130-617: The Reconstruction Acts , or the Military Reconstruction Acts (March 2, 1867, 14 Stat. 428-430, c.153; March 23, 1867, 15 Stat. 2-5, c.6; July 19, 1867, 15 Stat. 14-16, c.30; and March 11, 1868, 15 Stat. 41, c.25), were four statutes passed during the Reconstruction Era by the 40th United States Congress addressing the requirement for Southern States to be readmitted to the Union . The actual title of
260-646: A Reconstruction belief that the government could protect civil and political rights . In the American Civil War , eleven Southern states, all of which permitted slavery , seceded from the United States following the election of Lincoln to the presidency and formed the Confederate States of America . Though Lincoln initially declared secession "legally void" and declined to negotiate with Confederate delegates to Washington, following
390-537: A card in the mail before each election which shows the date, time and local polling place; it may only be presented at the designated local polling station. Only citizens may vote in national elections, while long-time residents may vote in local and regional elections. Permanent address within Denmark is required in order to vote. Voting is voluntary. Every citizen has a personal identification code assigned since birth. Every citizen becomes automatically eligible to vote
520-409: A change of address. Changing the address in the register automatically notifies other public bodies (for example the tax district for local taxation, the social security authorities, the conscription authorities), making the process of moving residence very simple. All eligible voters receive a card in the mail before each election which shows the date, time and local polling place. Voters are assigned to
650-813: A component of Reconstruction, the Interior Department ordered a meeting of representatives from all Indian tribes who had affiliated with the Confederacy. The council, the Southern Treaty Commission , was first held in Fort Smith, Arkansas in September 1865, and was attended by hundreds of Native Americans representing dozens of tribes. Over the next several years the commission negotiated treaties with tribes that resulted in additional re-locations to Indian Territory and
780-628: A devastating economic and material impact on the South, where most combat occurred. The enormous cost of the Confederate war effort took a high toll on the region's economic infrastructure. The direct costs in human capital , government expenditures, and physical destruction totaled $ 3.3 billion. By early 1865, the Confederate dollar had nearly zero value, and the Southern banking system
910-513: A district based on the official address of residence per 30 June in the election year. Elections are normally held the 2nd Monday of September. Voters may vote early in any district in the country, usually at City Hall or similar, or in embassies and consulates abroad. Early voting starts in July, and ends about a week before election day. Only citizens may vote in national elections, while longtime residents may vote in local and regional elections. Voting
1040-436: A letter in the mail to their registered address prior to election Sunday showing the date, time and local polling place, which is almost invariably the nearest school or the town hall in very small towns without a school. Polling may also be done at a Spanish diplomatic mission if residing overseas. All absentee and early voting ballots are sent physically to the registered local polling station for counting and double checking
1170-594: A low of $ 80 in 1879. By the end of the 19th century and well into the 20th century, the South was locked into a system of poverty. How much of this failure was caused by the war and by previous reliance on slavery remains the subject of debate among economists and historians. In both the North and South, modernization and industrialization were the focus of the post-war recovery, built on the growth of cities, railroads, factories, and banks and led by Radical Republicans and former Whigs. From its origins, questions existed as to
1300-484: A national identity document. No separate voter registration: all eligible voters receive an invitation with a poll card using the national Civil registration (Basic Registry of Persons). Voters must present a valid ID that has not expired for more than 5 years at the polling station. Eligibility varies depending on the type of election. For national and provincial elections, only Dutch civilians are permitted to vote, while for European Parliament elections one has to have
1430-603: A new state constitution, which would have to be approved by Congress. These constitutions would have to enfranchise the freedmen and abolish the Black Codes. A key addition of the Acts included the creation of five military districts in the South, each commanded by a general, which would serve as the highest authority for the region, though few generals were actively involved in day-to-day affairs, especially after new constitutions were passed. The states were also required to ratify
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#17327730394071560-796: A policy of "malice toward none" announced in his second inaugural address, Lincoln asked voters only to support the Union in the future, regardless of the past. Lincoln pocket vetoed the Wade–Davis Bill, which was much more strict than the ten percent plan. Following Lincoln's veto, the Radicals lost support but regained strength after Lincoln's assassination in April 1865. Upon President Lincoln's assassination in April 1865, Vice President Andrew Johnson became president. Radicals considered Johnson to be an ally, but upon becoming president, he rejected
1690-492: A precedent for president Abraham Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation . Congress later established a Freedmen's Bureau to provide much-needed food and shelter to the newly freed slaves. As it became clear that the war would end in a Union victory, Congress debated the process for the readmission of the seceded states. Radical and moderate Republicans disagreed over the nature of secession,
1820-662: A registry of residents and a registry of eligible voters. This is revised every six months and whenever there is an election. The registry of eligible voters can be viewed by anyone to ensure maximum transparency in the electoral process. All citizens aged 18 or more on the election day are automatically registered to vote. In Kazakhstan, voter registration for general elections is conducted by local executive bodies (akimats). Citizens aged 18 and above can register to vote at their relevant akimats upon announcement or appointment of elections, provided they provide their identification number . Verification of inclusion or correctness of data in
1950-437: A result, a system of sharecropping was developed, in which landowners broke up large plantations and rented small lots to the freedmen and their families. Thus, the main structure of the Southern economy changed from an elite minority of landed gentry slaveholders into a tenant farming agriculture system. Historian David W. Blight identified three visions of the social implications of Reconstruction: The Civil War had
2080-531: A revision of the voters list every 5 years. An additional summary revision is conducted every year. Apart from this, citizens can request their inclusion in the voters list by applying through Form 6. If the application is valid, the applicant's name will get included in the list. At 18 years old, completed person should be eligible for voter list (for Indian citizens only). In Israel, all citizens who are 18 years of age or older on election day are automatically registered to vote. In Italy, all municipalities have
