Reconstruction was successful politically in its attempts to solve the problems of how to deal with the newly freed slaves and how to bring the seceded states back into the Union after the Civil War; however, many of these methods were unsuccessful or had no effect socially or economically. Some solutions determined by Reconstruction included: the passage of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments; the Freedmen's Bureau; the Reconstruction Act of 1837, the Civil Rights Act, and the Enforcement Act of 1870.
             In 1865, Congress ratified the Thirteenth Amendment, which stated that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States." Simply put, the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery. The passage of this amendment was successful politically; however, many states did not readily enforce this law. Many even passed discriminatory laws known as black codes. These laws were seen by Republicans as the driving vehicle for the reconstitution of the Democratic Party in the South. The black codes placed numerous restrictions on African-Americans including the prohibition of blacks to carry weapons, serve on juries, testify against whites, marry whites, start their own businesses, and travel without permits.
             The Thirteenth Amendment allowed for the freedom of African-Americans, but they were far from equal. However, with the help of the Freedmen's Bureau, former slaves began to slowly pull themselves back up. The Freedmen's Bureau was created by Congress just before the war to aid refugees, freedmen, and Southerners who had been uprooted by the Civil War by furnishing supplies and medical services, establishing schools, distributing clothing, and much more. Although the Freedmen's Bureau lasted only a short time, it did succeed in establishing and assisting numerous educational i...