Reconstruction In Louisiana

Across the South, the implementation of Reconstruction policies was achieved in multiple ways. While not always a success, Reconstruction had a definitive impact on the social, cultural economic and financial issues in states throughout the South. It is not clear whether or not Reconstruction was more beneficial to the country or harmful, but it is true, without a doubt, that it had an enormous impact on the Southern states. Both Gilles Vandal and Horace Bond in their articles discuss the impact that Reconstruction had on the southern states of Louisiana and Alabama, respectively. Both authors view Reconstruction through the same lenses of social and economic impact, but they approach the issues from different directions. It is important
Vandal, though, does have the benefit of writing his article in 1997, perhaps almost a hundred years after the end of the Reconstruction period. However, while Bond had focused on the impact of the social and economic factors on the state of Alabama, Vandal provides a look at how those social and economic factors were tied to crime in Louisiana. For Vandal, the end of the Civil War produced “not only then emancipation of slaves, but a new land of economic ruin and social disruption.” This is very similar to the theory put forth by Bond. Although the slaves were now freed, neither the social nor the economic situation in Louisiana benefitted from emancipation. Again, in agreement with Bond, Vandal argues that it wasn’t only the newly freed slaves who struggled to adjust to the new way of life in Louisiana, whites were affected as well. The African Americans in Louisiana struggled to find a place for themselves and a way to support their families. Vandal argues that “the precarious condition and vulnerability of the lower classes” made them more “sensitive to economic depressions or to increases in the price of goods.” And it is no surprise that those people who couldn’t afford to support themselves or their families would turn to crime. African Americans in Louisiana had to fight against a white regime that still saw them as a less than human and the poor whites now had to compete with blacks for land and jobs. Because of this situation, many of both groups turned to thievery and robbery to support their families. Farm animals and livestock were especially prone to being stolen as they were items that could provide both food and other necessities for poor families. Vandal also notes that there were those who stole simply to make money. This rise in crime saw an equal rise in the formation of vigilante