2210-555: A status like new territories. Sumner argued that secession had destroyed statehood but the Constitution still extended its authority and its protection over individuals, as in existing U.S. territories . The Republicans sought to prevent Johnson's Southern politicians from "restoring the historical subordination of Negroes". Since slavery was abolished, the Three-fifths Compromise no longer applied to counting
2340-539: A valid Kazakhstani passport. Mexico has a general electoral census. Any citizen of age 18 or greater must go to an electoral office in order be registered into the electoral census. Citizens receive a voting card ( credencial de elector con fotografía ), issued by the National Electoral Institute (INE) (from 1990 until 4/2014 it was called Federal Electoral Institute ) that must be shown to vote in any election. The voting card also serves as
2470-548: Is 1877, when the federal government withdrew the last troops stationed in the South as part of the Compromise of 1877. Later dates have also been suggested. Fritzhugh Brundage proposed in 2017 that Reconstruction ended in 1890, when Republicans failed to pass the Lodge Bill to secure voting rights for Black Americans in the South. Heather Cox Richardson argued that same year for a periodization from 1865 until 1920, when
2600-603: Is also permitted. Since 2012, voter registration in Chile is automatic. It is based on a database by the Civil Registry Office of Chileans and resident foreigners in possession of an identity card number, which is unique for each individual when issued and is never re-used after a person's death. All Chileans and eligible foreigners are added automatically to the electoral roll at age 17 and placed on an electoral constituency based on their last reported address with
2730-407: Is assigned a personal number of eleven digits which include the person's date of birth. The register is used for tax lists, voter lists, membership in the universal health care system and other purposes, and it is maintained by the tax authorities. People in the register are legally obliged to notify the register keeper of changes of address, no sooner than 31 days before, and no later than 8 days after
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#17327730394072860-698: Is great danger that ... the liberating slaves of traitorous owners, will alarm our Southern Union friends, and turn them against us—perhaps ruin our fair prospect for Kentucky." After Frémont refused to rescind the emancipation order, Lincoln terminated him from active duty on November 2, 1861. Lincoln was concerned that the border states would secede from the Union if slaves were given their freedom. On May 26, 1862, Union Major General David Hunter emancipated slaves in South Carolina, Georgia , and Florida, declaring all "persons ... heretofore held as slaves ... forever free". Lincoln, embarrassed by
2990-461: Is indicated in the register. Only Swedish citizens being 18 years old on the election day and living in Sweden may vote in all public elections. Registered residents may vote in local and regional elections if they are citizens of another EU Member State, Iceland or Norway. Citizens of other countries and stateless persons can vote in the municipal and county elections if they have been recorded in
3120-400: Is indicated in the register. People in the register are legally obliged to notify the register keeper of changes of address. Changing the address in the register automatically notifies all other public bodies (for example the tax district for local taxation, the social security authorities, the conscription authorities) and certain trusted private ones (e.g. banks and insurance companies), making
3250-583: Is no formal process for voter registration for South Korean citizens. All citizens will be automatically listed in the voters' list upon each election date. A domestic in-absentee vote was ceased and citizens can visit any residents' center (주민센터) and vote in advance during the weekend before the actual election date. However, citizens either temporary visiting or permanently residing abroad must register for an overseas in-absentee ballot in order to vote. Voting can be done in Korean overseas missions. No registration
3380-469: Is not compulsory. All citizens of Peru between 18 and 70 years are registered to vote through the National Registry of Identification and Civil Status , except all members of the police and the armed forces , who are not allowed to participate in elections. For all citizens in the country and abroad voting is mandatory, unless legally exempted. Failing to vote in the election of 7 Oct 2018
3510-780: Is required: all Spanish citizens of voting age are listed in the electoral roll through the National Statistics Institute 's Electoral Census Office. Only citizens may vote in national and regional elections, while foreign residents may vote in local elections upon a reciprocity basis. Citizens from other European Union countries may also vote in European elections. Certain convicted felons are disenfranchised while serving their sentences, but their voting rights are automatically restored afterwards without exception. Most prisoners are not disenfranchised and can vote by mail as absentees. All eligible voters receive
3640-790: Is the requirement that a person otherwise eligible to vote must register (or enroll) on an electoral roll , which is usually a prerequisite for being entitled or permitted to vote. The rules governing registration vary between jurisdictions . In many jurisdictions, registration is an automatic process performed by extracting the names of voting age residents of a precinct from a general-use population registry ahead of election day. In contrast, in others, registration may require an application being made by an eligible voter and registered persons to re-register or update registration details when they change residence or other relevant information changes. Some jurisdictions have "election day registration" and others do not require registration, or may require
3770-414: The de facto creation (initially by treaty) of an unorganized Oklahoma Territory . President Lincoln signed two Confiscation Acts into law, the first on August 6, 1861, and the second on July 17, 1862, safeguarding fugitive slaves who crossed from the Confederacy across Union lines and giving them indirect emancipation if their masters continued insurrection against the United States. The laws allowed
3900-609: The 14th Amendment and had been readmitted to the Union on July 24, 1866. Reconstruction first began under the Union Army, which implemented policies conducive to their military goals. The succession of Andrew Johnson to the Presidency following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln was initially supported by Radicals in Congress, who thought Johnson's policies would be more punitive and far reaching than Lincoln's. However,
4030-559: The Confederate States Army surrendered and the Southern states repealed secession and accepted the Thirteenth Amendment —most of which happened by December 1865. Lincoln broke with the Radicals in 1864. The Wade–Davis Bill of 1864 passed in Congress by the Radicals was designed to permanently disfranchise the Confederate element in the South. The bill asked the government to grant African American men
