American History from 1865-1900

             From 1865 - 1900, most of America was at war with one another for equality. African Americans were still being held captive by whites, Native American land was still being taken away, and women continued to be suppressed. Things would, however, begin to change. African Americans, Native Americans, and women would begin to fight back for equality and for most, succeed. African Americans would eventually receive freedom, Native Americans would be moved to reservations, and women would receive the right to vote. However, none of these quests were accomplished with ease. Many lives were lost, and events that occurred changed and shaped the America that we know now.
             During the Reconstruction period, there were many incidents involving the Ku Klux Klan killing many African Americans and even whites. The Ku Klux Klan were fighting an ongoing terrorist campaign against reconstruction governments and local leaders. (Faragher, et al, p. 335). In October 1870, after republicans carried Laurens County in South Carolina, bands of white people drove 150 African Americans from their homes and murdered thirteen black and white Republican activists. In March 1871, three African Americans were arrested in Meridian, Mississippi for giving "incendiary" speeches. At their court hearing, Klansmen killed two of the defendants and the Republican judge, and thirty more African Americans were murdered in a day of rioting. The single bloodiest episode of Reconstruction era violence took place in Colfax, Louisiana, Easter Sunday 1873. Nearly one hundred African Americans were murdered after they failed to hold a besieged courthouse during a contested election. (Faragher, et al, p. 335).
             In order to prevent any of these incidences from happening again, Southern Republicans looked to Washington for help. In 1870 and 1871, Congress passed three Enforcement Acts to counter racial terrorism. (Faragher, et al, p.