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Presentation U.S. History Primary Source Timeline
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Presentation U.S. History Primary Source TimelineWhen the Civil War ended, leaders turned to the question of how to reconstruct the nation. One important issue was the right to vote, and the rights of black American men and former Confederate men to vote were hotly debated. In the latter half of the 1860s, Congress passed a series of acts designed to address the question of rights, as well as how the Southern states would be governed. These
acts included the act creating the Freedmen's Bureau, the Civil Rights Act of 1866, and several Reconstruction Acts. The Reconstruction Acts established military rule over Southern states until new governments could be formed. They also limited some former Confederate officials' and military officers' rights to vote and to run for public office. (However, the latter provisions were only temporary and soon rescinded for almost all of those affected by them.) Meanwhile, the Reconstruction acts
gave former male slaves the right to vote and hold public office. Congress also passed two amendments to the Constitution. The Fourteenth Amendment made African-Americans citizens and protected citizens from discriminatory state laws. Former Confederate states did not get congressional representation until they adopted this amendment. The Fifteenth Amendment guaranteed African American men the right to vote. Most of the documents in this section are related to the right to vote and
how voting actually occurred in Southern states. Other rights are also discussed in some of the documents. As you read the documents, weigh the various arguments that are made. Also, look for similarities with issues or concerns that have been raised in more recent U.S. history. Part of
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How was the national government affected by the Civil War?The Civil War and its wartime Congresses gave birth to many of the pillars of the modern federal government. The government sold bonds for the first time and Congress approved the first national banking system. The Agriculture Department was born to help farmers.
What effects did the Civil War have on the relationship between the federal government and the states?The Civil War confirmed the single political entity of the United States, led to freedom for more than four million enslaved Americans, established a more powerful and centralized federal government, and laid the foundation for America's emergence as a world power in the 20th century.
How did the Civil War change the power and authority of the federal government?The process of emancipation during the war forced the national government to assume powers that few Americans would have granted it before the conflict. Ensuring freedom in the postwar period required still greater expansions of federal authority, mostly under the auspices of new civil rights legislation.
How did the Civil War and Reconstruction alter power relationships between the states and the federal government?How did the Civil War and Reconstruction alter power relationships between the states and the federal government and among the three branches of the federal government? - Overall, legislature increased in power and influence while executive (vetoes) and judicial (military reconstruction) temporarily subordinated.
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