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4160-496: The Confederate assault on the Union garrison at Fort Sumter , Lincoln declared that "an extraordinary occasion" existed in the South and raised an army to quell "combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings." Over the next four years, 237 named battles were fought between the Union and Confederate armies, resulting in the dissolution of the Confederate States in 1865. During
4290-663: The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution . President Andrew Johnson 's vetoes of these measures were overridden by Congress. The Military Reconstruction Acts served to greatly increase the power of the Federal government over that of the States, and were perceived by most Southerners as justifying antebellum worries about the potential of Northern sectional dominance leading into
4420-716: The Hampton Roads Conference . In August 1862, Lincoln met with African American leaders and urged them to colonize some place in Central America . Lincoln planned to free the Southern slaves in the Emancipation Proclamation and he was concerned that freedmen would not be well treated in the United States by Whites in both the North and South. Although Lincoln gave assurances that the United States government would support and protect any colonies that were established for former slaves,
4550-732: The Ku Klux Klan , the White League , and the Red Shirts , engaged in paramilitary insurgency and terrorism to disrupt the efforts of the Reconstruction governments and terrorize Republicans. Congressional anger at President Johnson's repeated attempts to veto radical legislation led to his impeachment , but he was not removed from office. Under Johnson's successor, President Ulysses S. Grant , Radical Republicans passed additional legislation to enforce civil rights, such as
4680-680: The Ku Klux Klan Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1875 . However, continuing resistance to Reconstruction by Southern whites and its high cost contributed to its losing support in the North during the Grant administration. The 1876 presidential election was marked by widespread Black voter suppression in the South, and the result was close and contested. An Electoral Commission resulted in the Compromise of 1877 , which awarded
4810-527: The National Register of Electors is a continuously updated permanent database of eligible electors for federal elections in Canada maintained by Elections Canada . In the 1990s Canada adopted an opt-in process, by which voters mark their consent to be added the national register on their annual income tax returns . The Register is also updated using the following sources: Same-day registration
4940-614: The Reconstruction Acts of 1867 which outlined the terms in which the rebel states would be readmitted to the Union. Under these acts Republican Congress established military districts in the South and used Army personnel to administer the region until new governments loyal to the Union—that accepted the Fourteenth Amendment and the right of freedmen to vote—could be established. Congress temporarily suspended
5070-529: The United States Constitution to grant citizenship and equal civil rights to the newly freed slaves . To circumvent these legal achievements, the former Confederate states imposed poll taxes and literacy tests and engaged in terrorism to intimidate and control black people and to discourage or prevent them from voting. Throughout the war, the Union was confronted with the issue of how to administer areas it captured and how to handle
5200-473: The Wade–Davis Bill in opposition, which instead proposed that a majority of voters must pledge that they had never supported the Confederate government and disfranchised all those who had. Lincoln vetoed the Wade–Davis Bill, but it established a lasting conflict between the presidential and congressional visions of reconstruction. In addition to the legal status of the seceded states, Congress debated
5330-455: The electoral roll can be done 15 days before election day at corresponding election commission premises. Special arrangements are made for voter registration in various locations, with different timelines depending on the type of election and location. Absentee voting requires notifying the akimat of a new residence at least thirty days before the election, while citizens abroad must register with their foreign precinct election commission using
Reconstruction Acts - Misplaced Pages Continue
5460-410: The electoral roll in order to vote in national or local elections. A fixed address is required in order for an individual to vote in an election. To provide for persons who are transient, if an individual lacking a fixed address wants to vote, they may register by filling in a 'Declaration of local connection' form. This establishes a connection to the area based on the last fixed address someone had, or
5590-689: The Address Registration System (AKS) of the General Directorate of Civil Registration and Nationality. Citizens may control whether they are registered in domestic or overseas electoral registers by visiting the website of the Supreme Election Council or the e-Government . In the UK voter registration is compulsory, but the requirement to register is rarely enforced. The 2023 system of registration in
5720-479: The Black community on education, the majority of Blacks had achieved literacy. Sumner soon concluded that "there was no substantial protection for the freedman except in the franchise". This was necessary, he stated, "(1) For his own protection; (2) For the protection of the white Unionist; and (3) For the peace of the country. We put the musket in his hands because it was necessary; for the same reason we must give him
5850-505: The Central Election Commission of Taiwan. Taiwanese citizens do not need to register separately to vote, whereas all citizens above twenty years old will be automatically informed by postal mail from the government few weeks before every public election. All citizens will be automatically listed in the voters' list upon each election date. Domestic and overseas registers are composed in competence with data taken from
5980-589: The Civil War. Each Military Reconstruction Act had slightly different requirements for readmission to the Union, and were successively passed in response to various political developments in the Southern States. For example, the earlier acts required that the new State Constitutions be approved by a popular vote, earning the approval of a majority of the population registered to vote (mostly freed blacks and non-confederate whites). In Mississippi , where
6110-470: The Confederacy. During the war, a war among pro-Union and anti-Union Native Americans had raged. Congress passed a statute that gave the president the authority to suspend the appropriations of any tribe if the tribe is "in a state of actual hostility to the government of the United States ;... and, by proclamation, to declare all treaties with such tribe to be abrogated by such tribe". As
6240-902: The Emancipation Proclamation or 1865 with the end of the war". The Reconstruction Era National Historical Park proposed 1861 as a starting date, interpreting Reconstruction as beginning "as soon as the Union captured territory in the Confederacy" at Fort Monroe in Virginia and in the Sea Islands of South Carolina . According to historians Downs and Masur, "Reconstruction began when the first US soldiers arrived in slaveholding territory, and enslaved people escaped from plantations and farms, some of them fleeing into free states, and others trying to find safety with US forces." Soon afterwards, early discourse and experimentation began in earnest regarding Reconstruction policies. The Reconstruction policies provided opportunities to enslaved Gullah populations in
