Reconstruction Dbq

Abraham Lincoln ran against Stephan Douglas for senator. They debated about slavery, both having different views on slavery. Lincoln argued against the spread of slavery while Douglas debated that each territory should have the right to decide whether each state should become free or slaved. Lincoln lost the election, but gained a national reputation that won him the Republican nomination for President in 1860. President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation that promises freedom for the slaves. Lincoln wanted to reconstruct the country, to rebuild, trust and make peace. While planning of the Reconstruction, one of America’s bloodiest wars was taking place, the Civil War, between the North and the South of the United States. The Northerners wanted to limit the spread of slavery and the

Southerners wanted to maintain and expand slavery. Trying to stop the war and make peace, part of Lincoln’s plan was to shorten the war and end slavery. Lincoln issued the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction to try to reduce the anger and bitterness caused by the Civil War. The Proclamation of Amnesty “offered full pardon, restoring property (except slaves) and political rights, to most rebels willing to renounce secession and to accept emancipation.” (Roark, 404) The Ten percent Plan required 10% of seceded state voters to take an oath of loyalty to Union. Lincoln was assassinated before he was able to do anything about his plans for Reconstruction to stop slavery. So, Andrew Johnson took over and followed through with Lincoln’s plans. Because the South did not agree with Lincoln/Johnson’s plans, congress decided to enact some laws to protect the newly freed slaves from the South. The Civil Rights Act of 1866 declared that all persons born in the United States were now citizens, without regard to race, color, or previous condition, but Andrew Jackson vetoed the act. Some of the laws congress passed were the Fourteenth Amendment, the Fifteenth Amendment, and the Enforcement Act of 1870. The Fourteenth Amendment allows citizenship to any person born in the United States including slaves and former slaves and “prohibited states from abridging the ‘privileges and immunities’ of citizens depriving them of ‘life, liberty or property,” and denying them ‘equal protection of the laws.’” (Roark, 410) This protected blacks against violation by southern state government. The Fifteenth Amendment granted African-American men the right to vote no matter their “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” Lastly, the Enforcement Act of 1870 banned the use of terror, force, or bribery to prevent people from voting because of their race. This reconstruction was a success because of these laws, slavery was slowly going away for good.

If it weren’t for these laws that they enforced, racism would be a lot different than how things are today. The southerners resisted the new social and political rights bestowed upon free blacks by the Black Codes and the Ku Klux Klan. Former rebel states enacted harsh laws known as the Black Codes. The Black Codes are laws designed to limit the freedom of blacks, to control them, and to force them back onto the farm laborers and to work for the white landlords. Some codes prohibited blacks from owning firearms, buying liquor, or engaging in any trade or business other than farming. The Ku Klux Klan was a social club of confederate veterans that developed a paramilitary organization. The Klan was originally formed to combat a series of post-Civil War policy decisions that many of the southern people felt it was unfair and harsh. Many radical members of Congress desired to not only reorganize the social structure of the south, but to punish it as well. The Klan went on a rampage by whipping, hanging, shooting, burning, and cutting the blacks and any whites who would help

them. The Klan went on this rampage in an effort to reverse the policies of the Radical Reconstruction and restore white supremacy in the south. The parallels that can be drawn between the escalating racial tension of the Reconstruction period and race relations in the United States today are the debates on voting rights restrictions and racial preferences, a white backlash with an African-American President, race, riots, and increasing racial divide. Contemporary debates over voter identification laws, hate crime legislation, and/or the Black Lives Matter movement reflect the challenges that still exist today by strict photo identification laws have negative impact on the turnout of Hispanics, Blacks, and mixed race Americans. Hate crime legislation was put into law because of our continuing racial problems and the Black Lives Matter Movement is proof that we continue to have challenges and racial divide in the United States today.