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Following the Civil War, the U.S. was in a period of reconstruction. From 1865-1900 many promises were made on the social and political changes that would impact the lives of African-Americans, such as new amendments and the Freedmen's Bureau, however, though there were many successes, practices like black codes, poll taxes, and the ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson all ultimately showed that the reconstruction era was a failure. This caused African-Americans to be stuck in a limbo of searching for fair and equal treatment that they would not receive for decades to come. A step in the right direction came through the passing of the thirteenth amendment in 1865 which abolished and prohibited slavery, the passing of the fourteenth amendment in 1868 which said that all people born in the U.S. were citizens, and the ratification of the fifteenth amendment in 1870 which said that no one can be kept from voting due to their race, color, or previous condition of servitude. Through the passing of these three amendments, recently emancipated slaves were supposed to be ensured equality, however, voting rights in the south for African-Americans didn’t last once reconstruction ended. …show more content…
A major failure of the reconstruction era came about through inexcusable practices such as black codes.
These “codes” restricted the rights of newly freed African-Americans by prohibiting them from renting land, borrowing money to buy land, forcing them to sign work contracts, and prohibiting them from testifying against whites in court. Another example of segregation was through poll taxes and literacy tests that were used to not allow African-Americans to vote. One success to come from reconstruction in the south was the election of two African-American senators (Hiram Revels and Blanche K. Bruce) and over a dozen African-Americans to the House of Representatives. There was backlash from this that caused bitter resentment from
ex-Confederates. Another failure of the reconstruction era was the supreme court case of Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896. With a ruling of 7-1, the decision was made to uphold state racial segregation laws for public facilities under the doctrine of "separate but equal". Plessy v. Ferguson was not overturned until 1954 under the supreme court case of Brown vs. Board of education. The new amendments were not accepted by everyone and resistance against free slaves soon came about. The Ku Klux Klan emerged throughout the south with ideals of segregation and hatred, trying their best to keep African-Americans out of their newfound freedom. The KKK used terror tactics, assault, and even murder against African-Americans and their white supporters. One method that sought to keep African-Americans in a slave-like state was through the practice of sharecropping. This system gave poor people of the rural south (freed blacks as well as whites) opportunity to work a piece of land. However, it required them to provide half of the crop to the landowner, therefore trapping them in debt. The reconstruction era was a success in that it was able to unify the states into one nation, but a failure in the sense that newly freed African-Americans were never truly treated as citizens. Successes such as the Civil War Amendments and the election of African-American officials were overshadowed by the practices put in place by the south to restrict newly freed slaves lives, the hate groups and systems that were meant to hold them back, and the supreme court cases that would cause African-Americans to endure the struggle of “separate but equal” for decades to come.
Even when the Amendment abolished slavery in 1865, and the black people embraced education, built their own churches, reunited with their broken families and worked very hard in the sharecropping system, nothing was enough for the Reconstruction to succeed. Whites never gave total freedom to African Americans. Blacks were forced to endure curfews, passes, and living on rented land, which put them in a similar situation as slaves. In
We saw the Thirteenth Amendment occur to abolish slavery. We also saw the Civil Rights Acts which gave full citizenship, as well as the prohibiting the denial of due process, etc. Having the civil rights laws enabled African Americans to new freedoms which they did not used to have. There was positive change occurring in the lives of African Americans. However, there was still a fight to suppress African Americans and maintain the racial hierarchy by poll taxes and lengthy and expensive court proceedings. Sadly, this is when Jim Crow laws appeared. During this time African Americans were losing their stride, there was an increase in prison populations and convict labor, and the convicts were
In order to unite the nation, intense dispute had aroused. Through various laws both African Americans and ex-Confederates were affected by the reconstruction period. Although the Reconstruction Era had gained a negative legacy, the ratification of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments were a breakthrough in the life of African Americans. The continuous development of polices was to reach the intended goal that the Reconstruction Era was sought for, to unify the United States of
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
... and slavery left millions of newly freed African Americans in the South without an education, a home, or a job. Before reconstruction was put in place, African Americans in the South were left roaming helplessly and hopelessly. During the reconstruction period, the African Americans’ situation did not get much better. Although helped by the government, African Americans were faced with a new problem. African Americans in the South were now being terrorized and violently discriminated by nativist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan. Such groups formed in backlash to Reconstruction and canceled out all the positive factors of Reconstruction. At last, after the Compromise of 1877, the military was taken out of the South and all of the Reconstruction’s efforts were basically for nothing. African Americans in the South were back to the conditions they started with.
