Failure Of Reconstruction Essay

Many who witness the maws of change note how shifting cultural tides arise in grass-roots rallies, rebellions, or even retaliation in riots, which either peacefully, or otherwise, influence legislators. However, in America, copious amounts of legislation trickles from Washington to unwilling, immobile populations. In fact, one period in particular endured pushes for transformation unlike any other: the Reconstruction era. Although leadership had no choice, nonetheless the Reconstruction displays Congress’ failure to enforce unsought political and cultural advancement throughout diverse communities. All in all, legislation amid the Reconstruction which intended to support African Americans were considerably unsuccessful policies; despite

Republican’s best effort and their myriads of ancillary laws, determined southern lawmakers nullified and manufactured remarkable bulks of malicious regulations which partly accounted for disappointing, meager African American representation.
Republicans, who served an exceptional majority in Congress, passed countless of laws, policies and acts all backing the Reconstruction’s ideals for African Americans. Bountiful decrees were in actuality amendments directly to the Constitution. Indeed, beginning with the Thirteenth Amendment, passed in January 31, 1865; since Republicans found the necessity to expand the Emancipation Proclamation, they formally criminalized slavery in all states and territories ("The Andrew Johnson Administration"). The Thirteenth Amendment was thoroughly enforced which benefited African Americans throughout the U.S. Next, the Fourteenth Amendment, which redefined, and refined, citizenship in the U.S., ensuring that citizenship could not be denied by arbitrary means such as race; additionally, it overrode the Constitution’s measure of an African American man to be three-fifths of a person ("The Andrew Johnson Administration"). The amendment was a response to the south denying citizenship to African Americans, and although it shut one loophole, Congress would continue to battle misinterpretations and workarounds to laws concerning citizenship and citizen’s rights. Many southerners used loopholes which denied permission for African Americans to vote, prompting Congress to pass the Sixteenth Amendment, which specifically confirmed African American’s right to vote (Spiller). Though the legislation was certainly beneficial to the lives of many African Americans for some time, again, the amendment boiled down to a frivolous attempt to solve a complication which southerners forebode with restrictions such as literacy constraints. Though Congress passed countless amendments to escalate African American’s beatitude, they also passed legions of policies in order to balance power and economic opportunity between whites and blacks. A fundamental, cardinal regulation from the Reconstruction, the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, freed all slaves located in rebelling states from the Civil War ("The African American Odyssey"). The Emancipation Proclamation immensely assisted enslaved African Americans throughout the south; it was also a false beacon, shimmering with hope and promise only found to be a mirage of the future of equality and brotherhood.

Withal, the Emancipation Proclamation had not reached far enough; Republicans discerned that their freedom would be trivialized if southern governments foisted social and economic shackles upon blacks, so they forged the Reconstruction Act of 1867 (Bartels). The Reconstruction Act of 1867 replaced southern state governments for imposed military rule until new, anti-discriminatory federal laws could be enforced on the southern population (Bartels). Since many of the southern governments failed to impose Congress’ laws, the military rule considerably abetted African Americans integrate into society. Likewise, The Freedmen's Bureau, officially the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, also desired to guide caucasian and African Americans through transitioning from slavery to freedman eras (Cimbala). Though the Freedmen's Bureau was largely undersupplied by Congress, it held some gravity to southerners with the intentions to mistreat their African American workers (ibid). The Bureau’s task

was so incredibly daunting their efforts only produced small amounts progress. However, numerous African Americans appreciated the service which they were able to provide, therefore proving overall advantageous to freedman and African Americans. For example, The Bureau found fighting local laws tough, and so Congress passed the Civil Rights Bill of 1866, which was aimed at the South’s discriminatory codes ("The Andrew Johnson Administration"). They nullified many inequitable decrees and protects multitudes of rights for blacks, and some of these rights included: the right to make and enforce contracts, the right to sue and be sued, the right to give testimony, and the right to own and sell land ("The Andrew Johnson Administration"). Mainly, the Civil Rights Act of 1866 enforced the Thirteenth Amendment, which improved African Americans’ lives. Even though Congress passed manifold laws during the Reconstruction for African Americans, many were not imposed in areas which they were intended and needed.
Though Republicans in Congress were able to pass many pro-Reconstruction laws, southerners either disobeyed or found loopholes within the policies with Black Codes.

