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The conditions in the South after the Civil War were, to put it bluntly, absolutely atrocious. All forms of government had disappeared, there was no laws or authority to be found, the banks were ruined, confederate money was absolutely worthless, they lost approximately two billion dollars worth of slaves, and the physical state of the South was in ruins. Because of this, a Reconstruction was required. However, things didn't go perfectly. Although there were quite a few successes and positive aspects to Reconstruction, there were also quite a few mistakes and negative consequences. With the good, comes the bad however, and it was to be expected: especially after a major, devastating event such as the Civil War. To start off, "Under Johnson's …show more content…
Presidential Reconstruction, all land that had been confiscated by the Union Army and distributed to the freed slaves by the army or the Freedmen's Bureau reverted to its prewar owners."[1] This is not a positive change, or a 'success'. The land had already been given to the freed slaves, there was no reason to take it back. These former slaves had nothing, and were given the land they themselves worked as something of a gift, letting them start a new life of their own, and finally work on becoming successful citizen of the United States. The Southern states were given free reign to govern themselves, and make whatever choices they believed would be best, as stated by the quote: "Apart from being required to uphold the abolition of slavery (in compliance with the 13th Amendment to the Constitution), swear loyalty to the Union and pay off war debt, southern state governments were given free reign to rebuild themselves."[1] This was another bad decision. It was already proven very thoroughly that these states cannot govern themselves, lest chaos ensue with the added risk of the Constitution being broken. Although it may not be best for the Federal Government to be completely controlling, it may have helped in this particular situation. Giving the former Confederate States complete, free reign of their rebuilding was not the right choice. A positive example is, "They passed the Military Reconstruction Acts of 1867, which divided the South into five military districts and outlined how the new governments would be designed."[2] This separated the South's military power, while also designing their government in a way to ensure an uprising, or rebellion would not take place.
Along with this, designing their government allows for increased stability, and possible success rate. Such a thing is very delicate and somewhat tricky,and while I’m not one to question the capabilities and skill of the South, in this situation, lending a helping hand and steering them on the right path seemed like the best solution. Another negative example is, "As soon as blacks gained the right to vote, secret societies sprang up in the South, devoted to restoring white supremacy in politics and social life. Most notorious was the Ku Klux Klan, an organization of violent criminals that established a reign of terror in some parts of the South, assaulting and murdering local Republican leaders."[3] Because of the Reconstruction, hate groups formed all across the Southern states. As aforementioned, the Ku Klux Klan was the most notorious, and still lives on today. Due to the way the Reconstruction was handled, this seemed to be an inevitable. I believe that if, perhaps, a tighter rein was held on the Southern States, groups such as these could have been snuffed out before they became a larger issue. Overall, even though there were many mistakes Reconstruction was a success. Yet, this does not mean it was perfect. Even now, many years later, things aren't perfect. Especially with the recent events, it's very clear that the old Southern mentality still stands, as strong as ever. While African American citizens do have more rights, they, and other people of color, and still abused quite often today by those who are meant to protect us; However, that is a topic for another time. The biggest way the Reconstruction could have been
made more effective was by simply paying closer attention to the Southern States, and not giving them free rein to do whatever they so pleased. Perhaps sending officials to guide the leaders, or even just watching and stopping problems that arose. Despite its many failures, however, I believe that Reconstruction was an overall success.
Reconstruction was a nasty period in History. Reconstruction took place after the civil war. In the civil war there was lots of devastation. Buildings and houses were being destroyed so people needed something called Reconstruction. Reconstruction was something people really needed after the civil war because they needed to rebuild a community. Some people didn't want reconstruction because they liked destruction. Then also after the civil war slavery was abolished, as well some people don't like that either. South killed Reconstruction because South resistance had KKK, and South was murdering people.
With the civil war coming to an end, the congressman of Illinois presented a fresh, new concept. This modern idea stated that the United States of America was a new nation and “for the first time, it had been wholly free.” Many of the white men from this time period were against the change and pursued their old way of life, which prevented the newly made amendments from going into full effect. Freedom in the south during the reconstruction era of America was very controversial. There were many different conceptions of what freedom was. It was thought to be land, others thought it had to do with money, and some even though it was not having a master/not being a slave. The definition of freedom swayed back and forth depending on whose point of
“Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.” George Santayana stated what happens if we do not learn from our past. After the Civil War the United States wanted to build itself back up. The nation was in rubble because half of the country was fighting the other. That left it in a sad and fallen state. The issue of slavery was a long debated topic. They thought they could get over this and start anew. Reconstruction means the actions or process of rebuilding what has been damaged or destroyed. Did the North or the South kill Reconstruction? That issue is still up for debate. In my opinion, the South killed Reconstruction and stopped it dead in its tracks. The South did not respect the African American’s right to vote and would terrorize
The Civil War marked a defining moment in United States history. Long simmering sectional tensions reached critical when eleven slaveholding states seceded from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America. Political disagreement gave way to war as the Confederates insisted they had the right to leave the Union, while the loyal states refused to allow them to go. Four years of fighting claimed almost 1.5 million casualties, resulting in a Union victory. Even though the North won the war, they did a horrible job in trying to win the peace, or in other words, the Reconstruction era. Rather than eliminating slavery in the South, the Southerners had a new form of slavery, which was run by a new set of codes called "Black Codes”. With the help of President Johnson, the South continued their plantations, in essence becoming exactly what they were before the war. Overall, the South won Reconstruction because in the end they got slavery (without the name), they got an easy pass back into the Union, and things reverted back to the way they had been prior the war.
