Reconstruction Dbq Essay

By 1877 the congressional reconstruction plan set in motion by radical republicans ended by the compromise of 1877 in the United States of America. The congressional reconstruction plan had aimed to better the lives of freedmen in the United States of America, and essentially equal to their white counterparts, I think it was unsuccessful attempt, because of how the lives of the slaves turned out to be and how it allowed for the creation of the Black codes. The reconstruction plan had aimed to abolish slavery, Freedman's bureau to raise living standards and lastly provide voting rights.

Before the 13th amendment there was no law that stated that African Americans were free, they were called freedman, and the lives of the slaves weren't dogmatic.

Although, there African Americans were technically free the former white slaveowners in the South did not agree with this and attempted to contain the Freedmen in the South. They had been successful with the practice of sharecropping. Sharecropping was where the freedman would come to an agreement with the former white slave owners, where both sides benefited; the freedman would get paid for their labor while the white former slave owner were able to continue their business. Sharecropping was corrupted and the white former slave owner would cheat the freedman and not pay them. The white former slave owners would keep track of the payments and would alter the data because they were educated, and the freedman population had no knowledge, and were illiterate because of this they were not able to keep track. In the Reconstruction: the revolution that failed, the 13th amendment was seen as a power grip by the radical republicans rather than them actually wanting to free

Before the Freedman's bureau the education levels of the slaves were less than 5%, the African Americans had no access to education because the former white slave owners saw this act as a threat to their right to property. The former white slave owners did not want to lose their slaves. However, with the Freedman's bureau the Freedman's literacy rate rose up to 60% which was significant improvement in their lives, but still far behind their white counterpart which sat at around 90%. These schools were the first form of schools that included the mixing of black and white kids. This caused many white southerners not allowing their kids to attend these schools because going to a school and sitting a classroom with the freedman brought down the social status of the white. The African Americans, while being influenced by the institution of slavery, had low to nothing medical help. Most of the African Americans lost their lives to curable diseases. However, with the freedman's bureau, the live expectancy of the African Americans had rose up, and also their access to hospitals and remedies. While this helped the Freedman raise their standard of living, this health care system was far behind of what the white people in the north had access to. Most of the nurses were naive to the equipment, and there weren't that many