6370-476: The Ironclad Oath, which would effectively have allowed no former Confederates to vote. Historian Harold Hyman says that in 1866 congressmen "described the oath as the last bulwark against the return of ex-rebels to power, the barrier behind which Southern Unionists and Negroes protected themselves". Radical Republican leader Thaddeus Stevens proposed, unsuccessfully, that all former Confederates lose
6500-513: The Office. That address, known as "electoral domicile," can be different from a person's living address, if so desired. The electoral roll may contain a substantial number of persons residing abroad. Residents abroad are not allowed to vote in Chilean elections. All citizens and residents are included in the national register. Each person is assigned a personal identification number that includes
6630-515: The Pierpont government separated the northwestern counties of the state and sought admission as West Virginia .) As additional territory came under Union control, reconstructed governments were established in Tennessee, Arkansas, and Louisiana. Debates over legal reconstruction focused on whether secession was legally valid, the implications of secession for the nature of the seceded states, and
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#17327730394076760-638: The Radical program of Reconstruction. He was on good terms with ex-Confederates in the South and ex- Copperheads in the North. He appointed his own governors and tried to close the Reconstruction process by the end of 1865. Thaddeus Stevens vehemently opposed Johnson's plans for an abrupt end to Reconstruction, insisting that Reconstruction must "revolutionize Southern institutions, habits, and manners .... The foundations of their institutions ... must be broken up and relaid, or all our blood and treasure have been spent in vain." Johnson broke decisively with
6890-567: The Radicals disapproved of how Johnson took a conciliatory approach and inflicted almost no punishment on the South, and how Johnson permitted Southern states to pass the Black Codes and to elect former Confederates to Congress. Johnson sought to finish Reconstruction by December 1865, before Congress would meet again. When Congress met in 1866, they overturned all of the President's decisions related to reconstruction, barring delegations from
7020-656: The Reconstruction Constitution didn't vote, the majority of actual voters were in favor, and the Constitution was automatically ratified. Congressional actions like this served to drastically lower the trust of Southerners in the Federal Government. General George Meade (of the Third Military District ) appointed Brig. General Thomas H. Ruger to replace Governor of Georgia Charles J. Jenkins , who had been elected as
7150-641: The Republicans in Congress when he vetoed the Civil Rights Act on March 27, 1866. While Democrats celebrated, the Republicans rallied, passed the bill again, and overrode Johnson's repeat veto. Full-scale political warfare now existed between Johnson (now allied with the Democrats) and the Radical Republicans. Since the war had ended, Congress rejected Johnson's argument that he had the war power to decide what to do. Congress decided it had
7280-712: The Sea Islands who became free overnight on November 7, 1861, after the Battle of Port Royal when all the white residents and slaveholders fled the area after the arrival of the Union. After the Battle of Port Royal, reconstruction policies were implemented under the Port Royal Experiment which were education , landownership , and labor reform. This transition to a free society was called "Rehearsal for Reconstruction." The conventional end of Reconstruction
7410-492: The South would gain additional seats in Congress. If Blacks were denied the vote and the right to hold office, then only Whites would represent them. Many, including most White Southerners, Northern Democrats , and some Northern Republicans, opposed voting rights for African-Americans. The small fraction of Republican voters opposed to Black suffrage contributed to the defeats of several suffrage measures voted on in most Northern states. Some Northern states that had referendums on
7540-1029: The South; some of them were men who had escaped to the North and gained educations, and returned to the South. They did not hold office in numbers representative of their proportion in the population, but often elected Whites to represent them. The question of women's suffrage was also debated but was rejected. Women eventually gained the right to vote with the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1920. From 1890 to 1908, Southern states passed new state constitutions and laws that disenfranchised most Blacks and tens of thousands of poor Whites with new voter registration and electoral rules. When establishing new requirements such as subjectively administered literacy tests , in some states, they used " grandfather clauses " to enable illiterate Whites to vote. The Five Civilized Tribes that had been relocated to Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma ) held Black slaves and signed treaties supporting
7670-476: The Southern States from entering the Congress, and passing the Freedmen's Bureau Bill and the Civil Rights Act of 1866 , both over Johnson's veto. Johnson's hostility to Congressional plans led to growing discontent in Congress with his administration. The midterm elections of 1866 produced a resounding endorsement of Radical policy and a rejection of Johnson's, effectively leaving Johnson powerless to slow down
7800-608: The State's proposed Constitution was overwhelmingly hated by the public, the opponents of the new Constitution refused to vote, making it impossible for a majority of registered voters to approve of the State Constitution. In response, the Radical Congress passed another Reconstruction Act, changing the requirement for a new Constitution to require only a majority of actual voters to approve. Because opponents of
7930-491: The Swedish Population Register for at least three consecutive years before election day. Swedish citizens that are resident abroad have the right to vote in Riksdag and EU elections only. To maintain a record in the electoral roll as an expatriate , one needs to refresh the registration within 10 years; a vote counts as a valid refresh. All eligible voters receive a letter in the mail to their registered address of 30 days prior to election day, in Sweden or abroad, which shows
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#17327730394078060-427: The Union (derisively called " scalawags " by White Democrats), and Northerners who had migrated to the South (derisively called " carpetbaggers ")—some of whom were returning natives, but were mostly Union veterans—organized to create constitutional conventions. They created new state constitutions to set new directions for Southern states. Congress had to consider how to restore to full status and representation within
8190-424: The Union those Southern states that had declared their independence from the United States and had withdrawn their representation. Suffrage for former Confederates was one of two main concerns. A decision needed to be made whether to allow just some or all former Confederates to vote (and to hold office). The moderates in Congress wanted virtually all of them to vote, but the Radicals resisted. They repeatedly imposed
