l rights that is generally indicated by popular belief. By this understanding, that is that the abandonment of African-Americans did not constitute a drastic change of moral position for many people in the North, it is easier to understand their subsequent actions in ignoring the plight of African-Americans in the South after the Reconstruction era.5An example of one to these overlooked historical facts would be that there were still slaves in the nations capital in 1860; and, at that time, the President-elect, Abraham Lincoln, offered, to support a constitutional amendment to insulate the institution of slavery in the slave states from federal interference.6The same President abolished slavery in the South with the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, and it was abolished on a nationwide level in 1865 by constitutional amendment. By statute, African-Americans received the basic civil rights to make and enforce contracts; to acquire, hold, and dispose of property; and to equal applications of criminal laws in 1866. These rights were constitutionalized in 1868. African-Americans did not acquire the right to vote till 1870.7There was enormous resistance from forces in the South throughout these years, these reforms were not easily instituted; yet, the movement toward real equality ended in 1870. In that year, Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts introduced a bill which, had it been passed unchanged, would have abolished racial discrimination and segregation in public schools, cemeteries, railroads...inns..and the exclusion of citizens from jury service on the basis of race. Unfortunately, this final triumph of the Reconstruction met with defeat.8This was because the country, as a whole, not just the South, was tired of the ongoing crusade for civil rights. A representative from Delaware, on the floor of the Senate, even questioned if the Fourteenth Amendment had any illegal or binding force in law. This same representative then made a s...
