The strengthening of the government:
The Reconstruction Act
A map of the five military districts most of the former Confederacy was split into after the Civil War.
-The Reconstruction Act divided the former Confederate States of America into five military districts, therefore allowing the government to use the army to protect property and life.
-The Reconstruction Act further strengthened the government since it enabled the government to carry out its plan for the creation of the new state governments that would eventually take shape in the former Confederacy, essentially allowing the government to determine how the new state governments in the former Confederacy would form, and giving the government a large amount of control over their state constitutions.
-The Reconstruction Act further strengthened the government since it enabled the government to carry out its plan for the creation of the new state governments that would eventually take shape in the former Confederacy, essentially allowing the government to determine how the new state governments in the former Confederacy would form, and giving the government a large amount of control over their state constitutions.
The Enforcement Acts
An illustration of African Americans attempting to vote.
-The Enforcement Acts expanded the President’s power to stop attempts to intimidate voters, allowed the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, and included a two year army appropriation bill, extending the time period allowing the government to use the army to enforce its laws.
-This act also allowed the government to put into effect a criminal code for elections, which the government had created, and allowed the President to appoint election officials equipped with the power to bring cases of violations of the criminal code for elections to federal courts. This gave the government increased control and influence over elections.
The Ku Klux Klan Act
President Ulysses S. Grant signing the Ku Klux Klan Act.
-The passage of the Ku Klux Klan Act allowed the government for the first time to hold individuals punishable under federal law if they committed certain crimes.
-The Ku Klux Klan Act also allowed the government to militarily intervene and once again suspend the writ of habeas corpus if states failed to appropriately respond to attempts to take from citizens their right to vote, hold office, serve on juries, and have equal protection of the law. In other words it allowed the government to personally intervene to stop violence intruding upon civil and political rights, whereas before this was left mainly to local law enforcement officials.
-The Ku Klux Klan Act also allowed the government to militarily intervene and once again suspend the writ of habeas corpus if states failed to appropriately respond to attempts to take from citizens their right to vote, hold office, serve on juries, and have equal protection of the law. In other words it allowed the government to personally intervene to stop violence intruding upon civil and political rights, whereas before this was left mainly to local law enforcement officials.
The Jurisdiction and Removal Act
-The Jurisdiction and Removal Act transferred cases involving the rights of citizens based upon the Constitution or National law from state courts to federal courts, thus expanding the power of the federal judiciary.