To understand the end of Reconstruction, it's important to take the following facts into account:
- 1872: The General Amnesty Act was passed by the Congress. This act removed restrictions placed upon Confederate officials.
- 1873: the Fourteenth Amendment was scarcely interpreted in the Slaughterhouse cases. This meant that state law was violationg individuals' civil rights.
- 1875: The Civil Rights Act of this year, which allowed black people to be part of a jury and which didn't allow racial discrimination in public places, was eventually not enforced.
- Finally in 1876 the idea of the Reconstruction was left aside by both parties and in 1883 the Civil Rights Act was declared unconstitutional.
All of these reasons, caused the end of the Reconstruction and made Republicans forsake black people, finally causing the infringement of civil rights and full segregation.
European people and Native American people began interacting when the European powers took an interest in exploring and colonizing the region. As European settlements in North America increased, so did contact between these two groups. However, the relationship that was established between them changed greatly throughout the years.
Initially, the first European settlers depended on the Native Americans heavily. Native American people had better knowledge of the land, the weather, the local crops and the many other challenges that existed in the region. European settlers greatly benefitted from this knowledge. Therefore, the initial relationship between these people was one of cooperation.
As time passed, the interactions between the two groups grew. As the European settlements developed, both groups engaged in complex exchanges and commercial transactions. This led to more cooperation, but also increased conflict between them.
As conflict increased, the Native Americans began to suffer more. Lands were taken away from them, and many were displaced. Moreover, they were killed in great numbers through war and disease. This made the interaction between the two groups more negative.
The revolution which more directly captured the spirit of the Enlightenment was the French one. The French revolution was based on three basic principles: equality, freedom, brotherhood.
These three principles were also things which depicted enlightenment as a period extremelly well.
The Manhattan Project developed nuclear technology.
