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Reconstruction and radical reconstruction after the civil war
Effect the civil war had on American society
Reconstruction and radical reconstruction after the civil war
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Reconstruction was a time in which the nation was healing. The South was in the process of rebuilding, while also transitioning into the new idea of free blacks and abolished slavery. Changes had to be made in order to ensure that the ideas finalized upon the conclusion of the Civil War were put forward and accepted. The ending of the war should have had a positive effect on the African Americans, however, the reality was the exact opposite. The idea of the Reconstruction Era was based, primarily, on efforts of slaves to fully claim their newly acquired rights as citizens, and to experience their freedom. Many institutions and laws had been put in place to protect the rights and values of the African Americans. Though these laws served a purpose …show more content…
of creating an equal environment between Whites and Blacks, they were not successful. Three Constitutional amendments, known simply as the Reconstruction Amendments, were adopted in the beginning of the new era with a goal of securing the rights that had previously been provided by the Emancipation Proclamation. The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth amendments each gave blacks new rights in order to live their new lives as free men. The Thirteenth amendment abolished slavery everywhere within the United States. This amendment was put in place after the Emancipation Proclamation was assumed to be misinterpreted. Citizens of the United States could have viewed the Proclamation as just a war measure, meaning the idea would no longer remain at the conclusion of the war. The Fourteenth amendment settled the question of African American citizenship. This amendment granted all those who were born in the United States citizenship, while also clarifying that all those with citizenship have equal protection. The Fifteenth amendment extended the rights of Blacks by forbidding any States the right to deny a citizen's entitlement to vote based on race, or a past involvement with servitude. These Amendments gave Blacks constitutional protections, though they would still have to fight for equality. Some institutions were put in place that would aid in helping the African Americans to mold into society. The Freedman’s Bureau was an institution dedicated to helping former slaves. The Bureau worked towards giving African Americans true citizenship, educating them, and helping them become independent. The Bureau's goal, however had been stalled due to the issues involving the acceptance into society and the political conditions. Even though Blacks were considered to be citizens, they were not accepted into southern society. The Civil Rights Act of 1875 gave the African Americans more protections. The African Americans were able to gain the right to access all public accommodations and facilities. However, over the time the act was not enforced. Soon the Supreme court stated that the law did not apply to “private persons or corporations”. The Plessy v. Ferguson case is an example of the settlement over the segregation issue. Plessy sat in a seat on a train that was reserved for whites only, when asked to move, he refused. This was an event created a case on the idea of segregation. Plessy argued that being a full citizen, he could not be stripped of any of those acquired rights. The counter argument of the state of Louisiana was that providing separate equal facilities abided to the Fourteenth Amendments. The outcome of this case even furthered segregation as Blacks and Whites would soon have separate accommodation and facilities. These “Jim Crow” laws were an undermining factor of the Blacks progress in success. Many of those who did not accept Blacks as citizens went through many efforts to undermine Blacks gains as a whole.
Even with their new rights, Blacks were still outnumbered in the south. The African Americans could vote, however the whites unite against them and outvote Blacks. This would result in the whites always remaining in control. Other tactics that worked against Blacks include the Black Codes. These codes were the restricting factor behind the rights of freedmen. Examples of these limiting rights include that blacks would have the right to marry, however it would be illegal for a black to marry a white. So the African Americans gained some rights, however were still treated as inferior compared to the whites. These codes also permitted apprenticeship. Whites would be the masters of African American children. This was only a small improvement from slavery as the whites could inflict punishments. And as with slavery, apprentices would run away, however only to be recaptured and brought back to apprenticeship. However unlike slavery the master was obligated to provide food, clothing, and education. Southern whites had many tactics to undermine Blacks newly gained freedom. One of the most significant ways involved a group known as the Klu Klux Klan (KKK). The KKK claimed that they had a goal of trying to restore the chaos Blacks had caused. However, the way they tactics used to reach this goal were extreme. The white supremacist group would commit many crimes to rebel
against the citizenship of blacks. These acts include murder and rape of blacks, bombings, etc. Due to a weak Reconstruction government, these acts occurred often and did not have many consequences. The African Americans’ lives during reconstruction faced little improvement. Prejudice towards Blacks that could not be overcome by granting citizenship still remained. The North had won the war and lost the peace. Every positive outlook on the African Americans seemed to be rebounded by an event in favor of the Whites. The Blacks gained rights, however the violence due to outraged Whites increased. Prior to the war the conditions of Blacks was not favored, however the South was more at peace.With the conclusion of the war the idea of White superiority became a very common idea. This lead to the introduction of the KKK, which symbolized the peace being completely lost in the South. The North had won had won the Civil War, but disrupted the nation as a result.
