Answer:
After the Civil War, politics and power systematically took away the rights that African Americans had gained through the passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the Constitution. Some of the main ways this happened include:
1.Voter Suppression: The use of discriminatory voting practices, such as literacy tests, poll taxes, and violence, was used to prevent African Americans from exercising their right to vote. This was particularly prevalent in the Southern states, where state and local governments passed laws that effectively disenfranchised African American voters.
2.Legalized Discrimination: The implementation of Jim Crow laws, which were state and local laws that institutionalized racial segregation and discrimination in the Southern states, effectively nullifying the Civil War amendments. This included laws that regulated housing, education, employment, and public facilities, making it difficult for African Americans to access equal opportunities and services.
3.Enforcement of laws: The federal government was not effectively enforcing the laws passed to protect the rights of African Americans, particularly the Civil Rights Act of 1866, Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, and the Enforcement Act of 1871, which were passed to enforce the 14th and 15th amendment.
4.The end of Reconstruction: The withdrawal of federal troops from the South after the end of Reconstruction in 1877, which marked the end of the period of federal oversight of the Southern states, led to a resurgence of white supremacist groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan, who used violence and intimidation to keep African Americans from exercising their rights.
5.Supreme Court's decisions: The Supreme Court's decisions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries also played a role in undermining the rights of African Americans, such as the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896, which upheld the constitutionality of "separate but equal" laws, and the Civil Rights Cases of 1883, which severely limited the ability of the federal government to intervene in state and local laws that discriminated against African Americans.