Between 1860 and 1877, America experienced a number of constitutional and social changes, as a result of the Republican election and loss of southern power that lead to the Civil War, and the reconstruction efforts that would follow, inevitably proving unsuccessful. During this period, the south, and the freedmen left residing in southern states as well, had to adjust to a new society, driven by constitutional developments such as the Emancipation Proclamation, and later, the 13th amendment, which freed slaves and left them to assimilate into a white civilization. These freedmen gained the rights to vote, hold positions of power in congress, serve in the army, and own land- which although would not last for a very long period- would prove to
After the Civil War, with the protection of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution and the Civil Rights Act of 1866, African Americans enjoyed a period when they were allowed to vote, actively participate in the political process, acquire the land of former owners, seek their own employment, and use public accommodations. Opponents of this progress, however, soon rallied against the former slaves' freedom and began to find means for eroding the gains for which many had shed their blood.
Prior to the Civil War, African Americans were treated as second class individuals. They lacked the freedom and equality they sought for. To the African Americans, the Civil War was a war of liberation. Contrary to what African Americans perceived, Southerners viewed the war as an episode of their journey to salvation. Southern lands may have been destroyed and depleted, but the South was persistent that their racial order would not be disrupted. To most, the goals of the Reconstruction era were to fully restore the Union, and to some, grant emancipation and liberty to former slaves. Although the newly freedmen gained various rights and liberties, their naïve dreams of complete equality and liberation collapsed due to the immense resistance of the South.
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
The Civil War was the bloodiest series of battles in American history. The battle of Antietam had a total of 23,000 people in one day. The war just ended and all is supposed to go to peace. Is the war really over? The Reconstruction Era was the time period after the war from 1865-1877 (Background Essay, Timeline). This era was when the federal government sent troops down to the South to fix up the damage from the war and make sure the freedmen have their freedom. This time period was when the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments were ratified giving the freedmen civil rights and the right to vote (Background Essay, Paragraph 3) . The Reconstruction Era looked like it was going to be successful, but the Klu Klux Klan in the South started pushing
“War was easy. The hard part was cleaning up afterward.” In this essay we will be talking about the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth amendments and their contents, contexts, and consequences. Also the successes and failures of the Reconstruction, lastly the election of 1876. The Reconstruction era after the Civil War had both beneficial and non beneficial happenings that helped shape our country into what it is today.
After the Civil War the Reconstruction Era occurred in the southern United States. The Reconstruction Era deeply impacted the south in a negative way for minority. African American were unjustly treated by the white Americans, their rights were limited and or taken away. As a result, they fought hard to obtain equal treatment as citizens. Blacks tried to fight segregation in many ways like at the ballot boxes, in the courtrooms, and through organizations like the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People. Beginning in 1873, a series of Supreme Court decisions limited the scope of Reconstruction-era laws and federal support for the Reconstruction Amendments, particularly the 14th and 15th, which gave African Americans the status
Reconstruction was needed and the period following the civil war, the reconstruction period, fostered many significant results and achievements especially for Constitutional amendments. While mending a broken country, the reconstruction period still left many fresh wounds. There was great successes and championships for former slaves and the blacks rights, but their was still lingering thoughts and acts of discrimination towards these groups. Reconstruction produced three amendments defending the people 's rights, yet discrimination towards blacks was peeking to new heights. Laws were not enough to change the hearts and minds of the people, which was at the core of the issue. With the unfortunate loss of the nation’s leader, it would be almost a hundred years later until America had leaders strong enough, in the nineteen sixties, that could change the ideas of racism and
In the 1800’s slavery was a huge problem in our country. Especially in the south. White citizens in the south would own lots of plantations were African Americans would be forced to work. After the South was defeated in the civil war, the reconstruction process would begin. Reconstruction is when people try to fix the conflicts that were destroying the country. After trying to make new laws in the reconstruction process, reconstruction ended up being a failure.
After the Civil War was over and the Reconstruction-era began, changes were made such as the 13th amendment in 1865, which forbid slavery in the United States. Even though slavery was now prohibited, freed blacks were now left alone to struggle finding simple things like a roof to live in and a job to work for. Meanwhile, President Abraham Lincoln wanted to give the south humane conditions for them to be accepted back into the union and also wanted to give African Americans and former soldiers the right to vote, but that wasn’t very successful when put into the hands of Congress. Soon after Lincoln was killed in 1865, President Andrew Johnson came into presidency and changed the conditions giving African Americans a harder time adapting to their new lives as freedmen. Furthermore, the south became very violent against the blacks and came up with black codes, which put freed blacks as closely as possible back into a slave state. These black codes prohibited interracial marriages, the ownership of guns or liquor, congregation in large groups and had curfews for these freedmen. Furthermore, these black codes forced the freedmen to sign annual work contracts that were offensive and offered only in the agricultural f...