In 1867, Congress passed the Reconstruction Act even when President Johnson vetoed this Act. President Johnson wanted the Southern States to make up the new constitution and to not change anything. (To still not give the African American's political rights.) By having Johnson trying to change that Act constantly, The House of representatives had him promise he would sit out the rest of his term. Next, Ulysses S. Grant became president in 1868. If it wasn't for the African American's, he wouldnt have had enough votes. Due to him, the 15th Amendment was made. (No one could be denied to vote due to their race.)
Ten years after the reconstruction ended, African Americans still voted. But by the 20th century, the Southern States got policies to weaken the rights of the African Americans. Whites grew tired of the Reconstruction and thought that the Africans should be able take car of themselves. To get the Civil War and Reconstruction problems in the past, another anti-black terrorism occured and President Grant couldnt intervene.
Southerners took control and made voting restrictions. People could only vote if they could read, pay a poll tax annually, and pass a literacy test. What wasn't fair at all was that when blacks tried taking the test, they got asked harder questions and sometimes in a different language. (Officials chose whether they wanted to pass them or not.) Also, mostly all blacks couldnt afford to pay the tax to vote.
If whites did not pass the test or couldnt pay the tax, they could apply to the grandfather clause. This states that if you have a father or grandfather that was eligible to vote before 1867, then they could vote. Since this was the beginning of when blacks could vote, this means that this clause can not apply to any blacks.
I think the Reconstruction was a good time for the African Americans thanks to President Grant, but yet it ended badly by the Southern States so they lost all of their rights again. This was a very important time in history!
http://www.westga.edu/~hgoodson/Reconstruction.htm
http://lams.slcusd.org/pages/teachers/negranti/battleprojects06/harrisonweb/grant.html
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