Reconstruction and African American Rights

African American Population Concentrations in 1890

Alfred R. Waud. Mustered Out. Little Rock, Arkansas, April 20, Drawing. Chinese white on green paper. Published in Harper's Weekly, May 19, 1866.

Alfred Waud's drawing captures the exuberance of the Little Rock, Arkansas, African American community as the U. S. Colored Troops returned home at the end of the Civil War.

The Exodusters After the Civil War there was a general exodus of blacks from the South. These migrants became known as "Exodusters" and the migration became known as the "Exoduster" movement.

The Exodusters Some applied to be part of colonization projects to Liberia and locations outside the United States; others were willing to move north and west. Benjamin Singleton led an exodus of African Americans from various points in the South to Kansas.

Education During the Reconstruction Henry L. Stephens. [Elderly black man with spectacles reading a newspaper by candlelight]. Watercolor, ca In this image, one aged man is reading a newspaper with the headline, "Presidential Proclamation, Slavery."

Education During the Reconstruction At emancipation, only a small percentage of African Americans knew how to read and write. By the turn of the twentieth century the majority of African Americans could read and write.

Education During the Reconstruction Many classrooms were filled with both young and old, grandfathers with their children and grandchildren, all eager to learn.

James E. Taylor. "The Freedmen's Union Industrial School, Richmond, Va.“ From Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, September 22, 1866.

Northern teachers, many of whom were white women, traveled into the South to provide education and training for the newly freed population

African Americans Vote! The Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified March 30, 1870, provided that all male citizens were entitled to vote. Because the black population was so large in many parts of the South, whites were fearful of their participation in the political process.

African Americans Vote! Radical Republicans in the U.S. Congress were determined that African Americans be accorded all of the rights of citizenship. Alfred R. Waud. "The First Vote." From Harper's Weekly, November 16, Copyprint.

African American Republicans Legislators Elected to Congress, 1872

Reconstruction Amendments 13th Amendment (1865) Ends slavery 14th Amendment( ) Extends citizenship rights: “privileges and immunities,” “due process,” equal protection” 15th Amendment ( ) Protects and ensures right to vote