how does restoring voting to whites in the south help protect rights of freedmen in the 1870s? freedmen by the way were the slaves. thx for ur help :)

It would have caused a great deal of anger if freedmen could vote, but whites couldn't vote. This was a necessary move to guarantee that blacks could vote in the south.

Actually, the idea of restoring voting rights exclusively to whites in the South during the Reconstruction era of the 1870s did not directly help protect the rights of freedmen (formerly enslaved people). In fact, such a measure would have undermined their rights and perpetuated racial inequality.

During the Reconstruction period following the American Civil War, there were efforts to grant equal civil and political rights to freedmen, including the right to vote. The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1870, explicitly prohibited the denial of voting rights based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude. This amendment aimed to protect the voting rights of freedmen and ensure their political participation.

However, various discriminatory practices and laws were introduced in the South, collectively known as Jim Crow laws, which aimed to suppress and disenfranchise African Americans. These included poll taxes, literacy tests, and other voter suppression tactics specifically targeting Black citizens. Such measures were intended to prevent freedmen from exercising their right to vote and maintaining white dominance in politics.

Restoring voting rights exclusively to whites, instead of protecting the rights of freedmen, would have further marginalized Black citizens and perpetuated the discriminatory practices and power imbalances that were already prevalent in the South. The aim of Reconstruction was to promote equality and protect the rights of all citizens, regardless of race, and restoring voting rights to whites exclusively would have been a step backward in achieving these goals.

To truly protect the rights of freedmen and ensure their political participation, efforts should have been focused on enforcing the Fifteenth Amendment, challenging discriminatory laws, and dismantling Jim Crow practices. This would have involved advocating for equal voting rights, education, economic opportunities, and legal protections for all citizens, regardless of their racial background.