The twenty negroe law was one of the more controversial and rift-indusind laws that congress and president Lincoln had to tackle during the civil war.
These laws were meant to allow freed slaves to vote, but they also came with some more controversial elements which many white southerners found very offensive.
This article will go over these twenty negroe law, as well as how it caused such a rift between congress and the white southerners who opposed it so vehemently.
The Twenty Negro Law was passed by Congress on July 16th, 1862.
This law allowed for freed slaves to own land, as well as gave them the right to vote. It was passed by an overwhelming majority of Republicans, who were in control of both the House and the Senate at the time.
The bill was so controversial that it even caused President Lincoln to worry about his own political future.
Before this law was passed, only states could allow blacks to vote. The Twenty Negro Law changed that by giving Congress exclusive power over black suffrage in the Unites States.
This act made it illegal for any citizen under Military Law to exclude black men from voting because of skin color or previous ownership.
The 19th Amendment also gave every black man over twenty years old the right to vote.
This law was meant to help free slaves, but it also caused some controversy among the white southerners who lived in the south.
The law that gave freed slaves the right to vote ruffled many feathers in the south.
Many whites did not feel that blacks should have a say in their country’s government, and they were outraged at the idea of having to share power with blacks.
Even though this law did not directly give blacks any political power, it still infuriated many white southerners.
They saw this act as an attempt by Lincoln and congress to get rid of slavery for good, so they were outraged because of what they believed would happen following this act’s ratification.
why did the “twenty-negro law” enrage many white southerners during the civil war?
Although the Twenty Negro Law was passed, it still did not grant freed slaves any political power.
They were still incapable of voting due to the fact that only states could grant suffrage before this act was passed.
The first step of what is known as Reconstruction was taking place, which began with these laws.
This process is called “Reconstruction” or “reconstruction”, because it involved returning political power to the southern whites who had held it before the civil war began.
By returning blacks to their former owners, they would be more likely to vote for those who had given them rights in the past.
Rights according to this law were :
1. The right to vote.
Southerners feared that freed slaves would be able to vote and wield major political power.
The Twenty Negro Law did not grant blacks any voting rights at all, but southerners thought that the law was just the first step towards giving blacks the right to vote.
Southerners also feared that this twenty negro law would eventually give blacks more power than whites, because whites had such a disproportionate amount of representation in Congress due to their large population.
Many white southerners believed that blacks would be able to vote themselves even more rights, which they were never supposed to have in the first place.
2. The right to own land
The Twenty Negro Law also gave freed slaves the right to own land. Southerners feared this law because it gave them the right to own land, which was not meant for blacks in the south.
Southerners also feared that giving blacks the right to own land would lower their property value, as well as lower their tax base.
Giving blacks this right might cause white southerners to eventually lose control of the entire south, considering how closely tied slavery was with owning land.
3. The expansion of the US Army
White southerners also believed that they might be getting less power now because they were now legally obligated to grant freed slaves these rights.
This law also gave congress power to expand the army, which would have only ever been done to fight the confederates.
Freeing slaves meant that they would be able to fight for their freedom, giving them more power.
4. The new income tax
Southerners also believed that after this law was passed, freed slaves would become even wealthier and more powerful than they were before.
This new tax gave freed slaves a lot of money, and it meant that freed blacks had more money than whites in the south because black men paid taxes too.
5. The Twenty Negro Law
Southerners also believed that the twenty negro law was a violation of their states rights.
Giving freed slaves these rights was a federal issue, and this law would be a direct violation of the states rights that they had been granted to protect by the constitution.
Giving blacks these rights was no longer a federal issue as to whether or not freed slaves should have them, but instead it became an issue of states rights