Southern states passed prejudiced mandates known as Black Codes which intended to keep African Americans dependent and socio-economically inferior to caucasians. Black Codes included, though was not limited to, restricting the following: “legal sanction of marriage, granted the right to own property, and allowed Blacks to testify in a court of law” (Bartels). This Black Code belonged to Mississippi and was among the most punitive of its kind. Because lawmakers wanted to keep freedmen as an economic and societal underclass, they forbid the entire populous from owning property, indicating their necessity to labor for a white man, and banned interracial marriages which would mix the classes of black and white, blurring the lines. In fact, most Black Codes are intentionally written in a confusing, vague, maze of semantics intended to swerve loopholes in order to decrease the likelihood of detection (Bartels). Considering integral statutes such as the Fourteenth Amendment targeted Black Codes, southerners obligatory sneaked and hid in language to effectively pass anti-African American, anti-Reconstruction ordinances. One of the most despicable breeds of Black Codes were Vagrancy Laws. Vagrancy Laws further instilled white supremacy over freedmen by limiting blacks to agricultural work; most Vagrancy laws

penalized freedmen who were not laboring, enforced extreme taxes on freedmen who were in skilled labor forces ("Black Codes"). Such laws were malicious policies which hurt the Reconstruction’s purpose. Another brand of Vagrancy Laws comprised specific policies designated “Enticement Codes” criminalized employers to offer high wages to laborers who are already engaged ("Black Codes"). Wage caps on African Americans were already banned by the federal government so southern lawmakers discovered a workaround, negatively impacting the Reconstruction’s cause. Despite Congress’ best efforts, reality elucidates that much of the Reconstruction included southerners biasing bylaws against African Africans.
Though policy undeniably is an essential measure of success, or rather failure, legislative rights include the right to hold offices and effectively act in local, state, and federal levels, which were largely neglected for African Americans. Across the mainly the south, blacks did run for and hold offices. African Americans in state offices came in droves, “Between 1865 and 1877 about 70 black teachers and over 100 black ministers of religion entered politics, securing seats on state legislatures. Well over 600 blacks would sit on state legislatures” (Spiller). A stunning amount of southern African Americans, over six-hundred, involved themselves in lawmaking and the future of the country. For perspective, as much as “90 percent of black officeholders during Reconstruction came from the South” (Spiller). Considering so many African Americans endured hot summer years as servants, once they obtained their liberty they to elected African Americans representatives. However, many less African Americans were able to serve on a federal level; Hiram Revels and Joseph Rainey were the first two African Americans to serve Congress (Spiller) (“Black Americans in Congress”). Congress continued to brim with extreme majorities of whites, though the fact that freedmen were able to serve so quickly after emancipation was a sign of faith for every hopeful citizen. Although African Americans served in impressive amounts of offices, their positions were close to meaningless due to their absence and inability to inspire power. Despite their passionate orations promoting racial equality, African Americans in states such as South Carolina failed to achieve power held by their caucasian colleagues (“Black Americans in Congress”). The power gap between African Americans and whites was a boundless tragedy to their cause, though remember many celebrated the very fact that they had power in the first place. Others, though, were not so happy; many saw African Americans in power as “ignorant, illiterate, propertyless, and that they lacked education and the economic wherewithal to take part intelligently in government” (Foner). Leadership’s hastey flip-flop for African Americans in leadership failed to animate bigoted caucasians. In fact, the north contracted plenty of prejudice. James S. Pike, a northern journalist who observed South Carolinian government noted, “It is impossible not to recognize the immense proportion of ignorance and vice that permeates this body” (ibid). Citizens and those in power throughout the nation questioned black’s capability to lead. Since many thought that African Americans were unfit to serve in office, whites often forced African Americans to endure elections riddled with violence and fraud (“Black Americans in Congress”). Indeed, legislative power was out of reach for many African Americans aspiring for leadership within the states. So, even though myriads of blacks held office, many had tribulations surviving elections were relatively ineffective in power.
Reconstruction did not only discourage minorities of aspiring African American leaders, but widely ostracized the African American and freedmen community as a whole. The Reconstruction predominantly failed to bring wide-spread, enforced legislative rights for African Americans. Remember, not only did African Americans have trouble with legislative rights, but southern Black Codes worked around, ignored, and outright outweighed much of the pro-Reconstruction legislation. An intrinsic lesson from the Reconstruction is that, though at times the green Earth appears a war of tribes, a cosmos of black and white, if we introspectively dive deep all of us can remember our innate beliefs: each one of us are colorful beings of wonder.