Causes Of Reconstruction Dbq

Between 1860 and 1877, America experienced a number of constitutional and social changes, as a result of the Republican election and loss of southern power that lead to the Civil War, and the reconstruction efforts that would follow, inevitably proving unsuccessful. During this period, the south, and the freedmen left residing in southern states as well, had to adjust to a new society, driven by constitutional developments such as the Emancipation Proclamation, and later, the 13th amendment, which freed slaves and left them to assimilate into a white civilization. These freedmen gained the rights to vote, hold positions of power in congress, serve in the army, and own land- which although would not last for a very long period- would prove to

be the basis for civil rights. The constitutional and social developments that occurred between 1860 and 1877 resulted in revolutionary change for African Americans because they gained rights they never before had, and although they would lose them after reconstruction, these developments would lay the foundation for permanent rights for African Americans.
With the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, it showed a noticeable threat to southern power, due to the fact that he was elected despite not being shown on a single southern ballot, and posed a threat to their peculiar institution of slavery and overall preservation of state’s rights.

This mindset is shown in Document 1, as South Carolina and other southern states now felt like the only option to regain their congressional power and rights as individual states was to secede. South Carolina proposed this declaration as a statement to the union that they would no longer be a part of America, and wanted their own independence from a nation that they had believed to have given them nothing but tyranny. However, the union would inevitably win the Civil War, and began to construct a nation without southern influence, providing rights to the newly freed slaves with the 13th amendment, and creating a more nationalistic economy. Document Two illustrates this shift from the regionally based economies that thrived in the south to a more unified, national economy, as the speech was given during the time that Salmon P. Chase’s financial plan was being put into effect. During this time, the Republican Party had completely stomped out any semblance of southern power in government, and had given themselves free reign to create a new economy without southern opposition, shown in Chase’s financial plan, which called for a national bank, an income tax, and the Morrill tariff. Senator John Sherman gives this speech to congress, in order to praise the new economic policy, and warn his audience in congress that they should continue to pursue a more national economy. This was a revolutionary change in economic policy, because it exhibited the shift from southern power structures and constitutional economic policies to a new, nationalized

economy.
In addition to changing the economic structures of the south during the reconstruction period, there was also a push towards integrating African Americans into a society where they had never before had a place, except as slaves. During the Reconstruction period, union troops and leaders such as Sherman, seized land from southern plantation owners, and promised the newly freed slaves that they would get a share of this land. In Document 4, the freedman are showing this struggle that came about from this promise being unfulfilled, their audience being the Freedmen’s Bureau and the President of the United States, whom they thought would hear their plea and instate a constitutional change, rather than take the side of the southern landowners. Although they did not get this land they were promised, this was a monumental constitutional change for the African Americans, as they had never had the chance to gain land or become landowners. Document 6 also expresses another dramatic change that was happening both during and after the Reconstruction period- the 15th amendment, which guaranteed black men the right to vote. Even before the amendment was passed, black men were voting in the south; a right they had never had before this time. The 6th document is addressing the general public, showing them that black men were finally gaining a right to the ballot. These advances would go away with the addition of Jim Crow laws at the end of the Reconstruction era, but the changes would have a lasting constitutional impact on African American’s rights.
Besides the constitutional impacts that occurred during 1860-1877, there were lasting and notable social evolutions when it came to modifying the south and the position of the African Americans. In Document 3, this push towards equal rights is being shown by African American citizens, petitioning to a Union convention for voting rights. This document shows the social change, specifically the way the government viewed the freed slaves. At this time, black men could serve in the military, but could not vote, or have any power in government, due to the fact that Reconstruction was over by 1865. The point the African Americans are trying to show in writing this document is why should they serve the American government in war, when they do not have equal rights as Americans? Amidst this urge for constitutional change, there were people already beginning to acknowledge the refinement of America, and that there was a revolution taking place, which is illustrated in Document 5. Senator Lot Morrill is addressing congress about the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, but wants them to acknowledge that there is already a prominent reform that has taken place. African Americans were no longer slaves, bound under a master, and were no longer seen as property. Besides the social improvements that had taken place, he also wants them to take in account that the Constitution itself had been modified with the 13th Amendment, and that itself was a revolutionary event, because African Americans were finally Americans, gaining the citizenship they had not been granted before the Civil War.
When the reconstruction period ended, a new south was emerged. This new south disenfranchised the African Americans who had previously gained the right to vote with the 15th amendment. This period brought Jim Crow laws into the New South, and a new bout of racism and discrimination towards the African American population. An example of this discrimination is shown in Document 7, which describes the struggle African Americans faced in the transition from reconstruction to the New South. All of the reconstruction efforts were now for naught, as African Americans couldn’t own the ‘white’ land, or the nicer property. They were forced to live in run-down neighborhoods, had to resort to tenant farming in order to feed their families, were denied their constitutional right to vote, and were still seen as savages by white southerners. The caption in Document 7, “worse than slavery”, explains that the African American population had went through a great change, only to be forced back into a segregated society, where they were denied rights to jobs, land, and education, and given the worst of what was available, similar to the Slave Codes that were in place during the period of slavery, which prohibited blacks from leaving their quarters at certain times and limited what they could do outside of work. With the threat of the KKK and violent lynching, they were exposed to more racially driven violence, even worse than the punishments they were exposed to during slavery. The age of Jim Crow laws and violence in the New South could be compared to the shooting in Charleston that took place this summer, which was a racially motivated crime against a historically rich church, where black abolitionists had gathered and held meetings concerning a slave rebellion in 1822. The shooter was a white supremacist, who had admitted to having the belief that African Americans “raped our women”, which was a very common mindset during the Jim Crow era, and a defense used for segregation. This incident reflects the core social beliefs that became prominent after reconstruction in the south; that blacks were uneducated, had no manners, and needed to be kept away from the whites. As shown through these actions, even today, racism is still alive, and similar to social beliefs held during the 1870’s, was a social value passed down from generation to generation. The changes that took place after reconstruction, including Jim Crow laws and segregation, would have a lasting impact well into the 1960’s, and laid the framework for the civil rights movement and African American’s rights.
To conclude, the revolutionary changes that took place between 1860 and 1877 would change how the government and the common people viewed African Americans and their rights for years to come. From the 13th amendment and onwards, African Americans would be freed from the bonds of slavery, and have the opportunity to pursue life as an American citizen, rather than a piece of property to be sold and conquered. They would gain the right to vote, to become landowners and workers; but would eventually have those basic necessities taken away from them. Even with the outcome of the new south, and a new wave of racism, this period was crucial in the foundation of equal rights, both socially and constitutionally. If African Americans had never had the right to vote, or had never owned their own property, the advancements in civil rights would have never occurred, and we would have never had such monumental and revolutionary changes today.