I would like to begin this assignment with a brief explanation of the points and reasons that relate to the topic of how and what the reasons were on why Southern whites were in favor of limiting rights and freedom to the black population of the United States , such reasons and ideas included the organized anti-black intimidating terrorist group The Ku Klux Klan , the introduction of the Black Codes formerly known as the Jim Crow laws and President Lincolns ideas such as the emancipation proclamation and the 10% loyalty oath and lastly sharecropping during the reconstruction era. To begin this essay first will be a brief explanation about the Reconstruction era . The Reconstruction era was a time period referring to the trials and errors/mistakes made in and by the United States. In an attempt to restructure and improve the laws and systems of politics, legality and economics . Before the Reconstruction era was the Civil War ( occurred for 4 years ) in the United states was the main reason and cause of how slavery came to be abolished . After the abolition of slavery , there were legal laws put in place for the protection and welfare of newly freed slaves although these laws were brought in to protect slaves , the whites succeeded on bringing in laws that denied the blacks of their rights , the blacks newly found freedom and was the whites way of forcing blacks into slavery status and to portray to the black population that they were at that time believed to be the superior race. The Reconstruction era was meant to be a time of change but blacks saw it as an era of disorder and inequality as well as seeing slavery as a form of social death. ( Illustrates the division during Reconstruction between a hostile South and an apath... ... middle of paper ... ...nching's were their main force of attack and was only used if a white woman had been in a relationship/seeing a black man . Another way whites restricted blacks was through the Black codes /Jim Crow Laws , these laws basically deprived blacks of the most simplest rights , a form of racism towards blacks and a symbol of whites being a superior race . Such rules in these laws forbid blacks to use same facilities and transport as whites , forbid the colored race to read and write and forbid them in mixed marriages. Share cropping was an idea of whites again depriving blacks of their rights and freedom by treating blacks as slaves and forcing them to work on plantations sometimes dishonest whites refusing to pay them for their work. This was a form of control over the blacks by the whites and another reason of how southern whites limited black rights and liberties.
This began a chain of events that led to the rise of the Ku Klux Klan and the end of the biracial democracy in the south. Johnson put pro-Union Southern political leaders into power, even though many had aided the Confederacy during the war. These men, with Johnson's support, attempted to restore a sense of the “Old South”, essentially trying to force blacks down as low in the class system as they legally could in light of the 13th and 14th Amendments-second class citizens. In 1866 the Radical Republicans stood up to President Johnson, and a battle for control of Reconstruction ensued.... ... middle of paper ...
The first part of this book looks into African American political activity during the pre-Civil War and Civil War periods. He uses this part of the book to show that blacks, even while in slavery, used their position to gain rights from their slaveholders. These rights included the right to farm their own plots, sale of their produce, and to visit neighboring plantations. This was also the period
As an unabridged version of his other book, Eric Foner sets out to accomplish four main goals in A Short History of Reconstruction. These points enable the author to provide a smaller, but not neglectful, account of the United States during Reconstruction. By exploring the essence of the black experience, examining the ways in which Southern society evolved, the development of racial attitudes and race relations, and the complexities of race and class in the postwar South, as well as the emergence during the Civil War and Reconstruction of a national state possessing vastly expanded authority and a new set of purposes, Foner creates a narrative that encompasses some of the major issues during Reconstruction. Additionally, the author provides
The South killed Reconstruction. They weren’t interested in equal rights and they showed much violence towards the North and African-Americans. In conclusion, my thesis is correct because there’s various pieces of evidence I provided that show how the South is to be blamed for killing Reconstruction. Even though the North started to give up on the South, it’s not their fault that the South wasn’t showing any effort and didn’t want to be
Blacks were driven out of skilled trades and were excluded from many factories. Racist’s whites used high rents and there was enormous pressure to exclude blacks from areas inhabited by whites.... ... middle of paper ... ...
...ights of blacks due to the inequitable laws such as the Black Codes, Jim Crow Laws, and sharecropping, and the fact that the Economic Depression of 1873 and the common acts of corruption distressed the economy. The southern states were reunified with the northern states through Lincoln and Johnson’s Reconstruction programs, even though Congress did not fully support them and created their own plan. Reconstruction was meant to truly give blacks the rights they deserved, but the southerners’ continuous acts of discrimination including the Black Codes, Jim Crow Laws, and sharecropping eventually denied them of those rights. Lastly, the negative effects of the corruption and the Panic of 1873 lead to economic failure during Reconstruction. These issues relate to our society because people do still face discrimination and corruption in our economy still exists today.
