Discrimination Against African Americans

Words: 1083
Pages: 5

African Americans had a constant history of struggles with slavery, racism, and prejudices. However, after the end of the civil war in 1865, congress hoped that some of these problems would wither away and settled down by adding the thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth amendment to the Constitution which is also was known as the Reconstruction laws. The 13th amendment was ratified on December 6, 1865, that officially abolishes slavery in the United States. The 14th amendment came upon on July 28, 1868, which granted full citizenship to the former slaves. Lastly, the 15th amendment was ratified on February 3, 1870, which granted African American men, (not women) the right to vote. Even though African Americans were promised citizenship, it was still as though they were treated unequally. This can bring up the question “Did slavery really go away in the U.S.?” Unfortunately, the South had a very difficult time accepting African Americans as being equal to them. Therefore, they did anything they could to prevent integration of races. Many laws were passed …show more content…
There were also a white supremacist movement with the goal of racial segregation. This white supremacist group was known the Ku Klux Klan, whose members were former Confederate Civil War veterans. They were America’s first terrorist groups against African Americans to keep them from using their civil rights such as voting. However, they did not only target African Americans, but targeted the Republican party. The KKK were dedicated to reach their goals through harsh and extreme violence. An example of this would be lynching, which is usually done by hanging without any type of process of law. This became the most popular form of whites releasing their anger towards ending slavery. Congress passed the Force Bill in 1871 giving the President the authority to use troops against this terrorist