They elected around 24 former slaves to the Constitutional Convention. On October 22, 1867, blacks were allowed to vote in Virginia for the first time. Virginia was the only state to not be joined with another for military reconstruction and was under the command of General John Schofield. The rest of the Confederacy was split up under the rule of former Union generals. Tennessee was the only state exempt from military reconstruction because it had a large number of Union supporters and had met most of the Radical Republicans' demands for reconstruction. This new influx of voters led to the Republican control of a traditionally Democratic south. Most of these were either poor whites or former slaves. This could only be done after new public officials were elected that had pledged their loyalty to the Union. Each state was also required to ratify the 13th and 14th Amendments after drafting new state constitutions. Each district was placed under military leadership and new elections were held with voting only allowed by Congress' approved voters, which were mostly former slaves. These acts divided the south into five military districts. With the Radical Republicans fully in control of Congress after the mid-term elections of 1866, they quickly passed the Military Reconstruction Acts of 1867.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |