Reconstruction era removed civilian governments in the South, and placed the former Confederacy under the rule of the U.S. Army. The army conducted new elections in which the freed slaves could vote, while whites who had held leading positions under the Confederacy were temporarily denied the vote and were not permitted to run for office. In ten states, coalitions of freedmen, recent black and white arrivals from the North (carpetbaggers), and white Southerners who supported Reconstruction (scalawags) cooperated to form Republican biracial state governments. They introduced various reconstruction programs including: funding public schools, establishing charitable institutions, raising taxes, and funding public improvements
The Necessity of Secularism: Why God Can't Tell Us What to Do website. The Necessity of Secularism: Why God Can't Tell Us What to Do The Necessity of Secularism (subtitled Why God Can't Tell Us What to Do) is a book by Center for Inquiry CEO Ron Lindsay arguing that secularism in government is the best solution to the problems posed by a society with differing and incompatible perspectives on religion, and that for democratic discourse to be successful, religious doctrines need to be kept out of public policy discussions. Lindsay's two primary themes in "The Necessity of Secularism" are the importance of secular government in a religiously pluralistic society and the