8320-406: The Union, hostile to loyal Unionists, and enemies of the Freedmen. Radicals used as evidence outbreaks of mob violence against Black people, such as the Memphis riots of 1866 and the New Orleans massacre of 1866 . Radical Republicans demanded a prompt and strong federal response to protect freedmen and curb Southern racism. Stevens and his followers viewed secession as having left the states in
8450-468: The United Kingdom (UK), is known as rolling registration. Electors can register with a local authority at any time of the year. This replaced the twice-yearly census of electors, which often disenfranchised those who had moved during the interval between censuses. Across the country, the registration of electors is still technically the responsibility of the head of household , a concept which some consider to be anachronistic in modern society. As of 2023,
8580-596: The ability to vote of approximately 10,000 to 15,000 former Confederate officials and senior officers, while constitutional amendments gave full citizenship to all African Americans, and suffrage to the adult men. With the power to vote, freedmen began participating in politics. While many enslaved people were illiterate, educated Blacks (including fugitive slaves ) moved down from the North to aid them, and natural leaders also stepped forward. They elected White and Black men to represent them in constitutional conventions. A Republican coalition of freedmen, Southerners supportive of
8710-415: The administration of Reconstruction under presidential control, rather than that of the increasingly unsympathetic Radical Congress. On March 3, 1862, Lincoln installed a loyalist Democrat, Senator Andrew Johnson, as military governor with the rank of brigadier general in his home state of Tennessee. In May 1862, Lincoln appointed Edward Stanly military governor of the coastal region of North Carolina with
8840-465: The adversary [Radicals in Congress], and set an example the other states will follow." Charles Sumner and Thaddeus Stevens, leaders of the Radical Republicans, were initially hesitant to enfranchise the largely illiterate freedmen. Sumner preferred at first impartial requirements that would have imposed literacy restrictions on Blacks and Whites. He believed that he would not succeed in passing legislation to disenfranchise illiterate Whites who already had
8970-409: The balance of power, giving the Republicans two-thirds majorities in both houses of Congress, and enough votes to overcome Johnson's vetoes. They moved to impeach Johnson because of his constant attempts to thwart Radical Reconstruction measures, by using the Tenure of Office Act . Johnson was acquitted by one vote, but he lost the influence to shape Reconstruction policy. In 1867, Congress passed
9100-428: The case. Reconstruction Era The Reconstruction era was a period in United States history and Southern United States history that followed the American Civil War and was dominated by the legal, social, and political challenges of the abolition of slavery and the reintegration of the eleven former Confederate States of America into the United States. During this period, three amendments were added to
9230-432: The colonies were able to remain self-sufficient. Frederick Douglass , a prominent 19th-century American civil rights activist, criticized Lincoln by stating that he was "showing all his inconsistencies, his pride of race and blood, his contempt for Negroes and his canting hypocrisy". African Americans, according to Douglass, wanted citizenship and civil rights rather than colonies. Historians are unsure if Lincoln gave up on
9360-563: The conditions for readmission, and the desirability of social reforms as a consequence of the Confederate defeat. Lincoln favored the " ten percent plan " and vetoed the radical Wade–Davis Bill , which proposed strict conditions for readmission. Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865, just as fighting was drawing to a close . He was replaced by President Andrew Johnson . Johnson vetoed numerous Radical Republican bills, he pardoned thousands of Confederate leaders, and he allowed Southern states to pass draconian Black Codes that restricted
9490-648: The confiscation of lands for colonization from those who aided and supported the rebellion. However, these laws had limited effect as they were poorly funded by Congress and poorly enforced by Attorney General Edward Bates . In August 1861, Major General John C. Frémont , Union commander of the Western Department, declared martial law in Missouri , confiscated Confederate property, and emancipated their slaves. Lincoln immediately ordered Frémont to rescind his emancipation declaration, stating: "I think there
9620-518: The date (always on a Sunday, normally in September every 4 years), time and local polling place. Polling may also be done anywhere in the country at various early voting stations determined by the local election commission or at a Swedish diplomatic mission , all to facilitate for the voters. All citizens of Taiwan are registered in a national database at birth, which is maintained by the Household Registration Office and
9750-597: The day they turn 18. No special notifications are sent and voting is not compulsory. Everyone older than 16 who is a permanent resident (whether a citizen of Estonia, EU, or other) can vote in local elections depending on where they have registered their official residence. Voter registration in Finland is automatic and based on the national population register. Each citizen is assigned an identification number at birth. Permanent residents are recorded in this register even if they are not citizens, and their citizenship status
9880-484: The early failure to prevent violence, corruption, starvation, disease, and other problems. Some consider the Union's policy toward freed slaves as inadequate and its policy toward former slaveholders as too lenient. However, Reconstruction is credited with restoring the federal Union, limiting reprisals against the South, and establishing a legal framework for racial equality via the constitutional rights to national birthright citizenship , due process , equal protection of
10010-487: The election of Warren G. Harding to the presidency marked the end of a national sentiment in favor of using government power to promote equality. In 2024, Manisha Sinha periodized Reconstruction from 1860—when Abraham Lincoln won office as a president opposed to slavery—until 1920, when America ratified the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution affirming the right of women to vote, which Sinha called "the last Reconstruction amendment" because it drew upon
10140-412: The election to Republican Rutherford B. Hayes on the understanding that federal troops would be withdrawn from the South, effectively bringing Reconstruction to an end. Post-Civil War efforts to enforce federal civil rights protections in the South ended in 1890 with the failure of the Lodge Bill . Historians continue to disagree about the legacy of Reconstruction. Criticism of Reconstruction focuses on
10270-431: The end of formal hostilities between the North and South. However, in his landmark 1988 monograph Reconstruction , historian Eric Foner proposed 1863, starting with the Emancipation Proclamation , Port Royal Experiment , and the earnest debate of Reconstruction policies during the Civil War. By 2017, among scholars it was "widely understood" in the words of Luke Harlow, that Reconstruction started in either "1863 with
10400-502: The extinction of slavery in twenty years". On March 26, 1862, Lincoln met with Senator Charles Sumner and recommended that a special joint session of Congress be convened to discuss giving financial aid to any border states who initiated a gradual emancipation plan. In April 1862, the joint session of Congress met; however, the border states were not interested and did not make any response to Lincoln or any congressional emancipation proposal. Lincoln advocated compensated emancipation during
