizenship in Pauline Hopkins’s Contending Forces.
4 Library of Congress (n.d.). Reconstruction and its Aftermath, a part of the African American Odyssey exhibition, is about the difficulty free blacks faced during the reconstruction period. Memory.loc.gov. Retrieved 2 September 2020, from memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/exhibit/aopart5.html.
