Were African Americans free during the Reconstruction period?
As far as not being bought and sold, yes, they were "free". But they had basically been dumped, with no money, no education, no property, and no place to go to except the same landowners who simply replaced slavery with a form of peonage called "sharecropping". There was an idea to divide the plantation land among the former slaves called "40 Acres and a Mule", but that was killed by President Andrew Johnson, who declared America is a white man's country, and would stay that way. There was a time of black advancement under Reconstruction; Public schools were opened. Blacks got the right to vote and some were elected to Congress. There was even a Civil Rights Law similar to the one enacted in 1964. But this was effective only was long as the South was occupied by Federal troops, who were fighting against the Ku Klux Klan and like terrorrist groups. In 1876, the presidential Election was deadlocked, and rutherford Hayes withdrew the troops in return for the Southern States approving his election. With no protection, the recently freed slaves were at the mercy of the former Confederates, who immediately chased them out of the voting booths and schools and imposed a form of Apartheid and semi - slavery that would last another century.
What effect did Reconstruction have on African Americans?
I don't think they were worse off but some liberated slaves had a hard time trying to find subsistence. By the way, Los Angeles was founded in 1781.
Did Native Americans vote after the Reconstruction?
The 14th Amendment contains the clause "Excluding Indians who are not taxed" when talking about headcount for determining representatives in government. That was interpreted at the time as being exclusive for the status of Indians as citizens. An 1884 Supreme Court decision (in addition to the Dred Scott decision) stated that citizenship for Indians was primarily for their home nations and is to be treated as separate from U.S. citizenship. It wasn't until 1924 when they were defined as having full citizenship. It should be noted that the 1924 decision was technically a clarification of what the 14th Amendment actually says, as we can see it now. Until then it was interpreted in a way that was as discriminatory at possible. So to answer your question, yes the 14th Amendment technically applied to Native Americans, but no, the U.S. government saw fit to interpret it differently, so they were denied the right to vote unless they went through a formal Naturalization process like any other immigrant group.
How much better off were african americans after reconstruction than they had been before the civil war?
as above, he is right
What kind of conditions did many African Americans in the South live in after Reconstruction?
They lived in absolute, grinding poverty. Remember, 4 million slaves were released by the 13th amendment with no idea how to take care of themselves or what it was like to hold a job, raise a family, and be a citizen (which they became by the 14th amendment), and the 15th amendment gave them the right to vote which they had no clue as to how it worked. The southern whites passed Jim Crows laws which were designed to keep the races separate. Eventually, the African-Americans began to function and question the Jim Crow laws - those who did usually died because no all-white jury was going to convict a white for killing a black. There were those who tried to help the blacks, but there were not enough to make a difference. In 1910 the NAACP was organized to aid the ex-slaves cause, but made little headway, because no president stepped forward to even try to help the blacks until FDR did in the 1930s, but he was engaged in fighting the Great Depression. Not until the 1950s and 1960s did Civil Rights legislation begin to make a change in segregation. In the 1940s and early 1950s blacks were still being killed by whites with no jury convicting the white that murdered the blacks. Emmett Till and Rosa Parks incidents were the beginning of any social just for the blacks, no matter how much education they had or how truly smart many of them were at every level of society.
Did Radical Reconstruction secure full equality for African Americans as American citizens? Explain.?
1. Did Radical Reconstruction secure full equality for African Americans as American citizens? Explain. 2. Explain why the fourteenth amendment needed to include a clause ensuring state citizenship. I can't find the answers to these two questions. Anyone have any idea? D:
When were African-Americans allowed to become police officers?
According to W. Marvin Dulaney's book, Black Police in America, many Southern cities had black police officers shortly after Reconstruction. New Orleans PD seems to have led the pack in terms of numbers of black officers. The greater the black population in a city, the more likely there would be black officers appointed. Although the black officers were uniformed and on the payrolls like white officers, their police powers were restricted to black-occupied areas of town and to black citizens. With a few exceptions, it wasn't until well into the 20th Century that black police officers were allowed to arrest or otherwise take enforcement action against whites.