The seed sown by the wealthy Southern plantation owner of racial disparity had germinated to later become the profoundly discriminatory society. The suppression and unjust behavior of white southern plantation owner towards black slaves had led the civil war, which transition the new era of uncertainty. The work of post-civil war does not end with the abolishment of slavery, but it only starts. The task of rebuilding the south, readmission of the confederate army to union, and providing assistance for the free people of post war, was later known as reconstruction. The work of reconstruction had not only failed to rebuild the nation as the united. But it also failed profoundly of what was the urgent needs of the post war; provide assistance
...dom and right to vote established by the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, blacks were still oppressed by strong black codes and Jim Crow laws. The federal government created strong legislation for blacks to be helped and educated, but it was ineffective due to strong opposition. Although blacks cried out to agencies, such as the Freemen's Bureau, declaring that they were "in a more unpleasant condition than our former" (Document E), their cries were often overshadowed by violence.
After a war that claimed the lives of more men than that of all other wars combined, much of the country was left in ruins, literally and figuratively. Dozens of towns in the South had been burned to the ground. Meanwhile, the relations between the North and South had crumbled to pieces. Something needed to be done so that the country could once again be the United States of America, not the Divided States of America. The years from 1865 to 1877 were a time of rebuilding – the broken communities and the broken relations. This time period was known as Reconstruction. Reconstruction was a failure on the basis that the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments that were passed should have given protection and freedom to the African American people, instead, it actually hurt them because the laws were not enforced, and eventually lead to the organization of white supremacy terrorist groups.
Although many laws were passed that recognized African Americans as equals, the liberties they had been promised were not being upheld. Hoffman, Blum, and Gjerde state that “Union League members in a North Carolina county, upon learning of three or four black men who ‘didn’t mean to vote,’ threatened to ‘whip them’ and ‘made them go.’ In another country, ‘some few colored men who declined voting’ were, in the words of a white conservative, ‘bitterly persecute[ed]” (22). Black codes were also made to control African Americans. Norton et al. states that “the new black codes compelled former slaves to carry passes, observe a curfew, live in housing provided by a landowner, and give up hope of entering many desirable occupations” (476). The discrimination and violence towards African Americans during this era and the laws passed that were not being enforced were very disgraceful. However, Reconstruction was a huge stepping stone for the way our nation is shaped today. It wasn’t pretty but it was the step our nation needed to take. We now live in a country where no matter the race, everyone is considered equal. Reconstruction was a success. Without it, who knows where our nation would be today. African American may have never gained the freedoms they have today without the
The social history regarding reconstruction has been of great controversy for the last two decades in America. Several wars that occurred in America made reconstruction efforts to lag behind. Fundamental shortcomings of the reconstruction were based on racism, politics, capitalism and social relations. The philosophy was dominant by the people of South under the leadership of Lincoln. Lincoln plans were projected towards bringing the states from the South together as one nation. However, the efforts of the Activist were faded by the intrusion of the Republicans from the North. Northerners were capitalists and disapproved the ideas that Lincoln attempted to spread in the South (Foner Par 2).
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.
