Era Of Reconstruction

The Era of Reconstruction

Abraham Lincoln in his Gettysburg Address said; "Four score and seven years ago our forefathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the position that all men are created equal." The Era of Reconstruction found the United States in shambles. Hence, there was a major setback in the revival and unification of the country due to the tragic assassination of President Abraham Lincoln on April 15, 1865, by a Confederate sympathizer, John Wilkes Booth. The Succeeding president, Andrew Johnson lacked the abilities to oversee the construction, thus delaying the progress. The North and South had individual reactions regarding the revisions thrust about through union victory.

Moreover, the addition of new amendments further intensified the controversies. In all, the period after the Civil War brought about many changes in the political, economic and social status of the United States.
Immediately after the Civil War Congress convened to strengthen the nation and to reshape it. Initially, they began by creating a national currency and strong banking system, freed land, built a transcontinental railroad and constructed telegraph lines to the west. As President Johnson was spontaneously thrust into office he hurriedly made crucial decisions regarding the South. Johnson, a democratic Southerner and anti-Republican received the position as Lincoln's vice president for the reason that the White House needed a candidate to appease Union-supporting Democrats. Consequently, in December when Congress was back in session he claimed that he had completed the reconstruction. Since Johnson had very biased feeling towards the South and to slavery, his reconstruction plan repulsed Congress. As a result, Congress was not going to accept his decisions and they proceeded to construct a plan of their own.
The Union North emerged victorious in the war for civil rights.

Although the initial reason for the war was to unite the nation, abolition of slavery became a major cause as well. Earlier, Lincoln attempted to end slavery through the Emancipation Proclamation Act which was supposed to free slaves in the Confederate states. Due to its failure, the Union included the slavery issue in the Civil War, although morality for the blacks did not interest them, they were loathe to the viciousness of slavery. Subsequent to the war, the North experienced major improvement in its economic status. Moreover the shift of political power from the South to the North altered the direction of American development from an agricultural nation to industrial capitalism. On the other hand; the Civil War left the South in a state of chaos. While the North experienced a large statistic in casualties, the Southern percentage of victims was much greater. Moreover, much of the Southern land was destroyed and the focus of the economy shifted to the North leaving the Confederates in a poor financial

position.
Andrew Johnson's goal was to end reconstruction fast while implementing minor change. One of the revisions Johnson did was that he ratified the 13th Amendment, which formally abolished slavery. The North was satisfied with this amendment since it officially removed slavery. However, the South, who were so dependent on the slaves quickly adopted a series of laws, know as the black codes. Thereupon, a strong segregation between the blacks and whites was enforced. Further, plantation owners continued to oppress blacks so that they continue laboring for them. As a result, the Northern rebels were infuriated for they feared a reinstatement of slavery. For that matter, they soon eroded their support for the approach known as the Presidential Reconstruction and issued the Civil Rights Act to nullify all segregation. President Johnson vetoed the bill; yet, Congress overrode it. Hence, this was the first time in American History that Congress overrode a major legislation.
The broadness of the 13th Amendment led to the introduction of the 14th Amendment which further elaborated on blacks rights.

The 14th Amendment granted citizenship to all native born or naturalized Americans. Alas, the African Americans became citizens of the United States. Moreover, Southern states presented voting rights to blacks since they feared reduced representation in Congress. In essence, the amendment protected blacks from the viciousness of the Southerners. Contrary to the South's resentment of the 14th Amendment, the North was in great favor of it. No matter the outcome the Republicans were sure to receive majority of the votes either through the addition of blacks or the omission of Southern states that prohibited black equality. At the present time, women stood up to demand female suffrage. In 1866 Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton founded the American Equal Rights Association where they lobbied for a government by the people, and the whole people; for the people and the whole people. These women argued for equal voting rights for all no matter the sex; they were mortified that blacks got rights faster than

them.
The next step to reconstruct the nation was to extend the voting rights to a national level. Correspondingly, the 15th Amendment was past and black voting rights were now cross country, in all states. To counteract, the Southern whites demanded that qualifications be necessary in order to vote. Indeed, the whites took advantage of their wrongdoings in denying an education to the blacks and they enforced that in order to vote one must pass a literacy test and own property. Thereafter, the qualifications that the Southerners issued in regard to voting spread to affect immigrants from other nations. Thus, after three-fourths of the states ratified the 15th Amendment it was included in the constitution. In contrast to the male belief that black suffrage was the last war issue, the women were in a rage to gain equality. The women rights activists strongly condemned the Republicans and their Negro first strategy. Hence, it will be decades till the women will be granted their suffrage.
The after-effects of the Civil War was felt nationwide. With the presence of an unqualified chief executive the reconstruction era was at first a slow and miserable time period; albeit, some improvement was seen with the introduction of the new amendments. In addition, the bickering between the North and the South and the constant friction stalled the settlements. At the end, the United States was successful in unifying the country, eventually granting equality to all.