
	During the period between 1865 and 1924 the United States went through numerous changes.  The United States is a democratic country but has illustrated that its level of democracy can change over the years.  There are a variety of different groups that can be examined to demonstrate the different levels of democracy the United States has gone through during this period of time.  America progressed slowly from 1865 to 1924 to become more democratic in the end, although there were times that the United States was less democratic or unlike a democracy at all, during this period.  By taking a closer look at the experiences of African Americans and women as a group during this time period, a clearer picture can be obtained of how democratic of a country the United States was.
	The thirteenth amendment to the U.S. constitution made slavery and involuntary servitude a crime, yet this was not the lone solution in resolving the whole problem of slavery.  It would take countless changes and battles to improve the quality of life for the black man.  The year 1865 marks the beginning of the reconstruction era in the United States, "that would define the status of the defeated South within the Union and the meaning of freedom for ex-slaves".1  This period was meant to be one of growth and rebirth for the former slaves, but instead it was a period of struggle and sacrifice.  Although freed, the black man still had yet to acquire basic civil liberties that other citizens in a democratic country receive.  Until 1868 African Americans were not even considered citizens or fully protected under the laws, pending the ratification of the fourteenth amendment to the constitution.  Once African Americans secured citizenship, the fight began for the right to be heard in the political system.
	  Southern states started to adopt a series of laws known as black codes, as a way to laugh in the face of emancipation.  These laws sought to keep African Americans inferior to whites by subjecting blacks to every variety of discrimination.  African Americans had no say in the legislatures passing down these laws and until they established some power in the political realm these laws would exist.  "Not a single southern state granted any black-no matter how educated, wealthy, or refined-the right to vote."1  Without all adult citizens having the right to vote in a country, makes it undemocratic.  Progress was made on behalf of African Americans in 1870 when the fifteenth amendment was added to the constitution.  This amendment gave black men the right to vote by prohibiting exclusion of voting rights from citizens on grounds of race or color. 
	After acquiring the right to vote, African American men began to make forward progress in politics.  African Americans started to run for government positions and began to be elected into office.  They held offices such as state legislatures, sheriffs, judges, police, city council and U.S. congressmen.  This raised the United States' level of democracy once again, but only for a short period of time.  Various people, especially southerners did not like what they were seeing take place in the structure of the government.  These people were not fond of the idea that black men had political power and were ready to find a way around the constitution to take this power away. 
	African Americans tended to favor the Republican Party, while white southerners, who had favored slavery, tended to be democrats.  To get the democrats back into office, officials turned to gerrymandering, the changing of boundaries of election districts to give one political party an unfair advantage.2   Southern states also resorted to rewriting state constitutions, therefore letting the governors appoint officials such as sheriffs, judges etc. with the aim of eliminating African Americans that were elected to these positions.  A democracy leaves government decisions about policy in the hands of elected representatives chosen in frequent and fair elections, which these actions clearly did not do.
	  In the 1890s registration and election laws, like literacy tests and residency restrictions, began to change in the southern states leading up to the disfranchisement of black voters.  An additional form of election law that had been imposed was poll taxes, a tax on individuals that must be paid in order to vote.  These poll taxes discouraged African Americans from going to the polls and voting because many had little money to spare.  Once again the United States was heading on the downward path out of democracy.
	A democracy also allows its citizens to express themselves freely through speech, religion, opinion and association.  African Americans gained the rights of free speech, opinion and religion through emancipation, but could not freely associate with whomever they wished.  Segregation became a major problem in the southern states.  Jim Crow laws, as they were called, were restrictions that segregated blacks.  These "laws" became common throughout the South and were enforced upon blacks through intimidation and lynching by the whites.  Even the United States Supreme court let segregation take place.  In the Plessy v. Ferguson case in 1896, the court ruled that "separate but equal" facilities were permissible according to section 1 of the Fourteenth amendment.1  The ruling in this case went against another rule of democracy-majority rule accompanied by respect for the rights of minorities.  The majority of the Supreme Court evidently did not favor the rights of African Americans or they would have determined that segregation is not tolerable in a democracy, like the United States.
	Women as a group in the United States went through repeated hardships of their own that were unlike that of a democratic nation.   The biggest battle that was waged was the struggle for women's suffrage.   When the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified there had still been a group of women unhappy in the way the government had been treating them and the answers they were receiving.  There was a group of politicized and eager women demanding the right to vote, just like black men.  "Founding the American Equal Rights Association in 1866, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton lobbied for 'a government by the people, and the whole people; for the people and the whole people'."1 Without adult women having the ability to go to the polls and vote makes the United States undemocratic at the time.  At the moment, a former male black slave had more political power than a woman in this country.
	In 1869, when the Fifteenth Amendment was passed, women once again got the short end of the stick.  Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton along with countless other women, had pressed their case for the word sex to be included into the amendment, but clearly this did not occur.  The Fifteenth Amendment served as the early foundation of what would be known as the feminist movement over the next several decades.  Women tried time and time again to get their voices heard in the political system.  Women such as Stanton and Anthony pushed for such issues as the temperance movement and better working conditions for labor.  These ideas were seen as radical and the men who were in charge of reform just dismissed them.
	A democracy allows for all of its citizens to speak freely and have their opinions heard.  In the case of women, their political views could not be heard without the right to vote or run for political offices.  The concept of separate spheres-that women's proper place was in the private world of hearth and home and the men's was in the public world of commerce and politics-dominated the minds of many during this time period.1  This intimidated women into not speaking out and being heard when it came to issues in society.  The women who were not intimidated fought long and hard to have their voices heard made giant leaps and got public attention in the United States.
	The National Women's Suffrage Association, was the first independent women's rights organization in the United States.1  The political activity on the behalf of woman suffrage that took place due to this group shows the large role women began to play before acquiring the right to vote.  The measures these organizations of women took on their own behalf showed what a democracy should look like.  These women fought intensely to get their political issues heard, showing that the United States was a democracy after all, letting these women speak freely.
	Women also demonstrated how you can speak out in a democratic society during World War I.  Woodrow Wilson stated that one of the reasons for the United States to be in the war was to spread democracy to the world. Women in the United States did not believe American was democratic enough.  "A group of women led by Alice Paul picketed the White House, where they unfurled banners that proclaimed: 'America Is Not A Democracy.  Twenty Million Women Are Denied the Right to Vote'."1  This drew attention from President Wilson and in 1918 he gave his support for suffrage.  By 1920 the Nineteenth Amendment was passed by Congress, granting women the right to vote. 
The United States had now become a democracy by definition; all of its adult citizens had the right to vote. 
	The period between 1865 and 1924 was surely a tumultuous one for the United States.  For most of this period the country infrequently resembled a democratic nation.  When it concerned African Americans they were frequently denied numerous rights granted by a democracy.  As a minority they were not respected, not given the freedoms that other citizens had and were not able to play a part in the voting and political processes.  They were also discriminated against by the unfair representation in politics and the unjust proceedings that took place by officials.
	Women faced similar injustices that African Americans faced when it came to the political system in this country.  Women were not given a say as to what took place through legislation, even though it would affect them.  For many years the United States toiled around with truly being a democratic nation, it stretched and pushed every limit it could.  By 1924 however, the United States was back on the straight path of democracy, making it stronger than it had ever been in the past.  For the first time since the original thirteen colonies were established the United States could be proud of the great nation it had become.
	  