10530-423: The fact that they are homeless) with local government. Citizens who will be 18 or older on the day of voting automatically receive a notification card in the mail some weeks before any election in which they are eligible to vote: for local elections, resident citizens of other EU countries will also receive these cards and may vote. Polling places have lists of all eligible voters resident in the neighborhood served by
10660-531: The former Confederate states could be readmitted to the Union. Constitutional conventions held throughout the South gave Black men the right to vote. New state governments were established by a coalition of freedmen, supportive white Southerners , and Northern transplants . They were opposed by " Redeemers ," who sought to restore white supremacy and reestablish the Democratic Party 's control of Southern governments and society. Violent groups, including
10790-450: The former Confederate states? What was the citizenship status of the leaders of the Confederacy? What was the citizenship and suffrage status of freedmen? After the war ended, President Andrew Johnson gave back most of the land to the former White slave owners. By 1866, the faction of Radical Republicans led by Representative Thaddeus Stevens and Senator Charles Sumner was convinced that Johnson's Southern appointees were disloyal to
10920-442: The franchise." The support for voting rights was a compromise between moderate and Radical Republicans. The Republicans believed that the best way for men to get political experience was to be able to vote and to participate in the political system. They passed laws allowing all male freedmen to vote. In 1867, Black men voted for the first time. Over the course of Reconstruction, more than 1,500 African Americans held public office in
11050-510: The ground that a loyal Negro is more worthy than a disloyal White man." As president in 1865, Johnson wrote to the man he appointed as governor of Mississippi, recommending: "If you could extend the elective franchise to all persons of color who can read the Constitution in English and write their names, and to all persons of color who own real estate valued at least two hundred and fifty dollars, and pay taxes thereon, you would completely disarm
11180-501: The idea of African American colonization at the end of 1863 or if he actually planned to continue this policy up until 1865. Starting in March 1862, in an effort to forestall Reconstruction by the Radicals in Congress, Lincoln installed military governors in certain rebellious states under Union military control. Although the states would not be recognized by the Radicals until an undetermined time, installation of military governors kept
11310-529: The initial legislation was "An act to provide for the more efficient government of the Rebel States" and was passed on March 4, 1867. Fulfillment of the requirements of the Acts was necessary for the former Confederate States to be readmitted to the Union from military and Federal control imposed during and after the American Civil War. The Acts excluded Tennessee , which had already ratified
11440-512: The laws , and male suffrage regardless of race. The Reconstruction era has typically been dated from the end of the American Civil War in 1865 until the withdrawal of the final remaining federal troops stationed in the Southern United States in 1877, though a few other periodization schemes have also been proposed by historians. In the twentieth century, most scholars of the Reconstruction era began their review in 1865, with
11570-459: The laws prohibiting them from voting was ruled unconstitutional in 2009 and are able to vote since mid-2010 as the electoral roll is updated annually. The registration process is voluntary. In 2002 around 1.6 million permanent residents did not register. All citizens of Iceland are registered in a central database at birth, which is maintained by Registers Iceland . They do not need to register separately to vote. The Government of India conducts
11700-502: The leaders declined the offer of colonization. Many free Blacks had been opposed to colonization plans in the past because they wanted to remain in the United States. Lincoln persisted in his colonization plan in the belief that emancipation and colonization were both part of the same program. By April 1863, Lincoln was successful in sending Black colonists to Haiti as well as 453 to Chiriqui in Central America; however, none of
11830-500: The legal and social inequality of the races in the United States. The end of the war was accompanied by a large migration of newly freed people to the cities, where they were relegated to the lowest paying jobs, such as unskilled and service labor. Men worked as rail workers, rolling and lumber mills workers, and hotel workers. Black women were largely confined to domestic work employed as cooks, maids, and child nurses, or in hotels and laundries. The large population of slave artisans during
11960-670: The legal consequences for Confederate veterans and others who had engaged in "insurrection and rebellion" against the government and the legal rights of those freed from slavery. These debates resulted in the Reconstruction Amendments to the United States Constitution. During the Civil War, the Radical Republican leaders argued that slavery and the Slave Power had to be permanently destroyed. Moderates said this could be easily accomplished as soon as
12090-404: The legal significance of the Civil War, whether secession had actually occurred, and what measures, if any, were necessary to restore the governments of the Confederate States. For example, throughout the conflict, the United States government recognized the legitimacy of a unionist government in Virginia led by Francis Harrison Pierpont out of Wheeling . (This recognition was rendered moot when
12220-558: The legitimate method of their readmission to the Union. The first plan for legal reconstruction was introduced by Lincoln in his Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction, the so-called " ten percent plan " under which a loyal unionist state government would be established when ten percent of its 1860 voters pledged an oath of allegiance to the Union, with a complete pardon for those who pledged such an oath. By 1864, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Arkansas had established fully functioning Unionist governments under this plan. However, Congress passed
12350-518: The nationality of an EU member state. In municipal elections, eligibility is dependent on the place of residency on nomination day, with non-EU nationals also having voting rights when they have been living in the Netherlands legally for five years or more. There is no separate voter registration: All eligible voters can automatically vote. Citizens and residents of Norway are included in the national register, Folkeregisteret , where each person
12480-526: The number of registered electors fell by some ten thousand. It was also understood that the new process may have resulted in fictitious voters being dropped from rolls. Registration is mandatory pursuant to section 23 of the Representation of the People (England and Wales) Regulations 2001 (No. 341) and violators are liable on summary conviction and face a maximum fine of £1,000. Voters must be on
