The "Strong" Government 1869-1877; The "Weak" Government 1877-1881

President Grant kept reunification of the nation at the forefront of his actions during Reconstruction. The Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, ratified on February 3, 1870, prohibits states from denying any citizen the right to vote due to their race, color, or previous experience of being enslaved.



Concerned over increased violence against African Americans in the south, Grant also established the Department of Justice, which presided over the conviction of more than 1000 Ku Klux Klan members between 1870 and 1876.