After the Civil War ended in 1865, it was followed by an era known as Reconstruction that lasted until 1877, with the goal to rebuild the nation. Lincoln was the president at the beginning of this era, until his assassination caused his vice president, Andrew Johnson to take his place in 1865. Johnson was faced with numerous issues such as the reunification of the union and the unknown status of the ex-slaves, while compromising between the principles of the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. After the Election of 1868, Ulysses S. Grant, a former war hero with no political experience, became the nation’s new president, but was involved in numerous acts of corruption. Reconstruction successfully reintegrated the southern states into the Union through Lincoln and Johnson’s Reconstruction Plans, but was mostly a failure due to the continued discriminatory policies against African Americans, such as the Black Codes, Jim Crow laws, and sharecropping, as well as the widespread corruption of the elite in the North and the Panic of 1873,
The United States, a nation that has undergone many hard changes, politically, economically, and socially. The success of this great nation has relied on different plans and objectives set out by the leaders that have gone before us. One plan that helped shape our nation was Reconstruction. Though many consider Reconstruction to be a failure, Reconstruction helped pass laws that recognized African Americans as equals, restored the Union, and provided educational opportunities for former slaves. These initiatives are what made Reconstruction a success.
Reconstruction is the period of rebuilding the south that succeeded the Civil War (1861-1865). This period of time is set by the question now what? The Union won the war and most of the south was destroyed. Devastation, buildings turned into crumbles and lost crops. The South was drowning in poverty. To worsen the situation there were thousands of ex-slaves that were set free by the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13 Amendment. "All these ex-slaves", Dr. Susan Walens commented, "and no place to put them," The ex-slaves weren't just homeless but they had no rights, unlike white man. The government and congress had to solve the issues present in the south and the whole nation in order to re-establish the South. These issues were economical, social and political. The United States had presidential and congressional reconstruction. Reconstruction was a failure, a great attempt to unify the nation. It was a failure due to the events that took place during this period.
Reconstruction is known as the period after the Civil war. The whole country was separated in two, people didn’t know what to do, the south was completely destroyed, and there were a lot of decisions to be made by the president. It lasted four years, and there was over half a million casualties between the union (North) and the confederate states (South). The north was declared the winner of the war after General Lee surrender in the Appomattox court house on April 9, 1865. The causes of the war was the secession of several southern states, they argued that it was up to them and it was in their rights to decide whether they should make slavery legal or illegal in their own boundaries. But the Union had other things in mind, the union wanted to decide whether or not the states were going to have slaves. This was just to make sure the country was equal on slavery and non-slavery on both sides, but states thought the union was abusing their power and being too strict on them, and that is when they decided to secede. The first state to secede was south Carolina, then they were followed by six other states, among those states were Florida, Texas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. These states got together and created the confederate states of America in February 4, 1861, and the president was Jefferson Davis, they also made a government similar to the one of the U.S. Constitution.
The south was in economic and social chaos after its defeat in the war. 1865-1877 was a time period of reconstructing the south, however, it left an everlasting impression that kept the south behind for years to come. The political apprehension the south felt was due to the fact that there was no more authority and the new states had to deal with the northern states. The question was how the newly reelected Lincoln was going to bring these states back to the Union.
Reconstruction has been brutally murdered! For a little over a decade after the Civil War, the victorious North launched a campaign of social, economic, and political recovery in South. Martial law was also implemented in the South. Eventually, the North hoped to admit the territory in the former Confederacy back into the United States as states. The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments freed the African Americans, made them citizens, and gave them the right to vote. Despite this, Reconstruction was unfortunately cut short in 1877. The North killed Recosntruction because of racism, negligence, and distractions.
... 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.
Reconstruction was the time period following the Civil War, which lasted from 1865 to 1877, in which the United States began to rebuild. The term can also refer to the process the federal government used to readmit the defeated Confederate states to the Union. While all aspects of Reconstruction were not successful, the main goal of the time period was carried out, making Reconstruction over all successful. During this time, the Confederate states were readmitted to the Union, the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments were ratified, and African Americans were freed from slavery and able to start new lives.
Despite all of Reconstruction’s promises and successes, the era included many failures, too. One such failure was the formation of the Ku Klux Klan and other racially prejudiced groups in the South that promoted violence towards African Americans. Another failure involved the corruption seen during Reconstruction by both the North and South. The carpetbaggers who were Northerners helped spread corruption in the Reconstruction Era by moving from their home state in the North securing a political office or position in the South to carry out the plans of the Radical Republicans. In the South, many local governments disenfranchised or created poll taxes for African American voters enabling them to vote.
America has gone through many political, social and economic crises throughout her lifetime. One revolutionary movement called as Reconstruction after a civil war was established. Reconstruction refers to the era or period after the civil war when the United States was rebuilding and reuniting. Reconstruction was one of the complex situations in the US history. All the citizens had anticipated for the better nation from the reconstruction. Millions of people at that period were optimistic and hopeful because it was the greatest time of the transformation of social, political and economic status of a nation. Reconstruction was assumed to possess an enormous accomplishment in the US history, but it was not entirely successful in making that
With the end of the Civil war in 1865, the new nation of the United States now faced challenges on restoring peace within the Union. The North, having won the civil war, now faced the task to implement reconstruction of the South. They came in contact with the questions of: What should happen to the freed slaves, should the freed slaves have rights, what should be done to the Confederate leaders, and how should the South be reconstructed? There were many different ideas and views on how Reconstruction should be handled, but only one succeeded more successfully than the other. Although they bear some superficial similarities, the difference between presidential and congressional reconstruction are clear. The president believed that Confederate