which of the following laws enacted immediately after the civil war were designed to maintain the social structure of slavery
black codes
compromise of q877
plessy v ferguson
reconstruction act
The correct answer is black codes.
Black codes were a series of laws enacted by Southern states immediately after the Civil War that restricted the rights and freedoms of newly freed African Americans. These laws aimed to maintain the social structure of slavery by placing severe limitations on their mobility, employment opportunities, and access to education and voting rights. Black codes were widely seen as an attempt to recreate the system of slavery in a slightly different form.
Among the laws enacted immediately after the Civil War, the ones that were designed to maintain the social structure of slavery were the Black Codes. The Black Codes were a series of laws enacted by southern states that aimed to restrict the rights and freedoms of African Americans and essentially preserve the status quo of slavery. These laws aimed to control and regulate the labor, movement, and behavior of newly freed slaves.
Of the laws you mentioned, the one specifically designed to maintain the social structure of slavery immediately after the Civil War is the "Black Codes."
To understand why, let's briefly go over each of the options you provided:
1. Black Codes: These laws were enacted by Southern states in the years following the Civil War, primarily from 1865 to 1866. They were designed to restrict the rights and freedoms of African Americans, essentially attempting to reestablish the social control structure that existed during slavery. The Black Codes limited the rights of freed slaves, imposed harsh labor contracts, restricted their movement, and denied them access to basic civil and political rights.
2. Compromise of 1877: While this event is significant for post-Civil War history, it was not a law enacted to maintain the social structure of slavery. The Compromise of 1877 was essentially a political agreement between Republicans and Democrats to resolve the disputed presidential election of 1876. It resulted in the withdrawal of federal troops from the South and the end of Reconstruction, allowing Southern states to regain control over their affairs.
3. Plessy v. Ferguson: This was a Supreme Court case in 1896 that established the "separate but equal" doctrine. Although it contributed to the perpetuation of racial discrimination, it was not enacted immediately after the Civil War or specifically designed to maintain the social structure of slavery. Instead, it provided legal justification for segregation and further institutionalized racial discrimination in the United States until it was eventually overturned by the Supreme Court in the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.
4. Reconstruction Act: The Reconstruction Act of 1867 was enacted by the U.S. Congress to address the issue of Reconstruction in the Southern states after the Civil War. It imposed new requirements on Southern states, such as ratifying the Fourteenth Amendment and granting voting rights to African Americans. Its goal was to reconstruct the South politically and bring it back into the Union, rather than maintaining the social structure of slavery.
Therefore, the correct option that was specifically designed to maintain the social structure of slavery after the Civil War is the "Black Codes."