	In the time period between 1865 and 1924, the United States often had good intentions to strengthen the democracy of the country.  Unfortunately these intentions often were not upheld by the general public and often not even by the federal government itself.  A true democracy consists of many aspects.  Fair and frequent elections should take place in order for the people of the nation to have a say in government policy and decisions.  For these elections all citizens (regardless of race, religion, gender etcetera) should have the right to vote.  The main failure to strengthen the US democracy had to do with newly freed African Americans.  Attempts to give these peoples rights in society, which would have strengthened US democracy, failed miserably.  In addition to African Americans, women in this time period had no guaranteed rights in which they could express their opinions and have an impact on the government.  Aside from the right to vote in elections, all citizens should have the right to speak freely of opinions, even those against the government.  Times of war greatly suppressed freedom of speech not based on race or gender but on conflicting opinions with the government.  These failings of the government all lead not only to no advancement in democracy but sometimes it lead to a decrease in democracy
	President Lincoln seemed to make a step towards the strengthening of democracy when he emancipated African American slaves on January 1, 1863.  After the emancipation, it was imperative that social and political reforms for the United States be made to incorporate the African Americans.  Unfortunately, when the Civil War ended President Lincoln's intentions were to restore the Union and not to reform it.  He cut a much too easy deal with the Confederate states and allowed them back into the Union.  It was not a requirement for these states to give social or political rights to ex-slaves and gave no federal help to the African Americans in order to start their new free lives (Roark et al. 561). The fact that the social and political reforms were not made by quickly by Lincoln meant that the democracy was not strengthened.
	The "free" people were not given citizenship until 1868 when the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified.  The amendment stated that "All persons born or naturalized in the United States... are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.  No state shall... deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law (Roark et al. Appendix I A-18)."  Finally, the African Americans were to be considered citizens of the United States and have protection from the federal and state governments.  This action seemed to be a step toward the strengthening of democracy but several steps were quickly taken to decrease the democracy of the country.
	In the south, black codes were passed and made a mockery out of the 14th Amendment.  It was made illegal in several southern states for an African American to own a gun.  They were also not granted the right to vote and were not allowed to stand on a court jury.  In order to keep the southern economic system as close to what it was previous to emancipation, southern states such as South Carolina required African Americans with jobs outside domestic or farm work to pay a tax of ten to one-hundred dollars.  Mississippi passed a law that if an African American could not provide proof of employment than they could be declared vagrants and were forced to pay fines or involuntary plantation labor similar to slavery.  Also, no southern states granted any African American the right to vote (Roark et al. 567-568).  None of these laws went against the 14th Amendment but they clearly inhibited African American rights and only hindered the United States in progressing towards a more democratic society.
	In 1870, two years after being given United States citizenship, the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution was passed.  The amendment stated that "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude (Roark et al. Appendix I A-19)."  The purpose of this amendment was to give African Americans the right to vote.  Again this amendment was a step toward a strengthening democracy but because the amendment did not guarantee the voting rights of African Americans without exception, states and individuals found ways to disenfranchise African Americans.   
	In the south, individual states passed laws such as poll taxes, literacy tests, and residency requirements which inhibited African Americans from voting.  After they were given their freedom, African Americans were very poor and had no means of paying a pole tax required at the time of voting.  While in slavery, they were not allowed to read or write and therefore could not pass literacy tests required by some states in order for a person to vote.  Residency requirements said that in order to vote in a state, a person had to be a resident for a long enough period of time. This was difficult for African Americans to meet because after emancipation, many tested their freedom and traveled to new places.  These voting requirements were all passed with the newly freed African American in mind and with the intention of curtailing their vote. 
	In addition to voting requirements, vigilante violence in the south played a key role in not only disenfranchising African Americans but also in taking away any rights in which they had.  The white supremacy group known as the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was founded in 1865.  The group was a mainstream organization of prominent (mainly southern democratic) peoples.  The members felt that they were only doing their job to protect their families and society from former slaves and from the Republican Party.  The group attempted to terrorize African Americans and Republicans to surrender their beliefs and right to vote.  The KKK "whipped, burned, and shot in the name of white supremacy (Roark et al. 580)."  Their main goal was to get the southern way of life that was in place before the Civil War back.  They wanted it to be as it has always been; the whites having complete control over blacks.  The KKK sought after schools that taught African Americans and burned them to the ground.  They also went after the teachers of these schools and flogged them or worse.  When it came to voting, the KKK drove African Americans away from the polls and also went after any blacks who had become office holders.  Public lynching of African Americans took place in the south and the state governments did nothing to step in and stop the violence from taking place.
	The federal government also did little to curtail the violence upon blacks.  In the United States v. Cruikshank ruling of 1876, the Supreme Court ruled that the 14th and 15th Amendments only gave Congress the power to rule against discrimination by states, not by individuals (Roark et al. 587).  This ruling meant that the federal government could not step in upon the violence created by the KKK and other white supremacist.  The southern states were not doing anything in the first place to prevent the violence and still had no reason too.  By not being able to participate in elections due to requirement laws and through vigilante violence, African American rights were infringed upon and lessened the democracy of the United States.
	African Americans were not the only peoples in the United States during this time period whose treatment showed the weakness of the democracy.  Women had no voting rights until the passing of the 19th Amendment in 1920.  Before the passage of the amendment though, women refused to remain completely dormant in the political scene.  Although they could not vote, they managed to organize themselves according to social beliefs to have some impact on politics and society.  Women developed strong loyalties to either Republican or Democratic parties.  They developed organizations which resulted in interest group politics to give them a large political voice.  Men involved knew that the women could have an impact through volunteer labor and support of their political alliances (Roark et al. 622).  Though women managed to gain some political voice, the key to seeing the weakness in the democracy is to know that hardcore politics mainly involving nonsocial aspects remained a man's domain and women were still often looked down upon on their political views and determinations.
	One of the founding terms of the United States democracy has always been freedom of speech.  Once World War I started though, this aspect of democracy was greatly infringed upon by the government itself.  The government intentionally took the freedom of speech away from its citizens by passing the Espionage Act in 1917 which made it illegal to make speeches which spoke against the war effort.  The act led to the imprisonment of many anti-war advocates.  Kate Richards O'Hare was a member of the Socialist Party and was sentenced to five years in jail for presenting an anti-war speech in North Dakota ("Kate Richards O'Hare").   According to a speech given by Senator Robert LaFollette on October 6, 1917:
Six members of the Senate and 50 members of the House voted against the declaration of war.  Immediately there was let loose upon those Senators and Representatives a flood of invective and abuse from newspapers and individuals who had been clamoring for war, unequaled, I believe, in the history of civilized society (LaFollette, Free Speech in Time of War, 1917). 
This goes in complete contrast with freedom of speech and the democracy of the country.  American citizens vote for representatives to present them and once these representatives are in office, it is essential that these same people who voted be able to voice their opinions so that their representatives know the feelings of their people.
	In the time from 1865 to 1924, the United States democracy was greatly weakened.   For every step forward, several steps back were taken.  Emancipation of African American slaves seemed to be a great advancement, only to be hindered by only moderately enforced rights, vigilante violence and little government intervention.  Women of the time also did not have great help from the government in being able to voice their opinions in elections and eventually forced the government to realize that they needed rights as well to uphold the values of democracy.  World War I had a great impact on the democracy of the country, forcing people to keep their anti-war views to themselves.  The combination of these three instances shows how (although not at all points intentionally) the United States democracy was weakened in this time period.





1


