When most people think of the Reconstruction era after the Civil War, many think of reconstruction of

our buildings and cities aswell as our country. While there were many events that took places in the
Reconstruction era and many groups that arose, it raises the question What’s the biggest thing we got
out of the Reconstruction era? One of the biggest things we got from the Reconstruction era were more
defined citizen rights of blacks in the U.S. The 13 th, 14th, and the 15tg amendments were passed in this
era, known as the Reconstruction Amendments. The 13 th amendment banned slavery except as
punishment for a crim. The 14th amendment defined who were actual citizens of the United States and
how they are guaranteed their rights at all times. Finally, the 15 th amendment gave every black the right
to vote.These were pushed to go into place by the Radical Republicans who believed that punishing the
Confederates wasn’t the solution to reconstruction. Instead, they pushed for all men to be equal and
have their basic human rights given to them. These amendments overall played a big part for the
freedom of black people where we finally got them the right to live and be a citizen. While there was still
work to do after this era, we made big progress and this ultimately led to the beginning of the Civil
Rights Movement.