The social history regarding reconstruction has been of great controversy for the last two decades in America. Several wars that occurred in America made reconstruction efforts to lag behind. Fundamental shortcomings of the reconstruction were based on racism, politics, capitalism and social relations. The philosophy was dominant by the people of South under the leadership of Lincoln. Lincoln plans were projected towards bringing the states from the South together as one nation. However, the efforts of the Activist were faded by the intrusion of the Republicans from the North. Northerners were capitalists and disapproved the ideas that Lincoln attempted to spread in the South (Foner Par 2).
The next few paragraphs will compare blacks in the north to blacks in the south in the 1800’s. In either location blacks were thought of as incompetent and inferior. The next few paragraphs will explain each group’s lifestyle and manner of living.
The Reconstruction-era offered numerous opportunities to African-Americans, by attempting to secure the rights for ex-slaves, but the opportunities presented even more obstacles to them. The thought of freedom intrigued the African-Americans at first, but many of them quickly changed their minds after experiencing it. Henry William Ravenel, a slaveowner, proclaimed, "When they were told they were free, some said they did not wish to be free, and they were silenced with threats of being shot (Firsthand 24)." The Reconstruction-era effected the white settlers and their crops, as well, posing yet more obstacles for the already-struggling African-Americans. The hardships endured throughout this period of history were very immense and the struggle toward freedom and equality held a heavy price for all.
... and slavery left millions of newly freed African Americans in the South without an education, a home, or a job. Before reconstruction was put in place, African Americans in the South were left roaming helplessly and hopelessly. During the reconstruction period, the African Americans’ situation did not get much better. Although helped by the government, African Americans were faced with a new problem. African Americans in the South were now being terrorized and violently discriminated by nativist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan. Such groups formed in backlash to Reconstruction and canceled out all the positive factors of Reconstruction. At last, after the Compromise of 1877, the military was taken out of the South and all of the Reconstruction’s efforts were basically for nothing. African Americans in the South were back to the conditions they started with.
Even though both movements, were borne of high hopes, they failed in bringing about their goals. Born in hope, they died in despair, as both movements saw many of their gains washed away. I propose to examine why they failed in realizing their goals. My thesis is that failure to incorporate economic justice for Blacks in both movements led to the failure of the First and Second Reconstruction. The First Reconstruction came after the Civil War and lasted till 1877.
Blacks were discriminated almost every aspect of life. The Jim Crow laws helped in this discrimination. The Jim Crow laws were laws using racial segregation from 1876 – 1965 at both a social and at a state level.
As a nation, America has faced some troublesome times through her life span. As history goes on, people never forget about the Reconstruction era. Reconstruction was refers to the efforts made in the United State between 1865 and 1877. As the saying goes, ¨All good things must come to an end¨ which is exactly the case. The reputation Reconstruction has is labeled both a success and a failure.
William Howard Russell once said, "Little did I conceive of the greatness of the defeat, the magnitude of the disaster which it had entailed upon the United States. So short-lived has been the American Union, that men who saw it rise may live to see it fall.” At one point in History, the United States was not one nation. The Civil War had created many issues for the United States and the country was desperate for a solution. This solution was thought to be reconstruction. Reconstruction was the attempt from the early 60's until the late 70's to resolve the issues of the war after slavery was dismissed and the Confederacy was defeated. Reconstruction also attempted to address how states would again become part of the Union, the status of Confederate leaders, and the status of African Americans across the United States.
...vitude” (Fifteenth Amendment 1870). If blacks had the ability to own land, there would have been more equality and they could have individual jobs working on their own land and living off it. Or if Jim Crow laws were decided unconstitutional by the Supreme Court judge then blacks would have been less segregated. If the new election of 1876 ended with consent of Southerners while voting, the KKK activity would still be suppressed. And the Reconstruction governments would have worked and blacks would have had little more equality. If Tilden was voted by democrats then Hayes wouldn’t have removed the Force Acts and the Reconstruction Legislatures had continued helping blacks gain equality.Either way, Reconstruction was a time period of drastic challenge and opportunity. Although slavery was abolished, there was a greater challenge on how to solve the remaining issues.