Race and Politics of the Reconstruction Era The many troubling aspects regarding slavery and racism can arguably be described as the most controversial issues that American politics has ever had to face. Dating back to the very first settlers, our nation has always been at odds with how to tackle this highly disputed matter. Although slavery played a very contested role in forming the United States, it wasn’t until the late 1850’s that these issues came to an absolute breaking point. With new legislation being passed to help create equality for enslaved blacks, the South became increasingly skeptical on the direction that the federal government wanted to take. Soon after the election of republican Abraham Lincoln in 1861, white southerners decided that they had had enough and the American Civil War quickly ensued. In order to restore order in the Union, President Lincoln passed many pieces of legislation in efforts to abolish slavery and rebuild the nation. This legislation passed during Lincoln’s presidency created many obstacles concerning social and economic policies in regards to racism for the administrations of the ensuing Reconstruction Era. With the country divided into the north and the south, the future of our great nation looked very grim. After four long years of fighting, the south eventually conceded its power to the Union and rejoined the nation. President Lincoln immediately took advantage of this by ordering that the south obey the authority of the federal government and added the thirteenth amendment to the Constitution, which inherently made slavery unconstitutional. Although this new legislation pleased many northerners, the South was still very far from accepting these significant changes. To make matters worse, the assassination of President Lincoln in April 1865 sent America into an uproar, causing a great deal of confusion and mayhem. With the nation in complete turmoil, Lincoln’s Vice President Andrew Johnson was called upon to
