Power shifted throughout the South after Congress passed the Reconstruction Act of 1867. The Radical Republicans were in charge of Reconstruction. This gave them more influence in the South. The southern states were placed under military rule as a result of the Reconstruction Act of 1867. These states had to write new constitutions that would ratify the 14th Amendment. For a period of time, African-Americans gained more political power. The 15th Amendment stated that people couldn’t be denied the right to vote based on race, color, or having been a slave. African-Americans ran for political office and won some elections.

As long as the military was in the South administering the terms of Reconstruction, the Republicans remained in control of Reconstruction and in control of the South. Some white southerners refused to take part in the process of writing the new state constitutions. This helped increase, for a period of time, the African-American presence in southern politics.

Reconstruction shifted the power in the South for a period of time toward the African-Americans and toward the Republicans.