Question

Once the Reconstruction Acts were passed by the U.S. Congress, the Southern States were required to ______.

Answer 1

Southern States were required to create new state constitutions, ratify the Fourteenth Amendment, and adhere to the Fifteenth Amendment to be readmitted to the Union after the Reconstruction Acts were passed.

Step-by-step explanation:

Once the Reconstruction Acts were passed by the U.S. Congress, the Southern States were required to draft new state constitutions that afforded equal rights to freed people, ratify the Fourteenth Amendment, and uphold the rights granted by the Fifteenth Amendment, which included ensuring that the right to vote could not be denied based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude. A key provision of the Reconstruction Acts was the division of ten Southern states into five military districts, overseen by Union generals who ensured the protection of freed people and the fair administration of election processes. Only after these conditions were met, could the Southern states be readmitted to the Union, which effectively occurred by the end of 1870 for all states under military control.