During the 1800s, the succeeding era following the American Civil War was sought to be a period of prosperity, privilege and freedom for those affected by the calamitous war and preceding period of oppression. This era of reconstruction made a genuine effort to; Readmit Confederate States to Union, establish and defend the rights to newly-freed African Americans, and integrate them into the United State's social, economic and political operations. However, the reality of this adverse situation was that southern, democratic radicals would institute new laws known as "Black Codes" (OI) which would set a nationwide precedent that they would go as far as they needed to maintain their confederate way of life. Other southern radicals had also created White Supremacy Organizations to combat opposing Republicans and freedmen. The severity of the situation synergized with Confederate hate established the grounds in which the efforts of Reconstruction ultimately failed.
William Mason Grosvenor believes that Reconstruction should be harsh. Grosvenor has two main arguments to support this belief, manifest destiny and the potential for the reoccurrence of a similar event to the war if Reconstruction was carried out in a lenient manner. Grosvenor argues that the country, pre-Civil War, was never truly a single unified country, but rather a group of peoples with vastly different values held together by a constitution which they had outgrown, saying, “[n]o chemical union had ever taken place; for that the white-hot crucible of civil war was found necessary.” Furthermore, Grosvenor believes that the succession of the South demonstrated this divide while simultaneously violating the doctrine of manifest destiny through
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.
The Civil war could very easily be known as one of the greatest tragedies in United States history. After the Civil War, the people of The United States had so much anger and hatred towards each other and the government that 11 Southern states seceded from the Nation and parted into two pieces. The Nation split into either the Northern abolitionist or the Southern planation farmers. The Reconstruction era was meant to be exactly how the name announces it to be. It was a time for the United States to fix the broken pieces the war had caused allowing the country to mend together and unite once again. The point of Reconstruction was to establish unity between the states and to also create and protect the civil rights of the former slaves. Although Reconstruction failed in many aspects such as the upraise in white supremacy and racism, the reconstruction era was a time the United States took a lead in the direction of race equality.
7 May 2014 After the Civil War, the victorious Union enacted a policy of Reconstruction in the former Confederate states. Reconstruction was aimed at creating as smooth a transition as possible for the southern states to re-enter the Union as well as enacting economic and social changes. However, several factors brought about its failure, and as a result the consequences can be seen in the race problems we still have today. In 1862, President Lincoln appointed temporary military governors to re-establish functional governments in occupied southern states. In order for a state to be allowed to re-enter the Union, it had to meet the criteria, which was established to be that at least 10 percent of the voting population polled in 1860 must denounce the Confederacy and swear allegiance to the Union again.
The Reconstruction implemented by Congress, which lasted from 1866 to 1877, was aimed at reorganizing the Southern states after the Civil War, providing the means for readmitting them into the Union, and defining the means by which whites and blacks could live together in a nonslave society. The South, however, saw Reconstruction as a humiliating, even vengeful imposition and did not welcome it.
On one hand the slaves were free, and on the other hand they were not given equal rights, and they were discriminated for the color of their skin tone. In other words, Reconstruction was a mixed success, which combined both positive and negative impacts. By the end of the era, the North and South were once again reunited, and all southern state legislatures had abolished slavery in their constitutions. However, it some sense, Reconstruction was a failure because blacks were not provided equal rights and opportunities. Racism and segregation did not end at all. On the other hand, there was a huge change to the country as the US was completely in a chaos stage during the civil war. Despite some obstructions, it can be concluded that the Reconstruction was somewhat beneficial for African American. As time passes, many schools and colleges were founded for blacks, and many other doors were opened to uplift their life. Overall, all these outcomes can be considered as a huge
William Howard Russell once said, "Little did I conceive of the greatness of the defeat, the magnitude of the disaster which it had entailed upon the United States. So short-lived has been the American Union, that men who saw it rise may live to see it fall.” At one point in History, the United States was not one nation. The Civil War had created many issues for the United States and the country was desperate for a solution. This solution was thought to be reconstruction. Reconstruction was the attempt from the early 60's until the late 70's to resolve the issues of the war after slavery was dismissed and the Confederacy was defeated. Reconstruction also attempted to address how states would again become part of the Union, the status of Confederate leaders, and the status of African Americans across the United States.