The consequence of reconstruction for the United States
The most critical consequence of reconstruction for the United States was voting rights. After the reconstruction period, many African Americans were granted the right to vote, and they were included in the congress through the appointment of their representative. Despite the people being granted the right to vote, it is surprising how the right was negatively stipulated in the constitution. The right to vote was spelled out that “the rights of the citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state, on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude (Lec 1). The voting right was granted to the15th Amendment. To most US citizens, voting right was a great privilege that they would use to reorganize themselves and improve their overall governance participation. The African Americans had emphasized their capabilities by participating in congress and senatorial positions through voting rights. Through voting, the African American citizens felt a sense of belonging as US citizens (Lec 1).
Despite the right to vote, how the right was stipulated was discriminative by ruling out another basis through which a person would be prohibited from voting. For instance, in California, the leaders did not want Chinese persons and other groups to participate in the election exercise. Besides, worldwide, men in leadership did not favor women’s voting rights (Lec 1). Therefore, despite the right to vote, the loophole in the 15th amendment allowed room for discrimination and bias for the persons who would participate in the exercise. Therefore, despite the voting right being celebrated by most United States citizens, it was not necessarily available to all the citizens.
References
HIST 125 Module D Mini Lec 1 (n.d.). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecUK6EKxzBk&feature=youtu.be