12610-737: The only candidate in 1865 to succeed James Johnson , who had been appointed by President Andrew Johnson. After Ex parte McCardle (1869) came before the United States Supreme Court , Congress feared that the Court might strike the Reconstruction Acts down as unconstitutional. To prevent this, Congress repealed the Habeas Corpus Act of 1867 , eliminating the Supreme Court's jurisdiction over
12740-445: The only state which has no registration requirement. Some U.S. states do not require advance registration, instead allowing voters to register when they arrive at the polls, in what is called same day registration (SDR) or election day registration (EDR). Same-day registration (SDR) has been linked to higher voter turn-out, with SDR states reporting average turn-out of 71% in the 2012 United States Presidential election , well above
12870-538: The order, rescinded Hunter's declaration and canceled the emancipation. On April 16, 1862, Lincoln signed a bill into law outlawing slavery in Washington, D.C., and freeing the estimated 3,500 slaves in the city. On June 19, 1862, he signed legislation outlawing slavery in all U.S. territories. On July 17, 1862, under the authority of the Confiscation Acts and an amended Force Bill of 1795, he authorized
13000-423: The particular station; the voter's notification card (or photo ID such as an identity card or passport if the notification card is not at hand) is checked against these lists before individuals receive a ballot. Voting is not compulsory. In Hong Kong all permanent residents who are above 18 years of age and do not suffer from a mental illness can register as voters. Imprisoned people can also register and vote since
13130-443: The person's date of birth and is divisible by 11. All citizens and residents of Denmark are included in the national register, Det Centrale Personregister . Each person is assigned a personal number of ten digits, which include the person's date of birth. The register is used for tax lists, voter lists, membership in the universal health care system, official record of residence, and other purposes. All eligible voters receive
13260-428: The place where they spend a substantial amount of their time (e.g. a homeless shelter). A voting card is sent to each registrant shortly before any elections. The individual does not need to take the card to the polling station, instead it serves to remind individuals of the details they had provided to the electoral register. In the United States, states generally require voter registration, with North Dakota being
13390-403: The plans of the Radical Congress. Support grew among Congressional Republicans to wipe away the current Johnson state governments and their abuses and to create new governments. The passage of the Reconstruction Acts marks the beginning of Congressional Reconstruction. The Acts set forth the requirements for the late rebel states to regain entry into the Union. For reentry, each state had to draft
13520-402: The population of Blacks. After the 1870 Census, the South would gain numerous additional representatives in Congress, based on the full population of freedmen. One Illinois Republican expressed a common fear that if the South were allowed to simply restore its previous established powers, that the "reward of treason will be an increased representation". The election of 1866 decisively changed
13650-524: The prewar period did not translate into a large number of free artisans during Reconstruction. The dislocations had a severe negative impact on the Black population, with a large amount of sickness and death. During the war, Lincoln experimented with land reform by giving land to African-Americans in South Carolina . Having lost their enormous investment in slaves, plantation owners had minimal capital to pay freedmen workers to bring in crops. As
13780-410: The primary authority to decide how Reconstruction should proceed, because the Constitution stated the United States had to guarantee each state a republican form of government . The Radicals insisted that meant Congress decided how Reconstruction should be achieved. The issues were multiple: Who should decide, Congress or the president? How should republicanism operate in the South? What was the status of
13910-479: The process of moving residence very simple. Close to election time, the government mails a notification to registered persons informing them of the election and where and when to cast their votes. Only citizens may vote in national elections, but all residents may vote in local elections. In Germany, there is no separate voter registration, as resident registration is compulsory. All permanent residents of Germany are required to register their place of residence (or
14040-408: The production of evidence of entitlement to vote at the time of voting. In jurisdictions where registration is not mandatory, an effort may be made to encourage persons otherwise eligible to vote to register, in what is called as a voter registration drive . In countries where resident registration is compulsory, voter registration usually does not exist, since voter eligibility can be determined from
14170-933: The rank of brigadier general. Stanly resigned almost a year later when he angered Lincoln by closing two schools for Black children in New Bern . After Lincoln installed Brigadier General George Foster Shepley as military governor of Louisiana in May 1862, Shepley sent two anti-slavery representatives, Benjamin Flanders and Michael Hahn , elected in December 1862, to the House, which capitulated and voted to seat them. In July 1862, Lincoln installed Colonel John S. Phelps as military governor of Arkansas, though he resigned soon after due to poor health. Voter registration In electoral systems , voter registration (or enrollment )
14300-536: The rate of damage in smaller towns was much lower. Farms were in disrepair, and the prewar stock of horses, mules, and cattle was much depleted. Forty percent of Southern livestock had been killed. The South's farms were not highly mechanized, but the value of farm implements and machinery according to the 1860 Census was $ 81 million and was reduced by 40% by 1870. The transportation infrastructure lay in ruins, with little railroad or riverboat service available to move crops and animals to market. Railroad mileage
14430-405: The recruitment of freed slaves into the U.S. Army and seizure of any Confederate property for military purposes. In an effort to keep border states in the Union, Lincoln, as early as 1861, designed gradual compensated emancipation programs paid for by government bonds. Lincoln desired Delaware , Maryland , Kentucky , and Missouri to "adopt a system of gradual emancipation which should work
14560-481: The registration details with the relevant state electoral commission. Before an election, each municipality compiles a list of eligible voters based on the digital and continuously updated National Register (the database of all citizens). The authorities automatically send a voter invitation card to each voter before an election. However, non-citizens do have to register if they wish to vote. Generally, fewer than 20% of eligible non-citizens do so. In Canada ,
14690-690: The residence register. Even in countries where registration is the individual's responsibility, many reformers, seeking to maximize voter turnout , argue for a wider availability of the required forms, or more ease of process by having more places where they can register. In the United States, for example, the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 ("Motor Voter Law") and similar laws require states to offer voter registration at motor vehicle departments (driver's license offices) as well as disability centers, public schools , and public libraries , in order to offer more access to
