Failure Of Reconstruction Essay

Essay prompt: How do you account for the failure of Reconstruction to bring about social and economic equality of opportunity to former slaves?

Reconstruction, a period during the US History where the Union government, who won the Civil War, reconstructs both political and social systems of the south so that the Northern industrialization will be assured its dominance over the south as the union restores. The southern economy, which depended upon cotton and various crops, had the necessity of “cheap labor” which led to the usage of black slaves. In fact, these “crop planters” who owned a vast amount of money and land became the industrial power of the South disabling the enaction of higher taxes in the south due to their political power. Moreover, the goal of reconstruction was to eliminate wealthy planters in the south to deconstruct the power of the agricultural industry in the federal government. As a matter of fact, because the “black slaves” had an immense effect on the growth and size of the agricultural economy, the reconstruction gave “fundamental human rights” to the black

slaves in the south through the emancipation proclamation. Even though various laws ensuring freedom for the black slaves was created, it is evident that the reconstruction failed to bring about social and economic equality of opportunity to former slaves because the social identity of former slaves was still that of slaves in the south. The failure of reconstruction is indisputable throughout the southerner’s incapability to internalize the necessity of the enforced laws, the remaining white power over the black people due to the growth of white supremacist ideals, as well as the lack of capital giving black people economic disadvantages.

The southerners, who had lost to the war did not internalize the significance of the laws that were created by the northerners. Moreover, the southerners had almost thought of the laws protecting rights of the freed slaves as a “foreign power enforcement” and as a “symbol of loss” of the war. As the emancipation proclamation was issued by Abraham Lincoln, which stated of how “all persons held as slaves” are to be free, the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendment were issued. The three amendments states of the abolishment of slavery (13th), the citizenship rights of all persons who were born or who were “made citizen” in the US (14th), and of the right to vote for all people of the different race (15th). In fact, the “planters” had only released the slaves to abide by the rules that were created by the “larger power”, not for the morality and the understanding nature of the necessity of equal opportunity for all races. Furthermore, it is evident that the southerner’s inability to internalize the importance of the laws depicts the ineffectiveness of the reconstruction towards the segregation of former slaves.

Due to the reconstruction and the enforcement of laws to free the slaves and the lack of transition from a slave to a slave-free environment, the growth of white supremacists was evident.

Specifically, there were several white supremacist groups created during the reconstruction, such as the Ku Klux Klan, whose incentives were to inhibit the black Americans from voting. This fraternal organization had been terroristic, using murder, lynch, rape and arson to show and prove the white power over the black people. Moreover, it is evident that such white supremacist groups who target on the black people due to their ego and their ideals, a show of the ineffectiveness of the politics during the Reconstruction. In fact, the reconstruction period had failed to sustain the freedom of the former slaves, thus unable to execute the Union’s ultimate goal to create social equality to former

slaves.

From an economic standpoint, the former slaves were at a disadvantage due to the fact that they did not have any capital as they were released from their plantation owners. Even though the “40 acres and a mule” was promised by William T. Sherman, many of the former slaves have lost their properties due to extended financial recessions. In fact, since the slaves were released instantly as the Emancipation Proclamation was enacted, the black people were not given equal opportunity, which made it impossible for them to buy land, to start their businesses, which had eventually kept them from becoming a higher ranked citizen. Moreover, due to the fact that some slaves still had owed money to the plantation owners, peonage had been initiated in various plantations, where the former slaves were being used by the plantation owners until the former slave works for the debt worth. Overall, it is palpable that the lack of capital and opportunity for former slaves is disabling them from becoming a higher ranked citizen, and the white power still holds against the slaves. The lack of capital shows of how ineffective the Reconstruction was in creating a society where all races have equal social and economic opportunities.

Overall, Reconstruction failed to create both social and economic equality for all races, due to the fact that the social identity of former slaves was still that of the slaves in the south. The reconstruction did not assist in any way to levitate the social standards of a former slave, and, in fact, created a society where segregation exists.