Scarpino
American History
October 10, 2014 North or South: Who Killed Reconstruction
The nation was mourning. A long and bloody war took place in the United States.
About 600,000 lives were lost, including the life of Abraham Lincoln. The nation was at its worst. Although it was a devastating time period there was still hope, one of the greatest wars had ended. This war was known as the Civil War. Twelve years after the war America struggled to rebuild itself up from scratch. The idea of Reconstruction was meant to build up the South by helping slaves become free and give them citizenship, the right to vote, and a good education. The Reconstruction started out very well but it slowly began to die out. Southern resistance was an important supporter, but Northern neglect deserves most of the blame.
One of the main reasons for the death of Reconstruction was Northern neglect.
First, President Grant was distracted by all the problems. A cartoon of the
Reconstruction era shows President Grant looking into a barrel full of scandal and corruption, including the whiskey frauds and the Belknap. They both had something to do with bribes. His focus on the Reconstruction was split. This caused many people in the North to forget about the South. Second, the North had a major change in attitude.
The North was getting tired of trying to solve racial problems in the South. The North
also had economical problems such as the Panic of 1873, which was known as an awful depression. The northerners also abandoned the Carpetbaggers, the Scalawags, and the former slaves.
In conclusion, the North is the one to blame for the end of the Reconstruction era. To be completely successful with the Reconstruction the North had to have its full attention put into it. Even though the South used terrorism, there were many black and white people that were willing to give up their lives for what they believed in. The North was ready to end slavery, but they were not prepared for all the long and hard work they had to do to gain freedom and equality for all the people.
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