Why Did The South Kill Reconstruction?

The Reconstruction was the process of trying to rebuild the South after the devastating effect of the Civil War. Some interesting facts during the Civil War were first, in 1869 the first college football game took place, second, African American universities became a reality, and last, in 1870, Hiram Revels was elected the first black Senator. In the end, Reconstruction died, but we’ve all been asking the same thing; North or South: Who killed the Reconstruction? Answering this question, I believe the North killed the Reconstruction by a lack of focus on it, the racism on African Americans, and being sick of assisting the South.
Did the North or the South kill Reconstruction? Various reasons point to either North or South, but who really killed Reconstruction? The Reconstruction is the rebuilding of the South. The South, during the Civil War, was left in ruins from this brutal war. This sent shock through all of the country. There were a lot of organizations/groups with and against the Reconstruction. Some of the groups that were for the Reconstruction are Freedmen, Carpetbaggers, Scalawags, and Radical Republicans. One example of groups who were against the Reconstruction are the Ku Klux Klan, or KKK. Freedmen are former slaves. Carpetbaggers are Northerners who went to the South to help

the Reconstruction. Scalawags are Southerners who supported the Reconstruction. Radical Republicans are people who supported African American rights and citizenship and believe former Confederates should be punished. A lot of people were hurt from the death of Reconstruction. People lost their jobs, including Carpetbaggers since their jobs were helping the Reconstruction, people were discouraged, and because the soldiers who were reinforcing the Reconstruction left, many more dangerous activity in the South popped up, including racism.
The first reason of my claim is that President Grant and the public didn’t have their focus on the Reconstruction. Much of the attention was on the Panic of 1873 and/or the corruption of Grant’s administration and the fraud of the government. “Many Northern voters shifted their attention to such national concerns as the Panic of 1873 and corruption in Grant’s administration,” (Littell 515). The meaning of this is that many Northerners moved their attention away from the Reconstruction including President Grant’s eyes and the government. “‘Sick of carpet bag’ government,” (Littell 515). This means that the people were sick of all this money towards the Reconstruction, and not enough attention on corruption, fraud, and the Panic of 1873. This helps me answer the question because President Grant and the citizens of the North did not focus on the Reconstruction anymore, so no one really cared and/or put effort and money into the Reconstruction, which led to the death of Reconstruction.
The second reason for my claim is that there was a lot of racism. “Weary of the Negro Question,” (Littell 515). “Northerners shifted their attention to such national concerns,” (Littell 515). These quotes mean that Northerners strayed attention from Negros and onto more national problems like the ones listed above. No one really cared about the freedom and the rights of African Americans anymore. “The blacks, as people, are unfit for the proper exercise of the political duties,” (Richardson 517). The North saw African Americans as unfit to serve in the government or state and it also took a long time to learn how to lead. “The slave went free; stood a brief moment in the sun; then moved back again toward slavery,” (Dubois 505). The quote explains that even though slaves were free, the hate was not risen. This helps me answer the question because the North was focused or bothered by racism in the North or South, and had their heads in national and political problems.
The third reason for my claim is that the North was sick and tired of helping the South. “The tide of public opinion in the North began to turn against Reconstruction policies,” (Littell 515). This basically means that the Northern public opinion was turned against the Reconstruction, and the Reconstruction was the base of lots of hate. The Reconstruction caused KKK, which killed many Northerners, former slaves, and any people who supported the Reconstruction at all. “Another brave, honest Republican citizen has met his fate at the hands of these fiends,” (Tourgee 511). The KKK’s main goal was to destroy the Reconstruction and African American’s rights. They would kill all who thought against them or anyone who got in their way. This helps me answer the question by proving the North had citizens against it and lives were lost due to the KKK.
One reason the South could have killed Reconstruction is because of the KKK.

The KKK were Southerners, and also terrorists. They tried their hardest to destroy the Reconstruction and African American rights. I have a quote for my evidence. “The Klansman broke my door open, took my out of bed, took me to the woods and whipped me three hours or more and left me for dead,” (Colby 513). This proves the KKK would stop at nothing to destroy what they believed was wrong. Even though the KKK were a huge disruption in the Reconstruction, they didn’t completely destroy it. This helps me answer the question because it says that even though the KKK caused damage, it wasn’t all of

it.
The Reconstruction was killed by the North because they lost their focus, were racists against the African Americans, and stopped funding/supporting the Reconstruction altogether. The main idea of all of my arguments is that the North is responsible for the death of Reconstruction, granted the fact the South did have some effect on the death as well. This information is important to me and to other students because if we didn’t know who killed Reconstruction,, no one would be able to take that a certain person/side killed Reconstruction, which is vital to understanding the question; North or South: Who killed Reconstruction?