Who Killed Reconstruction Dbq Essay

“Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.” George Santayana stated what happens if we do not learn from our past. After the Civil War the United States wanted to build itself back up. The nation was in rubble because half of the country was fighting the other. That left it in a sad and fallen state. The issue of slavery was a long debated topic. They thought they could get over this and start anew. Reconstruction means the actions or process of rebuilding what has been damaged or destroyed. Did the North or the South kill Reconstruction? That issue is still up for debate. In my opinion, the South killed Reconstruction and stopped it dead in its tracks. The South did not respect the African American’s right to vote and would terrorize

them if they voted for the Republican candidates (which belonged to the north). The South also thought the African Americans were lesser people. They wanted to go back to a white government.
The South did not respect the 15th Amendment. The 15th Amendment states that, “ The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” In a Testimony to a joint house and Senate Committee, Abraham Colby wrote that, “On the 29th of October 1869, [the Klansman] broke my door open, took me out of bed, took me to the woods and whipped me three hours or more and left me for dead (Doc B).” The KKK members whipped Colby because he wanted to vote for the Republican candidate, and not what the KKK members wanted. They did not respect his right to vote and used terror to try to stop him. In the month of May, 1870, Albion Tourgee wrote a letter on the KKK activites. He said, “It is my mournful duty to inform you that our friend John W. Stephens, State Senator from Caswell, is dead. He was foully murdered by the Klu-Klux in the Grand Jury room of the Court House on Saturday (Doc A)…” Stephens was a Senator and helped represent the North and the Republicans. The KKK came after him because of this. They want to strike fear into the hearts of people that do not support them. That fear grants them power and kept the KKK going for a long time.
The South also thought they were better than the African Americans.

They thought they were lesser people and deserved to go back to slavery. Colby later wrote in his testimony to the House, “Some are first-class men in or town. One is a lawyer, one a doctor, and some are farmers… They said I had voted for Grant and had carried the Negroes against them (Doc B).” Colby is again talking about the KKK and what they said to him that night. This quote describes the actions of those rich white men. Why else would they act out like that? They gained power by terrorizing the voters. In the Independent Monitor, on September 1, 1868, there was an image depicting the democratic KKK hanging carpetbaggers (Picture in Doc A). The term “Carpetbaggers” means a Northerner heading South after the Civil War. They usually took important offices and tried to get rid of slavery. That angered the South and the KKK. Though some Northerners had bad perspectives on the Freedmen in the South, so did the people in the South. There is an image about the South Carolina State Legislature during Reconstruction (Picture in Doc D) that shows the African Americans arguing , while the white senators look angry and frustrated with them. Their faces show they are haughty and are looking down upon the newly elected African American senators. This shows they think they are better than

them.
The South killed Reconstruction. The South did not respect the African American’s right to vote and would terrorize them if they voted for the Republican candidates. The South also thought that the African Americans were lesser people. That is not how the African American, scalawags, or Carpetbaggers should have been treated. The whole purpose of the Civil War was to unite the Union, not to destroy it. Many died over the topic of slavery and equality. Yet, the South tried to limit the power and rights of the African Americans. They tried to scare off voters and tip the votes towards their side. One issue of debate today that resembles this is equal rights for women workers. Most women workers work the same hours and do the same jobs as men, but get paid less. It was just the same back then. The African Americans did the same jobs, yet they had a lower salary. Women soccer leagues also play the same schedules, yet they are payed less. Is this what our forefathers worked for? Have we learned from our History? Or are we doomed to repeat it?