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The rise and fall of the ku klux klan
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Austin Evans 9/22/15 Social Studies: 4th English: 6th DBQ: Reconstruction The Civil War was a very brutal time yet what came after was even more tragic. It was called Reconstruction. . Reconstruction means to re-build. After the Civil War, which occurred between the years 1861-1865, most of America wanted to re-build and preserve the Union. The Reconstruction era did not last though. Both the North and the South played roles in destroying the Reconstruction though the South played a bigger role in killing it. The South had a bigger impact on killing the Reconstruction because of things the Ku Klux Klan did and how the southern states were formed their government. One reason why the South killed the Reconstruction was because the Ku Klux Klan was making it difficult for the government to focus on the Reconstruction. This can be supported by the fact that the Ku Klux Klan was murdering people (Tourgee 511). Since the Ku Klux Klan was murdering people the government had to focus more on the Ku Klux Klan instead of the Reconstruction. This led to the government sending in troops, which also supports the idea that the Ku Klux Klan made it difficult for the government to focus on the Reconstruction (Tourgee 511). To add to the stress, the Ku Klux Klan showed a lot of intimidation. It states in Document A, “He was stabbed …show more content…
5 or 6 times, and then hanged on a hook in the Grand Jury Room” (Tourgee 511). This event showed what would happen to people if they stood against the Ku Klux Klan. Another event is “[the Klansmen] broke my door open, took me out of bed, took me to the woods and whipped me three hours of more and left me for dead” (Colby 513). This is another act that shows what would happen to people who did not agree with the Ku Klux Klan. These facts support the idea that the South killed the Reconstruction. Another reason is because the southern states were creating governments that were only serving white people. In the background essay it states, “Southern states began to elect governments dedicated to whites-only rule” (background essay 505 ). The southern states were going back to the type of government they had before the Civil War instead of making their government equal.. While the country was going into the election of 1876 the South wanted a nominee that was “dedicated to whites-only rule” (background essay 505). This shows that the South wanted a white-serving government. After the Republican nominee, Rutherford B. Hayes, was elected president he promised the southern states that he would take the Federal troops out of the South. As stated in the background essay “This almost guaranteed that all-white governments would reclaim power in the South” (background essay 505). As a result, the southern governments did not try to stop the Ku Klux Klan. This affected the South because the Ku Klux Klan was killing people and nobody was doing anything about it. These facts also support that the South did kill the Reconstruction. In conclusion the South killed the Reconstruction because the Ku Klux Klan made it difficult for the government to focus on the Reconstruction.
The southern states also made it difficult since they were creating a government that was only serving white people. Some may say that the North killed the Reconstruction because there was a lot of illegal activities going on in it. Yet President Hayes was not focusing on the Reconstruction causing the South to do worse in that part of the country. The South did kill the Reconstruction and it was not the North's fault. With all of this evidence it can be determined that the South killed the
Reconstruction. Work Cited Abram Colby, Testimony to a Joint House and Senate Committee Cong. (1872) (testimony of Abram Colby). Littell, McDougal. "Gerald Danzer." Introduction. The Americans. Tourgee, Albion. "Letter on Ku Klux Klan Activities." New York Tribune May 1870
“... the slave went free; stood a brief moment in the sun; then moved back again toward slavery.” W.E.B. Dubois explains this in his essay North or South: Who Killed Reconstruction? Reconstruction occurred in the eleven states that seceded from the Union. Reconstruction began in 1865 to help bring the eleven states that left the Union this ended in 1877. How exactly did the North or the South make Reconstruction end? Reconstruction occurred in the 12 years after the civil war and was to help bring back the eleven states that seceded from the Union. Both Southern resistance and Northern neglect contributed to the death of Reconstruction. However, Southern resistance was the greater problem.
Yes, Reconstruction was doomed to fail. The first reason for this was that Lincoln started a plan or policy for Reconstruction before the Civil War was over (page 792 of our assigned readings). Lincoln said that "he intended to to deal with the defeated South "with malice toward none" and "charity for all" to "achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves (Page 792 of our assigned readings)."" The first problem with this thought is that who knows how the war would play out? Yes, Lincoln believed that this proposition would help end the war, but was that a good time to begin Reconstruction? Before the war even ended? Lincoln's plan eventually angered many Radical Republicans, and that is how the Wade-Davis Bill was introduced.
“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
The Northern Neglect killed Reconstruction by having a better government.. With a better government they were able to control more. Until President Grant started to get to busy looking for government frauds. "Northern voters shifted their attention to such national concerns as the Panic of 1873 and corruption in Grant’s administration.”(Danzer Doc. C)
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.
The South won in Reconstruction in many ways. Rebuilding the South was one of its major focuses. Several canals, bridges, and railroads were rebuilt with Reconstruction funds. The Republicans in Congress agreed with southern legislatures on how important business was. For this, a large amount of money was gathered to help the South’s reconstruction. Even though slavery was abolished with the passing of the 13th Amendment, it still existed in the South in the forms of “Black Codes” and cults like the Ku Klux Klan. In conclusion, Lincoln won the war for the North, but President Johnson won Reconstruction for the South by allowing them to create their own laws to keep the former slaves down and keeping their Southern lifestyles.
