Reconstruction era
Many members of the Republican Party wanted stricter terms before local rule was returned to the South. After the Republicans won a large majority of the Congressional seats in the 1866 elections, they refused to let former Confederate leaders take seats in the United States Congress. The Republicans passed laws that former leaders of the rebellion were temporarily denied suffrage, the right to hold office or vote in elections. Three new amendments to the U.S. Constitution were passed that ended slavery, made former slaves citizens, and gave them the right to vote. Some newly freed black slaves won elected offices. Many Northern carpetbaggers also went to the occupied territories to lead the people. Some became rich.