Reconstruction Acts

plural noun

1. U.S. History. the acts of Congress during the period from 1865 to 1877 providing for the reorganization of the former Confederate states and setting forth the process by which they were to be restored to representation in Congress, especially the acts passed in 1867 and 1868.

Example Sentences

Congress passed, over President Andrew Johnson’s veto, the first of four Reconstruction Acts.

From Washington Times

“The Republicans still had a majority in Congress so they could reject some of his appointments, which they did, and override his vetoes of their legislation — and they could allow the states that conformed to the Reconstruction Acts to re-enter the Union,” she said.

From New York Times

Still, Grant kept working as the head of the Army, deferring to Johnson and largely keeping his own counsel, as the Radical Republicans managed to pass their Reconstruction Acts—and Johnson worked to defy them.

From The New Yorker

It charged that Johnson had fired Stanton for an improper purpose: to block enforcement of the Reconstruction Acts.

From Washington Post

The Reconstruction Acts required the Southern states to ratify the 14th Amendment and give African Americans the vote before they’d be readmitted to the Union.

From Washington Post