14820-541: The right to vote and that anyone who willingly gave weapons to the fight against the United States should be denied the right to vote. The bill required voters, fifty-one percent of White males, to take the Ironclad Oath swearing that they had never supported the Confederacy or been one of its soldiers. This oath also entailed having them to swear a loyalty to the Constitution and the Union before they could have state constitutional meetings. Lincoln blocked it. Pursuing
14950-412: The right to vote for five years. The compromise that was reached disenfranchised many Confederate civil and military leaders. No one knows how many temporarily lost the vote, but one estimate placed the number as high as 10,000 to 15,000. However, Radical politicians took up the task at the state level. In Tennessee alone, over 80,000 former Confederates were disenfranchised. Second, and closely related,
15080-400: The rights of freedmen. His actions outraged many Northerners and stoked fears that the Southern elite would regain its political power. Radical Republican candidates swept to power in the 1866 midterm elections, gaining large majorities in both houses of Congress . In 1867 and 1868, the Radical Republicans passed the Reconstruction Acts over Johnson's vetoes, setting out the terms by which
15210-523: The rolls when they reach legal voting age. In others, potential voters are required to apply to be added to the rolls. Voter registration is compulsory in Australia for all citizens 18 years of age or above. The Australian Electoral Commission maintains Australia's federal electoral roll . Each state also has its own electoral commission or office, but voters need to register only with the AEC, which shares
15340-548: The steady stream of slaves who were escaping to Union lines. In many cases, the United States Army played a vital role in establishing a free labor economy in the South, protecting freedmen's legal rights, and creating educational and religious institutions. Despite its reluctance to interfere with the institution of slavery, Congress passed the Confiscation Acts to seize Confederates' slaves, providing
15470-534: The subject limited the ability of their own small populations of Blacks to vote. Lincoln had supported a middle position: to allow some Black men to vote, especially U.S. Army veterans. Johnson also believed that such service should be rewarded with citizenship. Lincoln proposed giving the vote to "the very intelligent, and especially those who have fought gallantly in our ranks". In 1864, Governor Johnson said: "The better class of them will go to work and sustain themselves, and that class ought to be allowed to vote, on
15600-520: The system is controversial, as it is possible for one person to delete persons who live with them from the electoral roll. As of January 2012, mandatory individual registration, pursuant to the Political Parties and Elections Act 2009 , was anticipated. A feasibility study for electronic individual voter registration (IVR), based on the experience of other nations, was undertaken by EURIM (Information Society Alliance) in 2010. The final report
15730-508: The system. State authorities are also required to accept mail-in voter registrations. Many jurisdictions also offer online registrations. The strictest system is in the Bahamas , resulting in the electorate being a little more than half of adult citizenry. Systems of voter registration vary widely from country to country, and sometimes among lower jurisdictions, such as states or provinces. In some nations, voters are automatically added to
15860-541: The vote. In the South, many poor Whites were illiterate as there was almost no public education before the war. In 1880, for example, the White illiteracy rate was about 25% in Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, South Carolina, and Georgia, and as high as 33% in North Carolina. This compares with the 9% national rate, and a Black rate of illiteracy that was over 70% in the South. By 1900, however, with emphasis within
15990-576: The voter's identity with the electoral roll eliminating any risk of double voting. Government-issued ID is required to vote. Voting is not compulsory. Voter registration in Sweden is automatic and based on the national population register, Folkbokföringsregistret , administered by the Swedish Tax Agency , where all citizens and residents of Sweden are included. Permanent residents are recorded in this register even if they are not citizens but enjoy right of residence, and their citizenship status
16120-405: The war zone ensured the system would be ruined at war's end. Restoring the infrastructure—especially the railroad system—became a high priority for Reconstruction state governments. Over a quarter of Southern White men of military age—the backbone of the White workforce—died during the war, leaving their families destitute, and per capita income for White Southerners declined from $ 125 in 1857 to
16250-405: The war, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that "all persons held as slaves" within the Confederate territory "are, and henceforward shall be free." The Civil War had immense social implications for the United States. Emancipation had altered the legal status of 3.5 million persons, threatened the end of the plantation economy of the South, and provoked questions regarding
16380-415: Was fined with S/ 83, with 50% or 75% discount for areas with poverty or extreme poverty, and this must be paid to get access to many public services. Filipino citizens who are at least 18 years of age are eligible to register to vote. A voter’s ID is issued if the requirements are met. In 2022, there were 1.7 million registered voters living overseas who were eligible to vote in national elections. There
16510-439: Was in collapse by the war's end. Where scarce Union dollars could not be obtained, residents resorted to a barter system. The Confederate States in 1861 had 297 towns and cities, with a total population of 835,000 people; of these, 162, with 681,000 people, were at some point occupied by Union forces. Eleven cities were destroyed or severely damaged by military action, including Atlanta, Charleston, Columbia, and Richmond, though
16640-468: Was located mostly in rural areas; over two-thirds of the South's rails, bridges, rail yards, repair shops, and rolling stock were in areas reached by Union armies, which systematically destroyed what they could. Even in untouched areas, the lack of maintenance and repair, the absence of new equipment, the heavy over-use, and the deliberate relocation of equipment by the Confederates from remote areas to
16770-543: Was released in 2011. According to the House of Commons Hansard from 16 January 2012, the IVR initiative is yet to be implemented in the UK. There was discussion of data from Northern Ireland, where individual voter registration levels significantly decreased following the introduction of an IVR policy. In an experiment in Northern Ireland using personal identifiers, such as National Insurance numbers and signatures,
16900-426: Was the issue of whether the 4 million freedmen were to be received as citizens: Would they be able to vote? If they were to be fully counted as citizens, some sort of representation for apportionment of seats in Congress had to be determined. Before the war, the population of slaves had been counted as three-fifths of a corresponding number of free Whites. By having 4 million freedmen counted as full citizens,
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