Reconstruction (U.S. history), the process of rebuilding that followed the American Civil War (1861-1865). Since the United States had never before experienced civil war, the end of hostilities left Americans to grapple with a set of pressing questions over what to do with the South after the defeat of the Confederacy and the overthrow of slavery. These questions included:…
By Johnson’s Reconstruction Proclamations, most Southerners were offered full restoration of rights as long as they took an oath to support the government. Furthermore, these Proclamations appointed provincial governors to reestablish governments in seceded states, required returning states to proclaim the illegality of succession, and declared slavery illegal. However, although the South was prepared to accept both these proclamations and the end of slavery, they were not prepared to accept the slaves which had been freed. A group named the Ku Klux Klan was founded, intending to frighten the Negroes away from voting. In addition, the Black Codes were enacted by Southern state legislatures, binding the Negroes to their previous jobs.…
After the Civil War, the southern soldiers were going back to devastated cities, destroyed railroads, and many cities were burned to the ground as a result of Sherman’s march from sea to sea. After the Civil War occurred, the slaves were given freedom from their owners, and slavery was banned. That attempt at reconstruction was not a complete fail, but it took a little bit of time for America to give social and economic equality to slaves. There were many attempts made by several different presidents, but not all seemed to work due to the South’s stubbornness. The failure of reconstruction later did not bring social and economic equality to former slaves in the south because of things like the Jim Crow laws and the South’s strong disproval of the outcome of the war.…
“Reconstruction is the process by which the states that had seceded were reorganized as part of the Union after the Civil War” . This period lasted from 1865-1877 and was mostly evident in the southern states. This was an important time in the history of the United States because it started a discrimination that turned fellow citizens against each other based on their appearances. This went directly against the Constitution which stated, “All Men are Created Equal” which is ironic because the Civil War was started because each side believed they were more constitutional, and the end result was the opposite of constitutional. In the long run, Reconstruction helped black people move closer to accomplishing to the American Dream. But short term,…
None of the government officials had previous experience. This lead to voters shifting their attention from Reconstruction to ¨national concerns¨. ¨Voters shifted their attention to such national concerns as the Panic of 1873 and corruption in Grant's administration.¨ The North basically turned against each other.…
Congress put an effort to ensure that equal rights were given to freedman during reconstruction. The conflict was between the norths and south, the disputes between one another caused the south separated from the north because of the protective tariffs, unequal political power and different views on slavery. The dispute between the north and south caused the civil war. Due to the civil war 620,000 people were killed or wounded. Slavery was abolished but many properties were destroyed and it created huge tensions and problems between states. The south needed to reconstruct because of all the damage caused by the civil war. The reconstruction period accorded after the civil war. Due to the fact that congress made an effort in reconstruction and…
After the end of the Civil War, slavery was finally abolished by the Thirteenth Amendment but had left the South in complete ruins, and with four million newly freed slaves that were homeless, jobless, and illiterate. Reconstruction was then introduced to reunite the South with the Union and assist the newly freed slaves with adjusting to a new society while also protecting them like the citizens they had become. The Reconstruction had successfully rebuilt the damaged cities and transportation of the South, but failed to do anything about the racial injustice that was presenting itself, the crippling economy, and the lack of political power in the South.…
Document C states that, as Northerners became “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 and corruption in Grant’s administration.” Also, the North agreed with the fact that blacks were not fit for political duties (Doc D). And the Northerners who were still trying to fight for rights for blacks were killed. This loss of interest from the North allowed to the South to easily keep opposing Reconstruction, and finally, killing it.…
As a whole, America has gone through many political changes and revolutionary movements. As history takes its course, though, most all of these “revolutionary movements” came to an end. One movement was Reconstruction. Reconstruction was a period in time when America was consisting of many leaders, goals and accomplishments. Eventually, it did come to an end, the result has been both a failure and a success. Reconstruction of the South, though, was definitely a failure in many ways. When Reconstruction began, America had just done fighting the Civil War. Basically, this time period was mainly just that. It was a time of “putting together the pieces” as some people have said. It was a point where America attempted to become an “up and running country once more”.…
The period following the Civil War is called Reconstruction. The goals of the Reconstruction were to abolish slavery, allow former slaves to be citizens and have rights, integrate blacks into society, destabilize the Southern government (Confederacy), and reunited the country. Although the North won the war, the South did not win Reconstruction. Both Democrats and the Ku Klux Klan caused Reconstruction to slow down, especially in the South.…
The Reconstruction was the period during which the United States began to rebuild after the Civil War, lasting from 1865 to 1877. It was to repair the North and the South politically, economically and socially. After the Civil War, the South’s economy was completely ruined and needed help from the Union government; which they were trying to stay way from. The Reconstruction can be evaluated both as a success and a failure. Its successes were the restoration of the eleven confederate states back to the union, giving African-Americans (ex-slaves) their freedom and rights and providing aid to the freed slaves and poor whites. Its failures were the Anti-African Americans groups such as the KKK, the Black Codes, not protecting the rights of the freedmen and the southern corruption. Although African-Americans were freed and gained their rights because of 13th, 14th and 15th amendments, and the ex-eleven confederate states came back to the union, the Reconstruction was more of a failure than a success.…
After the Civil War, America’s very foundation converged on itself which called for the total reconstruction of the South. The main focus of Reconstruction was to transform the Southern states and their society into a morally correct one. At the time of Reconstruction, it was also the 100th anniversary of The Declaration of Independence which was a sense of accomplishment to all Americans. By this time, it seemed as if America was on a rise due to the growth of jobs and life opportunities. Yet, when the Election of 1876 came around it caused a divide between freedmen supporters and traditional southerners.…
“However, it had seemed that the dream of Reconstruction might be realized.” (W.E.B Dubois). This explains that people, both in the south and the north have seen all the bad issues that happened after the civil war. The civil war has caused a large separation between the south and north. From all the damage that happened between the two states of slavery getting involved and separation made Lincoln make a reconstruction to make the north and south one big state at the end.…
Reconstruction was more than just putting the country back together. It was a period of chaos and freedom. The civil war had just ended and slaves were finally “free”. Slaves did not know what it meant to be free since they had always been someone’s property and never really were able to live their own lives. The rise of actual freedom to former slaves came after the Reconstruction of 1867.…
One reason the Northern Neglect ruined Reconstruction was because of the country’s extreme racism towards the blacks. There is a political cartoon on the cover of Harper’s Weekly, March 14, 1874, and it shows the North’s thoughts towards African Americans (Richardson 517). It shows the thoughts of the politicians that were freedmen that were fighting and being reckless. It is intended to mean that blacks are lazy, dumb, “fat cats”, corrupt, angry, and a threat to society. The North and South both agreed on the thought…