History Unfiltered with Noel Edge

history · EN

In this episode of "History Unfiltered," Noel Edge considers whether a success or failure of Reconstruction in regards to ensuring citizenship among former slaves and finds it to be a combination of both. "The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments fundamentally redefined America’s Constitution by banning slavery, providing citizenship, and securing voting rights," begins an explanation of how these amendments allowed "African Americans to have a brief moment of real political power voting, holding office, establishing institutions, and reuniting families," but Noel continues to describe how this burst of progress "was soon followed by an angry backlash in the form of white supremacist groups, ‘Black Codes,’ and such rulings in the Supreme Court [_Breedon v. South Carolina] as to undermine civil rights laws, culminating in Jim Crow legislation which revoked an equal share of rights to black Americans," failing in creating a permanent change in America but with this step being "an impor