In conclusion, Reconstruction failed for the freedmen for a variety of reasons. I believe the main reason for this failure was the inability for the two political parties to agree on what they wanted to achieve. Did they want total freedom for the freed slaves, only partial freedom, or just the rebuilding that issue coupled with unpopularity, the freedman’s culture being rooted in the south, and the freed slaves’ inability to find work outside of the south resulted in a process that took over a century to work successfully. I feel that it is very unfortunate that President Lincoln was killed so shortly after the end of the Civil War. I believe that since Reconstruction was Lincoln’s idea he would have carried it out more successfully than his successors did.
President Abraham Lincoln envisioned a conservative plan for the reconstruction of the south. Under Lincoln’s plan, as soon as ten percent of the voters in a southern state whom have voted in 1860 and had taken an oath of loyalty to the United States, they could then elect constitutional conventions. These conventions, upon adopting new state constitutions and abolishing slavery they would then be readmitted to the union. The assassination of Abraham Lincoln would change polices towards reconstruction of the south.
The United States had a 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. It was 1865, black men were tasting freedom, the confederation was defeated, the south was defeated, but the unchained blacks had no real freedom. " A man maybe free and yet not independent," Mississippi planter Samuel Agnew observed in his diary (Foner 481).
One reason the North killed Reconstruction was because they were racist. Freedmen politicians were portrayed as corrupt “fat cats” and caused nothing but chaos and bedlam in the legislatures they served in (Harper’s Weekly, 1874). This showed that the North thought negatively about African Americans. Also, the Boston Evening Transcript stated that, “blacks need a [period of probation and instruction; a period…long enough for the black to have forgotten something about his condition as a slave and learned much of the true method of gaining honorable subsistence and of performing the duties of any position to which he might aspire,” (Richardson, 2001). This quote proved that the North was not ready to fully embrace African Americans as equals, and that there was still some racism that existed among Northerners. So, if the North was not racist, the North may have been more positive Reconstruction, and, in turn, spend more time working on Reconstruction.
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.
First and foremost, the South performed atrocious activities that slaughtered reconstruction. The KKK and people who supported racial dominance focused on blacks alongside Carpetbaggers, Northerners who went to the South after
Southern Resistance made the process of Reconstruction worse. They sent groups of terrorist into the North which caused the government to focus more on the safety of the people, than reconstructing the South. (Background Essay) The KKK was just one of the groups that the North was worried about other White Southerners and Carpetbaggers. The only reason the North was losing faith in their own government was because of the terrorists groups in the South. Also the KKK was attacking the government because they thought the government wasn’t legit. (Doc. B Para.2) The government gave everyone freedom of religion, speech, and equal rights. (Doc. B Para.1) President Grant was always trying to look out for everyone in both the North and South. “Weary of the ‘Negro Question’ and ‘sick of carpet-bag’ government, many Northern voters shifted their attention to such national concerns as the Panic of 1873.” (Gerald Danzer Doc. C) What he meant by this was the Northern Neglect was tired of the Southern Resistance acting like the 13th and 14th amendment was never made and they still had a lot of racism in the Southern Resistance.(Doc. C
The south caused reconstruction to fail because they resisted anything the north pushed there way. In the south, the KKK was killing anyone that was a congress member, supported reconstruction, or wanted African Americans to be free. The south created a group called KKK to kill any black or anyone associated with anti-slavery. Southern's would beat or kill any african american that wouldn't vote for a democrat. White men were pressuring former slaves into casting a democratic vote so that slavery could continue.
Along with this, designing their government allows for increased stability, and possible success rate. Such a thing is very delicate and somewhat tricky,and while I’m not one to question the capabilities and skill of the South, in this situation, lending a helping hand and steering them on the right path seemed like the best solution. Another negative example is, "As soon as blacks gained the right to vote, secret societies sprang up in the South, devoted to restoring white supremacy in politics and social life. Most notorious was the Ku Klux Klan, an organization of violent criminals that established a reign of terror in some parts of the South, assaulting and murdering local Republican leaders."[3] Because of the Reconstruction, hate groups formed all across the Southern states. As aforementioned, the Ku Klux Klan was the most notorious, and still lives on today. Due to the way the Reconstruction was handled, this seemed to be an inevitable. I believe that if, perhaps, a tighter rein was held on the Southern States, groups such as these could have been snuffed out before they became a larger issue. Overall, even though there were many mistakes Reconstruction was a success. Yet, this does not mean it was perfect. Even now, many years later, things aren't perfect. Especially with the recent events, it's very clear that the old Southern mentality still stands, as strong as ever. While African American citizens do have more rights, they, and other people of color, and still abused quite often today by those who are meant to protect us; However, that is a topic for another time. The biggest way the Reconstruction could have been