Response and Issues After the Civil War

After the Civil War, Black Codes were passed in the South limiting the former slave’s rights severely. The Northerners reacted to this by passing The Civil Rights Act of 1866. The Civil Rights Act gave former slaves the right to citizenship, so that the laws that applied to them were the same ones that applied to others. Andrew Johnson, the president of the time, did not share a lot of Lincoln’s views and believes in the states rights. He vetoed The Civil Rights Act but Congress overrides it, creating tension between the Congress and President. The congress, knowing that the Civil Rights Act would not be enough to help support the former slaves, set up the Freedmen’s Bureau. The Freedmen’s Bureau gave support to the former slaves, offered them education, and gave land to the freed men that was taken from the Southerners. This caused race riots in the South and threatened race supremacy.